J.D. Payne, in a recent article challenges us to ask ourselves how far we are ready to go to reach a minority people with the gospel. The article is worth a read, see the link below.
Ongota is one of the world’s rarest languages. Only twelve people speak it. I doubt you will ever need to learn it.
But if you needed to for gospel advancement, would you? Would you truly put out the effort and make the sacrifice–for only twelve people?
J. D Payne How far will we go learn Ongota?
Even before we first moved to Brittany, I knew that I wanted to learn some Breton language. Living several years in Wales and marrying a Welsh girl was certainly an incentive. I had also learned Welsh, and it couldn’t be that difficult to learn some Breton.
Yet, when we got there, the local Christians were less than keen. Some thought the idea was weird. Many laughed at the idea. Apart from the fact that the majority of Christians in Brittany are not from Brittany, even those Christians who spoke Breton were fairly negative about the idea. The Breton language was on its death-bed. Everyone spoke French anyway, why bother.
Yet, the conviction remained. Even if I would never speak fluently, I was convinced that showing an interest in the people of Brittany and their language would open some doors to the gospel, and it did. After three years, I had made a group of friends and the door was wide open. I had many opportunities to share the gospel, because I had taken the time to learn some of the language and tried to understand the Breton people.
It is just sad that, as far as I am aware, hardly any-one in France seem to see the importance of showing at least some interest in the various local languages, especially those with a significant number of speakers like Breton, Alsatian or Basque.