You are a minister, or an active member of a Christian church, and there are people in your church who don't speak much English. Or there are people in the wider community whom you would like to reach out to - and they don't have much English.
What do you do?
Here are some general pointers which hopefully you will find helpful.
- Love them - not in a patronising, feel-sorry-for-you kind of way, but in a Christian, sharing-fellowship, I-enjoy-spending-time-with-you kind of way.
- Be genuinely interested in them, learning to ask sympathetic questions they will find it easy to answer.
- Have your eyes open all the time that some things might be strange or even unacceptable. Don't assume that people agreeing to things or smiling means that they are comfortable.
- When they want to tell you something, listen. Be patient, try all sorts of ways to help them get across what they want to say.
- Learn to speak English in a way which is easy for non-native speakers to follow. Speak a bit slower and pronounce words clearly. Use words they know and avoid phraseology which might be confusing.
- See if there are ways you can proactively find out about their language and culture.
- Make sure they have a Bible and other Christian literature in their own language.
- Make sure they have the option of being in touch with other believers who share their native language.
- Give them opportunities to express their faith in their heart language. It might be reading a passage or praying out loud in their language, sharing a song or expressing their faith in some artistic way.
- Learn some words in their language - or try to take it up as a foreign language.
- When you teach the Bible (eg sermon, small group meeting), find out what it says in their translation - and how that might help you communicate with them.
- Draw on links with churches and ministers in their home country who could advise you or offer other help.
- Consider setting up an affinity group at your church, where foreign-language speakers can interact in their own language, whilst making sure they maintain a strong link with the majority English-medium church.
- Create opportunities for them to share their cuisine - with you and others at the church. (This is my personal favourite tip!)
- Work harder than usual to help them integrate with others in the church, rather than becoming isolated individuals or an inward-looking clique.
- Always be prepared for them returning to their country of origin and being able to engage with the church there, not becoming 'foreigners in their own country'.
- Have the self-awareness that a lot of what we do is culturally conditioned - legitimate and helpful in our cultural setting, but not universal across cultures.
- Don't apologise for using English, or for your English-speaking culture; unity is a two-way street.
Russell Phillips (Acts 2:11 Edinburgh)
