From Glenn and Susan Fluegge in Togo
“A number of visiting professors and teams came out to Togo during the last two months-some from other African countries and others from the United States. The Lutheran Center for Theological Studies (CLET) has trained leaders for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Congo (EELC) since 2000. From May 26 to June 6, Rev. Tchibinda Mavoungou, president of the EELC, visited the CLET and offered a course on evangelism. I got the idea for him to teach this course at the CLET when I visited with the EELC in November 2007. I was thoroughly impressed with the EELC’s evangelistic zeal-especially in urban settings. When elected as president of the EELC a few years back, Rev. Tchibinda moved to the capital city of the Republic of Congo, Brazzaville, and immediately set about planting a new Lutheran church. Evangelism is part of their church culture. It was great to have him come and share about that with our students at the CLET.
“During the first week of my Greek class at the CLET, one of my students asked in frustration: ‘So how do you say in Greek: ‘Hi, how are you doing?” Koine Greek is the language of the New Testament. But, that Greek hasn’t been spoken for more than 1,500 years. The problem is that most of our students come from oral African societies (verses literate ones, such as in the U.S.) and they are used to learning languages orally. Ironically, current research is also showing that the best way to learn a language to the point of being able to use it effectively is to learn it orally. This is important, because the CLET’s goal is not just to offer Greek courses, but for the students to be able to use the acquired Greek skills in their ministries.
“For this and other reasons, the CLET decided to offer a Greek seminar that focused on oral learning. Rev. Ron Mudge, professor of biblical languages at Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, Wis., and former missionary to Africa, came out in mid-June to lead an oral Greek course produced by the Biblical Language Center in Israel. We gathered in an isolated monastery for five days and nights and ate, drank, and slept Biblical Greek. Toward the end, we even began to speak to each other in simple Greek sentences. What an experience. The students solemnly received their first Greek Bibles with an exhortation that these Bibles were to be used later on in the ministry and not just kept on a shelf. One of our goals at the CLET is to help their students learn by using teaching/learning models and methods that correspond to
the African context, which is markedly different than that in the U.S. The oral Greek seminar resembled the traditional African initiation rites, which involve learning in isolation from respected elders, learning a ‘secret’ language, and a strong sense of ‘bonding.’
“Perhaps time will allow a fuller exploration of the effectiveness of teaching Greek orally in Africa. For the time being, suffice it to say that I was thoroughly impressed with the oral Greek program and have begun exploring the possibility of using it as the introductory Greek course in the newly designed CLET curriculum.”
