After moving to Germany in the summer of 1990, and helping lead a summer-long outreach team, once they left and school started, it was time for me to get down to business with learning German. I took courses at the nearest Goethe Institute. It is a very well-respected and high quality language and culture institute. Iserlohn was a 20-30 minute drive away from our temporary housing at the Bibel Center in Breckerfeld.

At that point in time I was under the delusion that one could normally achieve fluency within one year, if one really worked hard and applied onself. Well, I was giving it my all, doing my homework faithfully, working on vocabulary, etc. The levels took about two months each and after the fourth course, one should be able to pass the proficiency exam.

My teacher for the third course, sometime around January or February, 1991 was a good teacher. But at 6-7 months of pregnancy, she would sometimes come across rather harshly. You can imagine my dismay when she took me aside and suggested that I think about retaking the third course! I was devastated!

Here I had been giving my all, and it appeared as if it were not enough. Had they picked the wrong guy to go to Germany? I desperately needed to reorient according to God’s Word. So I took some time alone with God in a nearby forest. I poured out my heart to Him and asked for His wisdom.

 The portion of Scripture I “happened” to be reading was 2. Corinthians 3 and 4. And they reminded me of some truth statements from God:

“Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.  Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God,  who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

2. Corintians 3:4-6

God had encouraged me through some truth statements about my adequacy in Him to serve in whatever way He calls. So, I kept working hard, did not repeat the third course, and finished on time after the fourth course, passing the exam. Through His adequacy, I had a Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsprache. To Him be the glory!