What Language would be good to learn to help spread the gospel?

[maxdouglas402]

Im joining the air force and I might very well be placed in a job where i will be required to learn a foreign language. I dont know what language i would choose. Any language the church has in need for to help evangelize?

 

[dzheremi]

Wouldn’t your position or assignment determine which language you’d be learning? All languages are equally useful to spread the gospel.

 

[BigdogAman]

well it all depends where does the church have less followers some say the middle east in which case aribac would be helpful but i doubt your raring to go to the middle east especally with the tensions. another place is oriental cuntries like china and japan and south korea which is a bit more calm and civil but some evangelization is outlawed in certain parts . other places well America needs it. yourprobably asking yourself why does America need it the church is plentiful there though that mayb be true we could still use ways to get more people especially in bad areas areas the rest of the world has turned their backs on and that would be a great misson professing the true faith and the holy word of God to those tht need it most. other than that thats al i can think of. we need to evangelize to anybody and everyone and hope and pray they come to listen. God bless you for asking this question it made me think quite a bit i’ll give you that happy evangeizing and God bless.

 

[maxdouglas402]

My recruiter for the air force told me I would most likely to be able to select my own language. But im not 100% sure.

I see what you mean by the fact that every language is good for the gospel, thank you for your kind words. Hopefully God will guide me to make the right choice and I won’t be to ignorant to where he’s calling me. For some reason Im just not ready to make a full commitment to my vocation in the church, so im joining the air force to keep me busy. Hopefully things work out and Im able to evangelize here and elsewhere.

 

[Trebor135]

Im joining the air force and I might very well be placed in a job where i will be required to learn a foreign language. I dont know what language i would choose. Any language the church has in need for to help evangelize?

Ranked on number of first- and second-language speakers:

Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu (closely related), Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, Bengali, French, Indonesian, German, Japanese, Persian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Korean, Thai/Lao (closely related), Hausa, Burmese, Swahili, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Kurdish, Fula, Khmer, Somali, Kazakh, Dyula/Bambara/Malinke (closely related)…

(European languages were thrown in because most of Europe and much of Latin America are nonpracticing. The rest were included in the list because most or all of those who speak the languages are Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, unaffiliated, and the like.)

 

[Joe_5859]

Many jobs in the Church in the U.S. look for people who know Spanish. We’re either close to or already past the point where half of the Catholic population in the U.S. has hispanic roots.

So if you’re looking to do your evangelization here in the U.S., I would recommend Spanish.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Mandarin Chinese. They need the Gospel desperately!

 

[Hokomai]

Latin?

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Latin?

Hahaha! Latin is a dead language! No use at all in this case.

 

[Hokomai]

Hahaha! Latin is a dead language! No use at all in this case.

A bit of outreach to some sedevacentists?

 

[johnnyjones]

The ancient tongue of Aramaic.

 

[Trebor135]

The ancient tongue of Aramaic.

Most modern-day Aramaic speakers are Christians from Iraq and Syria, though there are going to be some Muslims who know the language as well, by living as the minority in Christian-majority villages where Aramaic is still used.

 

[Joe_5859]

A bit of outreach to some sedevacentists?

 

[Trebor135]

Mandarin Chinese.

I second this suggestion.

They need the Gospel desperately!

Agreed. But so do huge portions of southeast Asia: Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Mongolia, and Japan are among the least-evangelized countries in the world. India has about thirty million Christians, Vietnam a little over seven million, and Burma around two million, but these minorities represent a drop in the bucket in these three countries given the size of their total populations.

 

[Angel_Bradford]

We are in desperate need of bi-lingual priests in the South. I would strongly suggest Spanish.

 

[johnnyjones]

Most modern-day Aramaic speakers are Christians from Iraq and Syria, though there are going to be some Muslims who know the language as well, by living as the minority in Christian-majority villages where Aramaic is still used.

