Larry McCrary

Larry, Great thoughts on getting into a new cultu...

2009-11-18T06:27:17.991+01:00

Larry,

Great thoughts on getting into a new culture. I have found "being humble" can take many forms. While entering only a couple of cultures, the willingness to laugh at myself and try things I don't really know how to do, even if I look really stupid in the effort, are helpful in breaking down barriers between me and others. Well, some of the things I have tried might have created barriers, but in general the willingness to be clueless is helpful.

Thanks for referencing our article in your post, "...

2009-11-17T01:44:32.627+01:00

Thanks for referencing our article in your post, "Making friends." It is so important, as is finding a place of worship to express your faith and have it nourished.

Thanks :)

2009-11-16T16:08:20.173+01:00

Thanks :)

I am going with taking in the scenery. My wife lik...

2009-11-10T20:58:34.877+01:00

I am going with taking in the scenery. My wife likes the beach idea.
So lets plan ahead and make this happen.

One question on the topic: Is it better to take a ...

2009-11-10T17:20:12.178+01:00

One question on the topic: Is it better to take a picture or take in the scenery?

A Hispanic influence is very helpful to learn to l...

2009-11-10T17:18:54.511+01:00

A Hispanic influence is very helpful to learn to live in the moment. It's not THE way, but a VERY helpful way. Maybe you should consider a week at a beach somewhere in Latin America. What do you think? Maybe I could meet you there :) How about a conference on the topic at a resort with no planned speakers or sessions. Now we just need to look forward as we plan ahead to schedule and prepare.... It's just so difficult to do.

Good reminder. I'm very much one who lives in the...

2009-11-10T15:51:52.697+01:00

Good reminder. I'm very much one who lives in the future...and "what can be". My struggle is that I struggle to enjoy the moment and be content with "what is."

George, I think you are on track on the "ATTEMPT" ...

2009-11-05T13:27:07.796+01:00

George,
I think you are on track on the "ATTEMPT" idea. Just yesterday I went to a store and bought a bi-lingual bible in German and English. I was able to order the bible and do my best in German. The lady (which was a believer) was very complimenting about me "Attempting" to learn her language. I did not get all of my words or grammar correct. I think it can go a long way when a church group comes over to attempt to speak the language. Thanks for your comment.

I know it could be a stretch to do an entire sermo...

2009-11-05T13:23:15.242+01:00

I know it could be a stretch to do an entire sermon but I still may try it some day. It might better to have a guy who we would partner with from that country to speak and we translate him.

Thanks for your ideas on word, phrase or idea study. I know just in living in Europe the idea of "daily bread" in the Lord's prayer has come alive for we often go to the bread store daily to buy bread. We do not buy too much but just enough for the day. You can still go to the store here and buy your loaf of white bread in a plastic bag. I like the fresh daily break myself. smile. Thanks for the comment.

As a follower of Jesus in Europe I am always strug...

2009-11-05T08:36:47.527+01:00

As a follower of Jesus in Europe I am always struggling to find ways for North American followers to engage people here but the road block is always language.

I can't tell you the dream it would be to have a group even TRY to learn the language. Even if a translator is still needed the attempt changes the dynamic of the situation.

Americans are generally seen here as nice people, but nice people who think really highly of themselves. That is deduced in large part by the lack of ATTEMPT to speak the language. Walking around town you hear nice American tourists yelling "do you speak English" without even trying a couple phrases in the local tongue.

Imagine what it would be like if you went from a perceived position of arrogant, self righteousness to the perceived position of humble and considerate...

I will take that any day! Hit the books!

I like the theme. While I think the message transl...

2009-11-04T16:01:23.037+01:00

I like the theme. While I think the message translation could be a bit taxing on the listeners, I would propose that a word, phrase, or idea study be done in the foreign language. Much like is often done with Greek, it is fascinating how language affects thought generation and processes. The words used in another language at times cause people to view a topic with different perspectives. This can be a huge enrichment to the person that can grasp the topic from a different cultural perspective that comes out of the vocabulary, grammatical construct or other.

Great resources Larry! Thanks!

2009-11-03T10:39:21.161+01:00

Great resources Larry! Thanks!

Cool stuff Larry. Thanks!

2009-11-02T17:02:30.288+01:00

Cool stuff Larry. Thanks!

Thanks. I enjoyed your photos and blog. We love th...

2009-10-31T18:05:52.523+01:00

Thanks. I enjoyed your photos and blog. We love this area. It is a cool part of the world. We have only been here a couple of years. We have not been to ArtBasel. It sounds fun. Good hearing from you.

Thanks for the link back. i have moved to Basel fo...

