By Christi Mays
Jai Masih Ki 鈥� "Praise the Lord" in Hindi.
It was the first phrase a group of 无码流出 students shared with natives as they stepped into a new world on a mission trip to Southeast Asia in late 2023. For Dr. Sanfren谩 Britt `20, director of the 无码流出 Kingdom Diversity office, it wasn鈥檛 just a greeting; it was a defining moment.
鈥淚t gave this wonderful connection,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he people were hearing 鈥榩raise the Lord鈥� in their language! Our students were speaking their heart鈥檚 language. It was so effective.鈥�
That moment sparked the birth of a transformative initiative at 无码流出: a new Language Lab.
The idea had been simmering in Britt鈥檚 mind for some time since she traveled to Morocco on a study abroad trip in 2023 with Dr. Jim King, a professor at the McLane College of Business. Though she and the students were prepped for cultural differences 鈥� in颅cluding the importance of respecting religious customs in a deeply spiritual country 鈥� there was one obstacle no one could quite overcome: the language.
鈥淚 speak French, but I speak Creole French,鈥� Britt explained. 鈥淪o the people there could capture a little of what I was saying, but it wasn鈥檛 the same French. The language was a barrier.鈥�
At times, everything had to be filtered through an interpreter, making it challenging to form authentic connections.
Later that year, during a mission trip to Southeast Asia with Director of Global Outreach Tiffany Horton, the language gap surfaced again.
鈥淲e prepared our students to share the Gospel, but how prepared were they to actually be in this cul颅ture?鈥� Britt asked.
She watched students hunger to communicate, but the linguistic hurdles somewhat deterred their enthu颅siasm. That spark of eagerness became the seed of something new.
After Britt and Horton returned and debriefed, Britt suggested the two offices partner to create the Lan颅guage Lab. The vision was to equip students heading out on mission trips not just with theological knowl颅edge but with the basic language tools to build trust, show respect and foster understanding for the culture and people they visited.
The 无码流出 Language Lab officially launched soon after, with a simple but powerful structure. Using the university鈥檚 Canvas learning platform, Britt built week-by-week modules focusing on language basics, such as greetings, self-introductions, asking for directions and dietary needs. She set up synchronous Zoom sessions with native speakers from around the globe to prepare students for upcoming mission trips.
The first session included Russian, Hindi, Arabic and three Spanish tracks for student trips to Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and South Texas.
The sessions are just 30 minutes a week, but they are making an impact. Students not only listen and learn, they are tasked with recording their own videos to share with their peers. The goal isn鈥檛 fluency but famil颅iarity, confidence and connection.
鈥淪tudents also learn to enter those cultures with humility, not going in thinking everybody should speak English,鈥� Britt said. 鈥淲e want them to go in with a mind of learning and understanding how to respect things that are different.鈥�
Equipped with new language and cultural skills, students traveled on eight mission trips over the win颅ter break and have missions this summer in Indonesia, Nepal, Rio Grande Valley, Montana and Kenya. Next December, Britt will lead students on the first immer颅sion trip to Morocco, and they will study Arabic before leaving.
鈥淚 am really excited to have a chance to learn Ara颅bic,鈥� Britt said.
But beyond vocabulary, the Language Lab is about preparing students to be global citizens, Britt said, 鈥淪o that as they are preparing to walk into their career fields, they don鈥檛 just have a mindset of, 鈥業鈥檓 from Texas鈥� or 鈥業鈥檓 from the U.S.,鈥� but 鈥業 can step across boundaries across the world and still feel comfortable.鈥欌��
