In the Nepali language, there is an honorific scale for pronouns and verb conjugations. If we meet someone on the road who is older than us we might ask, "Tapaai kasto hunuhuncha?" ("How are you?") If we meet a child we ask, "Timi kasto chhau?" Notice the change from "Tapaai" to "Timi." Both words mean "you", but Tapaai is the more respectful form. Also, the verb ending changed from "hunuhuncha" down to "chhau" according to the honorific scale. This "Tapaii" form is also used between people who have just met and do not have a close relationship. Even people the same age will use "Tapaai" sometimes if they don't know each other. They are simply being polite.
That's nice, but so what? Well, most people here refer to us in the "Tapaai" form. It denotes respect, but it also means that we don't have a close relationship with them.
We study with our language helper five days a week for two hours each day. We really like her a lot, but even after 3 or 4 months she was still using "Tapaai" when addressing us. We felt a little sad that even though we are the same age as her she was still keeping us at a distance.
She has been coming to our church regularly now for the past 5 months. Recently, her sister in Kolkata became very ill and the doctors decided she needed surgery. Our language helper was very worried about her sister and asked us to prayer for her. The very next day she called us and said that instead of surgery the doctors had discharged her sister from the hospital. We knew God had healed her sister. But what is even better is that now our language helper only refers to us in the "Timi" form.
Tonya has also gotten to know some of the women in our neighborhood very well over the past month. One lady, who is just a couple years older than us, has a small, bamboo-roofed store next to our building. She is married, and they have a 6 year old boy. Often Tonya sits inside her store and talks with her during the day. Some in English, and some in Nepali. Sometimes she makes momos, noodles, or aloo dum (potatoes in spicy tomato sauce) for us in the evenings in her small apartment. She knows the sound of our motorcycle and will often come out of her store to smile and wave at us as we come around the last corner up to our house.
At first, even though she is older than us, she would refer to us in the "Tapaii" form. But now she addresses us in the "Timi" form as well. It feels great inside whenever someone here makes that shift in how they address us. It means they are drawing us closer in.
Please continue to pray that more people here will draw us closer in.
Jared & Tonya Wright
We study with our language helper five days a week for two hours each day. We really like her a lot, but even after 3 or 4 months she was still using "Tapaai" when addressing us. We felt a little sad that even though we are the same age as her she was still keeping us at a distance.
She has been coming to our church regularly now for the past 5 months. Recently, her sister in Kolkata became very ill and the doctors decided she needed surgery. Our language helper was very worried about her sister and asked us to prayer for her. The very next day she called us and said that instead of surgery the doctors had discharged her sister from the hospital. We knew God had healed her sister. But what is even better is that now our language helper only refers to us in the "Timi" form.
Tonya has also gotten to know some of the women in our neighborhood very well over the past month. One lady, who is just a couple years older than us, has a small, bamboo-roofed store next to our building. She is married, and they have a 6 year old boy. Often Tonya sits inside her store and talks with her during the day. Some in English, and some in Nepali. Sometimes she makes momos, noodles, or aloo dum (potatoes in spicy tomato sauce) for us in the evenings in her small apartment. She knows the sound of our motorcycle and will often come out of her store to smile and wave at us as we come around the last corner up to our house.
At first, even though she is older than us, she would refer to us in the "Tapaii" form. But now she addresses us in the "Timi" form as well. It feels great inside whenever someone here makes that shift in how they address us. It means they are drawing us closer in.
Please continue to pray that more people here will draw us closer in.
Jared & Tonya Wright
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