What if I said to you “Ikinagagalak akong makillala kayo! Would you know what I meant? Likely not! What if I said it more slowly, enunciating each syllable clearly? Or perhaps more loudly? Or I could have some dancing armless vegetables sing it to you in a clever rhyming song? No matter what I did, unless you were Filipino and spoke Tagalog, the native language of the Philippines, you’d have no idea that I just said, “Nice to meet you.” It wouldn’t be your fault. It would just be that I wasn’t speaking your language. I’ve been to Manila, Philippines a few times. In fact, it’s where I met my wife. She grew up there as a missionary kid. While I was there, I quickly discovered I had to adapt my American ways. Luckily for me, they spoke English, so I only learned a few phrases in Tagalog for fun, but I did have to learn some things about the culture in order to more effectively minister to the kids there. I had to change my humor because my jokes fell flat. I had to adjust my stories so they could relate to them. I had to eat some things that… Continue reading