Yes it is, and the language is still ancient. There are levels of different Aramaic used and it remains particularly useful in spreading the gospel to middle easterners who need it badly…

mountlebanon.org/aramaiclanguage.html

 

[Trebor135]

Yes it is, and the language is still ancient. There are levels of different Aramaic used and it remains particularly useful in spreading the gospel to middle easterners who need it badly…

mountlebanon.org/aramaiclanguage.html

From that link:

“Use of the Aramaic language had become common by the period of the Chaldean Empire (626-539 B.C.). It became the official language of the Imperial government in Mesopotamia and enjoyed general use until the spread of Greek (331 B.C.). Although Greek had spread throughout these Eastern lands, Aramaic remained dominant and the linqua franca of the Semitic peoples. This continued to be so until Aramaic was superseded by a sister Semitic tongue, Arabic, about the 13th century A.D. to the 14th century A.D., when Arabic supplanted Aramaic after the Arab conquest in the 7th Century. However, the Christians of Mesopotamia (Iraq), Iran, Syria, Turkey and Lebanon kept the Aramaic language alive domestically,
scholastically and liturgically. In spite of the pressure of the ruling Arabs to speak Arabic, Aramaic is still spoken today in its many dialects, especially among the Chaldeans and Assyrians.”

If Aramaic speakers–about five hundred thousand souls today–are already mostly Christian, how would this language be useful to the OP for evangelization among the Arabic-, Persian-, Turkish-, and Kurdish-speaking Muslims of the Middle East?

 

[johnnyjones]

From that link:

“Use of the Aramaic language had become common by the period of the Chaldean Empire (626-539 B.C.). It became the official language of the Imperial government in Mesopotamia and enjoyed general use until the spread of Greek (331 B.C.). Although Greek had spread throughout these Eastern lands, Aramaic remained dominant and the linqua franca of the Semitic peoples. This continued to be so until Aramaic was superseded by a sister Semitic tongue, Arabic, about the 13th century A.D. to the 14th century A.D., when Arabic supplanted Aramaic after the Arab conquest in the 7th Century. However, the Christians of Mesopotamia (Iraq), Iran, Syria, Turkey and Lebanon kept the Aramaic language alive domestically,
scholastically and liturgically. In spite of the pressure of the ruling Arabs to speak Arabic, Aramaic is still spoken today in its many dialects, especially among the Chaldeans and Assyrians.”

If Aramaic speakers–about five hundred thousand souls today–are already mostly Christian, how would this language be useful to the OP for evangelization among the Arabic-, Persian-, Turkish-, and Kurdish-speaking Muslims of the Middle East?

A concentrated area does not mean the gospel can not spread. “Already being Christian” is the helpful part. The gospel can be spread to other non Christians because there are many Muslims who know Aramaic as well as Arabic. In the Middle East some languages overlap. Muslims need the gospel. You are often posted in middle eastern countries in the military as my family can attest to.

I thought you were unsure of my mention of Aramaic being ancient, that it why I posted the link.

 

[TuAutem]

As far as covering a huge population and geographical area, and a population where the Church’s presence is still minimal, I have to think Indonesian (which is essentially the same language as Malaysian) would be the most needed missionary language.

There are actually a heck of a lot of Catholics in mainland China. They are in need of our prayers, as the situation for the church there is very difficult (also true of Vietnam, by the way), but while Catholicism is still a minority religion in China it is by no means a small minority any more (praise God!). In Indonesia and Malaysia, though, there are very few Catholics, and both countries have huge populations.

 

[Trebor135]

A concentrated area does not mean the gospel can not spread.

True. But Iraqi Aramaic speakers have been leaving in droves for the past couple decades, especially since the 2003 Anglo-American invasion of their homeland. And one can expect their Syrian brethren to follow suit in the near future if the Bashar al-Assad regime is toppled and/or civil war drags on in the country.

Apart from the tragedy of the Christian exodus from Iraq, this 2008 New York Times article reports anecdotally that its people are so disgusted with the way things have turned out in an islamizing society that the appeal of their religion is actually waning.

“Already being Christian” is the helpful part.

I see where you’re coming from. But the Aramaic speakers of Iraq and Syria haven’t had much success in spreading the gospel to their Muslim neighbours for almost a millennium and a half now: a very long time, unfortunately. What reason do we have to believe that this trend will change?

The gospel can be spread to other non Christians because there are many Muslims who know Aramaic as well as Arabic.

That could occur, yes.

In the Middle East some languages overlap.

Indeed.

Muslims need the gospel.

Amen.

You are often posted in middle eastern countries in the military as my family can attest to.

But why not go with the language spoken by all Muslims and Christians alike, rather than a very small subset of the two communities? Outside of Iran and Turkey, this language is Arabic.

I thought you were unsure of my mention of Aramaic being ancient, that it why I posted the link.

Ahh, no, but thanks for sharing it.