Degg naa...lan? (I understand...what?)

Learning Wolof has been a wonderful, frustrating process. I don't remember learning French very well, and I certainly don't remember learning English. I was getting really frustrated with myself and the conditional if/then clauses we were working on, and then I realized something. I've been studying Wolof for about 6 weeks. I didn't learn those tenses in French until I was in my 3rd year of language study! We're going quickly; it's ok to struggle a little bit.

And I've seen God working through this, and answering my cries for help. At Partners, no one expects me to speak Wolof, so it's a lot less intimidating than with ACI staff, random people on the street, or even my host family. I feel a lot more confident there, and it's easy to practice. My supervisor and I had a conversation during which I confirmed that I was going to Eglise Evangelique this Sunday, and he invited me to lunch with the other interns and their professor after the service. We wished each other good evenings and said we'd see each other then. All in Wolof. It felt so good!

It's no surprise that some of my verses this morning were:

Then Moses said to the Lord, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." So the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say" Exodus 4:10-12

I feel very much like Moses when it comes to Wolof. Often I understand what someone else says, but I don't know how to vocalize a response. Or it takes me a long time. But God is so faithful, and able to provide in every way. My little Wolof successes are His way of saying, "I am with your mouth; I am teaching you what to say"

AMAZING