Look your sweetie in the eye and say, “I you love.” Makes sense in Romanian but loses its zing in English. Or after finishing your dinner, say to the chef, “To me it is liked spaghetti your.” That sounds like something Jedi Yoda would say, but it is quite logical in Russian.

Our new language sentence structures are quite different than English. To speak Russian, I have rewired my brain to work backwards. I know there are those who would say that my brain has always needed some rewiring, but now even my English is messed up.

I also understand enough Romanian to mix in phrases. I slip in some sentences that are part Russian and part Romanian, creating a mixed language that is quite common in Moldova. I find myself choosing the easiest-to-say phrase from the three languages.

It dawned on my today that language learning is a great picture of my spiritual growth. Before I knew Christ as my Savior, I spoke pure “ME” language. Life was centered on my pleasures and benefits. When Jesus brought this dead heart to life, I had to learn a totally new language. I had to rewire my brain to speak His language.

It is not an easy process.

Christ speaks the language of servanthood. I speak the language of privilege and comfort.
God speaks the language of forgiveness. I speak the language of just dues .
Jesus speaks the language of grace. I speak the language of duty and works.

As I have learned to speak God’s language, I understand that our ministry is really about teaching His language as well. In Moldova, countless kids speak the language of rejection. I want to teach them the language of Christ’s nonjudgmental acceptance. The women Nancy works with have heard only the language of destruction, whereas we want to teach the words of new life.

My desire is to be totally fluent in both Russian and Romanian. I want to be able to read War and Peace in Russian, the New Testament in Romanian, and still be able to write a NY Times best-selling book in English.

Yet I really want to learn how to speak as Jesus spoke.
I want to hear a new language spoken in Moldova.

You are never to old to for language learning.

Being rewired in Moldova,
Andy Raatz