When you’re discovering the culture of people through their
language, learning proverbs is an important tool to help you know what people
value. Consider these proverbs that we
often use in English and just what they would teach someone about American
culture. “A bird in the hand is worth
two in the bush.” “Don’t count your
chickens before they hatch.” “Don’t get
the cart before the horse.” “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” “Beggars can’t be choosers.” “Don’t bite off
more than you can chew.”
This week we’ve learned some Lingala proverbs in our
language study and have been surprised by some of the cultural truths we’ve
learned. Here are a couple of our favorites
that we’ll readily adopt into our communication.
This first one I’ll definitely use when I don’t want to
multi-task:
Mbwa azali na
makolo minei kasi a landadka nzela se moko.
A dog has 4 paws, but he follows only one road.
(Concentrate on one thing at a time.)
And even
though our beloved children are all out the house, we may someday still find an
opportunity to remind them of this:
Matoyi elekaka motu te.
The ears are never higher than the head.
(Reminds children of their place.)
How about
this one which encourages a good work ethic:
Mbongo eza na langi te
Money has no color.
(There is no shameful work.)
The next
one, though, gives a troubling glimpse of society, and we’ll definitely want to
have Biblical stories and proverbs ready to share when we hear someone say
this:
Ebembe ya soso
matange te.
The corpse of a chicken has no funeral.
(An unimportant person should not expect much from others.
Often said of street children and orphans.)
As we
continue to learn Lingala and begin to train church leaders about how to use
Bible stories to teach Biblical truths, we sincerely appreciate your faithful
prayers.
That all
Congolese may know and worship Him,
Kathy