2009-10-30T14:45:05.357+01:00

Thanks for the link back. i have moved to Basel for 4 years but learning German here is very difficult. I do speak some french so there is a fall back scenario for me. As for livestock in the Herbstmesse, you can find them in Peterplatz in the centre of the fair, there are some ponies. I am enjoying the fair this year more as the weather is drier than last year.
Have you seen the Basel Rheinswim, it's another very special annual event. I also like Art Basel, a must visit cultural event here.

For learning French or Spanish, also teashing ESL ...

2009-10-29T15:44:51.700+01:00

For learning French or Spanish, also teashing ESL
www.languageroutes.com

I've never used Rosetta Stone, but I've heard it's not the best for groups because it's designed for one person in front of the screen. (Again - word of mouth here, so double check. Or, Erik's solution might work too.)

Larry, Hey, it's Erik from the Journey Church in...

2009-10-29T15:31:30.068+01:00

Larry,

Hey, it's Erik from the Journey Church in TN. As you know, Spain is going to be our country of focus as we endeavor our missional efforts beyond our "Jerusalem." We did our homework on learning the language and we are going with Rosetta Stone's church option of buying one license for the language that allows us to have unlimited users. Instead of paying $500 per copy, we are paying $1500 and hosting it on our own server. This allows people to log in from anywhere with a user name and password and learn the language. With this we can also have unlimited people able to learn it, with zero yearly fees or anything.

Thought you may be interested to know that.

I like your student though. I know of some churche...

2009-10-27T07:52:11.568+01:00

I like your student though. I know of some churches that will either have some sort of mid-week programming for adults or churches that will do a special emphasis on a topic. What about a 3 week series of electives: Language, Culture, Current Events, Cooking, Religion, History, etc. about the country or people group?
More ideas on the way about some practical ways that a church can learn a foreign language.

Great idea! Making a commitment to a people and pl...

2009-10-26T21:53:24.378+01:00

Great idea! Making a commitment to a people and placing emphasis on being students of the language, history, culture, and current events would be very helpful in facilitating mission to that people. To show top level buy-in, it would be interesting to do a series that is titled in the language of the people the church is seeking to win to Christ. This could help move mission from an afterthought to receiving emphasis that we value others and seeing their lives transformed by Christ.
One practical way to facilitate this would be to have Berlitz or Rosetta Stone type materials available in the target language to be borrowed. Or perhaps a discount off a future short-term trip based on amounts spent on language acquisition....

Nick, I am seeing more and more churches who are i...

2009-10-23T15:50:52.205+02:00

Nick,
I am seeing more and more churches who are interested in focusing in on a people group or nation and then trying to find ways to engage them with the gospel no matter where they are. Instead of taking 5 trips all over the world they start zeroing in on a few partnerships that they put a lot of time and resources in.

So whether it be Turkey, Germany or Texas a church finds ways to connect with them.

In this case the church wants to be fully committed to reaching this people group for Christ. I know I will pray that they can do it. I know it will be a tremendous task.

Kevin, I was impressed as well. Time will tell if ...

2009-10-23T15:46:40.622+02:00

Kevin, I was impressed as well. Time will tell if it is something that can happen or not. I talked with a Language Consultant this week at a conference and I hope to be able to post some ideas that she gave me that can help a church do such a thing. I plan on trying to post a couple of more thoughts on this.

Larry, What struck me most about the idea of that ...

2009-10-22T16:50:46.290+02:00

Larry,
What struck me most about the idea of that particular congregation was the intense love this church must have for the spreading of the fame of Jesus among the nations. Practically speaking, I don't know how successful or long lasting this will be because as my wife and I know...if you don't use your language muscles in every day situations you lose them.

Thinking of Portugal and any church that ultimately supports us, their desire to learn Portuguese and demonstrate their heart for the people far outweighs any lasting success in the venture.

What a cool congregation! Thanks for sharing their heart Larry.

I think it could serve more purposes than simply a...

2009-10-22T02:01:38.847+02:00

I think it could serve more purposes than simply a missions one. I think it would show a church to the community so dedicated to the cause of Christ that they would work towards that goal. Well i guess that really could end up being a missions-based purpose, but every function of the church ends up that way. I think that it would require a church (the WHOLE congregation) that is completely dedicated to the same mindset. It is a wonderful idea and i agree that it could have incredible results, but the problem comes down to the dedication of the congregation; one would be hard-pressed to find a church that thought with the same mind. In the end though, we're all working towards the mind of Christ and I'm sure that the further a group of believers get to reaching that mind, the more possible a church-wide language learning would be. I would love to see this idea come to fruition though, I think it would have more advantages than any of us could imagine (Nick Frank)

Thanks for the feedback. I had a conversation with...

2009-10-08T12:58:28.910+02:00

Thanks for the feedback. I had a conversation with several church planters in Europe and they all would be interested in having some football players come over and play. One person is looking for a guy who would be open to coaching a team in Spain. If you know of someone let me know and we can talk.

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

2009-10-06T06:17:57.962+02:00

Great story. Thanks for sharing.