Yesterday was a conference held in the Mukachevo CRC's building, where Greg and I presented. This morning was a worship service with them, at which Greg led music and I preached. What a joy to be with these friends in Christ!
When I began my first presentation yesterday, I thought I'd try to say "good morning" to them in Ukrainian. I had practiced long and hard. But when I said what I thought were the correct sounds, the room was quiet and there were a lot of puzzled faces looking my way. What had actually come out of my mouth was "good year." D-oh!
The language challenges didn't end there. In English, our word "worship" can mean at least three distinct things (praise time, a worship service, all-of-life service), but in Russian, there are different words for these realities. You'd think that would be helpful, but it's not when I use the word "worship" and the translator isn't sure which meaning I mean. If the translator uses the Russian "praise time" when I mean the Sunday morning event, there can be a lot of confusion on listeners' parts, ... and I won't even know it. Tricky stuff. Our hosts, George and Sarah de Vuyst, have been excellent in helping Greg and me navigate these things.
Some Russian words are easier for us Anglos to recognize - like "Jesus" and "Amen." What a gift!
More later. It's time for Thai food in Ukraine. : ) (And pics will be posted soon.)
Dave
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