“Dad, Ahmed wants to talk to you,” my teenage son, Caleb, said as he burst into the study.
Ahmed is the son of our neighbor Fatima. A few weeks ago, Fatima texted my wife to say she was going to start sending Ahmed over to our house for an hour every day. He had high school English exams coming up, and she wanted him to practice his English with Caleb.
Caleb wasn’t too thrilled to be told that he’d be spending his free time as an English tutor. But we encouraged him that it could be a chance to bless Ahmed and help him with his studies.
So for several weeks, Ahmed came over every afternoon. Dutifully, Caleb sat with him, speaking in both English and Arabic to help Ahmed prepare for his exams.
Whenever I heard the two boys talking together in Caleb’s room, I felt so proud of my son. He had worked hard to learn the local language, and he had learned it well.
Then last week, Ahmed brought up religion.
“You Christians say Jesus died,” he said. “But that’s not true. God would never let His prophet be killed.”
Caleb responded in Arabic, sharing God’s Word and telling him how Jesus Christ defeated death. Ahmed listened and replied, “This is the first time I’ve ever heard any of this.”
Caleb continued sharing. But then he got stuck. He felt like he couldn’t truly express what he wanted to say about Jesus.
“Dad, can you talk to him?” Caleb asked me in the study. “We’ve been talking about the differences in what we believe, and I told him everything I could about Jesus. But he has more questions.”
As I joined the discussion in Caleb’s room, Ahmed said, “I thought I knew what Christians are like. But your family is so different from what I’ve seen on television and in movies. I hope you aren’t upset at me for talking about these things with you.”
“I love having conversations like this,” I assured him, adding that I would never be upset discussing spiritual matters with him. “You are always welcome in our home.”
Later, I thought back to when I was Caleb’s age. I wasn’t really sharing the Good News in any language, much less my own!
It makes my wife and me proud to see Caleb courageously sharing the source of our hope, Jesus Christ. Our young neighbor never would have heard the Gospel if our son hadn’t learned Ahmed’s language.
**This account comes from a long-term worker. Names have been changed for security.**
Main photo by DFID
Original article: https://www.frontiersusa.org/blog/article/when-kids-learn-local-languages