Divine Word Missionaries

Language: for Divine Word Missionaries it’s job one
By Sandy Wilgenbusch

When Takahiro Meida arrived at Divine Word College in September 2001, he was excited and a little scared. He had traveled thousands of miles from the Divine Word Missionary Seminary in Nagoya, Japan to learn English here in preparation for his Cross-Cultural Training Program assignment in Ghana, Africa.

“When I came here, I didn’t have so much English. I didn’t understand what people said,” Takahiro remembers.

Though he was uncomfortable, Takahiro recognized how important the English language is to his future as a Divine Word Missionary. “When I go to other countries, if I know just Japanese, I can’t do anything. I can’t communicate. I can’t work as a missionary.”

The Cross-Cultural Training Program (CTP) is an opportunity for Divine Word Missionaries to spend two years during their formation working in ministry with a culture other than their own. It’s like on-the-job training for religious missionary service.

During the 2001-2002 academic year, three Divine Word Missionary candidates studied English at the College in preparation for their CTP assignments. Pius Lawe and Bastian Limahekin of Indonesia are getting ready for their work with Divine Word Missionaries in Mississippi and Louisiana.

For a missionary, language is the first priority when arriving at a new ministry location. “Learning the language and culture of the local community is the most important job if we are to be faithful to our call to be ministers of the Word,” said Rev. Mark Schramm, SVD. Schramm is the director of the Cross-Cultural Training Program for the Chicago Province.

Divine Word College plays an important role in language learning for the future missionaries who study here. While some students initially come to the program to learn English as a second language, many also take classes in a third or even fourth language during their years at DWC.

But for students like Takahiro, Pius and Bastian, language study at Divine Word College provides an opportunity to be fully immersed in an English-only environment. “In Japan, I studied English but it was just reading and writing. There were not many opportunities for conversation,” said Takahiro. And conversation with a native speaker is paramount to the learning process. Schramm says that in learning a tonal language, (which includes most languages of the world) it is impossible to learn correct pronunciation from books, tapes, or the internet. A person needs live feedback from a native speaker.

Takahiro agrees. “The hardest thing about learning English for me is listening and vocabulary. There are so many words in English.”

The most difficult aspect for Pius is the many variations in pronunciation. Just when he started to get a grasp of Midwestern speaking, he traveled to Mississippi during Christmas break. He soon found out that there are distinct accents among English speaking Americans. “They speak so fast and the pronunciation is very different from here,” he said.

The students also discovered that there is a large vocabulary of casual and slang terms used in English. Each sought opportunities to talk to native speakers – not just fellow students and faculty members, but staff and community members as well. Speaking with the staff and community members helped them learn everyday speech – casual and slang terms that often do not appear in classroom instruction.

Learning at the College goes beyond English for most students. Those enrolled in the regular College program must be proficient in one modern language other than English to obtain a degree. Instruction in Spanish, French and Vietnamese is available. Students can enroll in Latin language as an elective.

For Divine Word Missionaries, learning the language and culture of a ministry site is an important part of ‘crossing over’ – the process of moving from what’s familiar, native language and culture, to what is unfamiliar and sometimes uncomfortable. Only through language can these young missionaries become ministers of the Word to those eager to hear it.

Learning is a lifelong process. “One of the biggest challenges of learning a new language is to remain in the learner mode and be willing to be like a child needing to learn every day,” said Fr. Schramm.

Bastian knows he will have to continue to learn and practice his English skills every day; even after returning to Indonesia. “I’m planning to keep my English abilities by reading and possibly getting involved in a program where seminarians teach English to high school or college students.” He hopes to learn another language too, Spanish, before being ordained in four years. The Spanish will help him if a future application for ministry in Latin America is approved.

Takahiro thinks that his time at Divine Word College was worthwhile. “When I came here I experienced difficulty in communicating with others. This experience helped me to improve myself and will help me in the future when I must go to another strange language situation.”

Fr. Mark Schramm, SVD

Fr. Mark grew up in Dyersville, Iowa, just ten miles from Divine Word College, and he began his seminary studies there in 1967. After novitiate, he professed first vows as a Divine Word Missionary in 1972.
Fr. Mark professed final vows and was ordained a priest in 1975, and was missioned to Ghana, West Africa, where he worked for 18 years. In the middle of those 18 years, he returned to the United States and spent three years working in the vocation and seminary formation ministries.
In 1997, he again returned to the U.S. to serve in formation ministry.
Fr. Mark is currently on the formation team at Divine Word Theologate in Chicago, and is the Province Director of the Cultural Training Program for men in temporary vows as Divine Word Missionaries.

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