Speaking & Preaching – Ready or Not

 An important part of the mission philosophy at the time was that we were in Thailand as missionaries at the invitation of, and under the direction of the local church. In our case, we were answerable to the Thailand Karen Baptist Convention. The Karen church then, had expectations based on 200 years of involvement with Baptist missionaries. Of course, a good bit of these expectations were that both Marcia and I would be preaching and teaching in any and all kinds of formal and informal situations. That meant we were to be speaking in Thai if we had to but preferably, we’d use Karen with any Karen speaking audience. English was not an option. There were no translators unless we were translating for someone else.

Marcia making a point at the Pwo Karen Student Hostel
in Mae Sariang

Marcia soon got into educational work and since Thai was the language of education, she had more leeway to use Thai in her work. Unfortunately, that meant her Karen speaking skills suffered even while she could hold her own in understanding. For me however, I was getting involved in agricultural and water management training and projects in Karen villages as well as various worship services and trainings. So, I felt I needed to use Karen as soon as I could and as much as I could. With that in mind, as soon as we landed in Chiang Mai, I was determined to accept any and all speaking engagements that were offered whether the expected language was Thai or Karen.

Prior to going to Thailand, I’d done a fair bit of public speaking related to my soil and water conservation work but preaching was new. Preaching in Thai and Karen was even newer and an added challenge. But, I knew the kind of preaching I liked to hear and found helpful. I was also learning the Thai and Karen situation and culture and it was not hard to find subject matter where it seemed helpful to apply the Bible to the village life I was seeing and experiencing. So, I did the best I could. Actually, I found the speaking and preaching very helpful. I feel the best Bible study I ever did and the best language training I ever had was in the preparation for trainings and preaching.

I admire speakers that can make an organized and coherent sermon or talk with no notes. That is definitely not me! Maybe it is just the way my brain works, but it seems to me that there are numerous ways to approach any subject and I might consider quite a large number of potential points to make before I settle on the final few and a conclusion. Standing in front of a group with no notes, I’m likely to remember some of the points I decided not to include mixed with some I did want to include, talk myself into a corner and end up rambling with no conclusion in sight. Sadly, I know this from experience!

After some initial experimentation, I developed a system for making notes for my presentations.

Talking about using plastic tubing and a piece of bamboo
 to determine what is level at an agricultural 
training in a Karen village

Keeping in mind whether I was to speak in Thai or Karen, I would write notes in English, but use Thai or Karen word order and phrasing if it was a phrase I might stumble over while speaking. The English words on paper instantly plant the idea in my head. So, I don’t have to consciously translate the English to Thai or Karen, the idea comes to mind and I can just say it. Using the Thai or Karen word order puts the idea in my mind in the right order and makes it flow a little better.

Another rule of thumb was that I would avoid saying phrases, sentences or concepts if I wasn’t confident that I could say it with some level of confidence and competence. If I felt there was a good chance I’d get tongue tied or would have to use too much unfamiliar vocabulary or sentence structure, I would just leave it out and do something else. It meant I would sometimes have to leave out some good content, but if I couldn’t say it in an understandable way, it seemed better to skip it and go with something I could actually communicate.

Some of the people gathered for a home worship
 service in Mae Su Khee Village

For individual words and maybe short phrases I didn’t know well I would highlight the English word in my notes and write the Thai or Karen word above the English. I could read a Thai or Karen word or two and maintain my speaking flow fairly well. But if there was a lot of reading in Thai or Karen, I’d have to make a major gear change in my brain, totally re-focus and the flow would be gone.

I have no idea what experts would recommend for public speaking in new languages but this was my approach and it seemed to work for me. Over the years, I suppose I have done more sermons and presentations in the Karen language than either Thai or English. Even now, I am probably as comfortable with the idea of doing a Karen sermon as I am with doing one in English. The English language is certainly easiest for me, but I just feel more comfortable speaking to a Karen crowd.