Raising Children in Faith Across Two Languages: A South African Parent's Guide

There is a situation that is so common in South Africa that it is rarely talked about. It is the situation of the Christian parent who speaks one language at home and another language at the school gate. The parent who reads the bedtime story in Sepedi while the child does the homework in English. The parent who prays in isiXhosa while the Sunday school uses English.

South Africa has eleven official languages. Most Christian households in Johannesburg operate in two of them. The question every one of these parents carries is the same question. How do I pass my faith to my child when the language of the faith at home is not the language my child lives in during the week?

What the Bible Actually Says About Passing Faith to Children

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 — These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Psalm 78:4-7 — We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord. Proverbs 22:6 — Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. 2 Timothy 3:14-15 — From infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 6:4 — Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

What you notice is that the passing of faith is presented as something that happens in the everyday. Not in the Sunday school lesson. Not in the special church event. In the sitting at home and walking along the road and lying down and getting up. The everyday. The kitchen table. The car ride. The bedtime. The language that is actually being used at that moment.

The Three Temptations of the Multilingual South African Christian Parent

Temptation 1 — To Switch to English at Home

Many Christian parents, after a few years of school, switch to English at home. The Bible does not support this switch. The Bible assumes the home is the primary place of faith formation. The home is the primary place because the home is where the bedtime prayer happens, the bedtime story is told, the talking about them when you sit at home happens.

Temptation 2 — To Make the Faith English-Only

The opposite temptation is to make the faith an English-only thing. The Bible does not support this either. Psalm 22:3 — God inhabits the praises of his people. 1 Corinthians 14:15 — Pray with the spirit and pray with the mind. The faith is not the English-only faith. The faith is the language of the heart.

Temptation 3 — To Leave the Faith-Forming to the Church

Many Christian parents leave the faith-forming to the church. The Bible does not support this either. The Deuteronomy 6 passage assumes the home is the primary place. The Psalm 78 passage assumes each generation tells the next. The church supports the home. The church does not replace the home.

What the Multilingual South African Christian Home Looks Like in Practice

Practice 1 — The Home Language Is the Prayer Language

The bedtime prayer is prayed in the home language. The meal prayer is prayed in the home language. The home language is the prayer language because the home language is the language of the heart.

Practice 2 — The Bible Story Is Told in the Home Language First

The Bible story is told at the kitchen table in the home language first. The story of David and Goliath is told in Setswana on the rug after bath time. The story of the Prodigal Son is told in isiXhosa on the drive to school. The English Bible comes later.

Practice 3 — The Worship Song Is in the Home Language

The worship song on a Saturday morning is in the home language. The parent puts on the hymn in isiZulu from the township church the parent grew up in. The child grows up with the hymns in the home language as the soundtrack of the home.

Practice 4 — The Grandparent Is the Faith-Forming Helper

The grandparent is the secret weapon of the multilingual Christian home in South Africa. The grandparent is the one who speaks the home language without the English mixed in. The grandparent is the one who tells the Bible story in the home language without translating it. Many families deliberately send the child to the grandparent for a week in the school holiday. The week is for the language. The week is for the hymns. The week is for the grandmother's prayer.

Practice 5 — The Two Bibles on the Shelf

Many of the families in our Bible study have two Bibles on the shelf. The English Bible (probably the NIV or the ESV) is for the church, the school, the Bible study. The home language Bible is for the kitchen table, the bedtime, the car ride. The two Bibles are for different moments. When the child is old enough, the parent gives the child both Bibles.

The Two Questions Every Multilingual South African Christian Parent Asks

Question 1 — "Will My Child's Faith Survive the English-Only School?"

Yes. The faith has survived the English-only school in every generation of South African Christians since 1652. The faith survives because the faith is not a language. The faith is a person. The person is Jesus. The parent who has anchored the faith in the home language has given the child a foundation that the English-only school cannot shake.

Question 2 — "What If My Home Language Is Not the Language of My Heart?"

The Bible requires the parent to pass the faith in the language of the home. If the language of the home is English, the faith is passed in English. If the language of the home is a reconstructed language the parent is learning alongside the child, the faith is passed in the reconstructing. The Bible assumes the language of the home. The Bible does not assume any particular language.

A Prayer for the Multilingual South African Christian Parent

God of the home — we thank you for the children you have given us. We thank you for the kitchen table where the Bible story is told. We thank you for the bedtime where the prayer is prayed. We thank you for the car ride where the hymn is sung. We confess that we are afraid that the English of the school will crowd out the language of the home. We confess that we are afraid that the language of the home will not equip the child for the world. Help us to pass the faith in the language of the home. Help us to pray in the language of the home. Help us to sing in the language of the home. Help us to tell the Bible story in the language of the home. Help us to honour the grandparent who carries the language we cannot carry. Give us the patience for the bedtime story told in the same words every night. Give us the patience for the hymn on the playlist for the hundredth time. We trust that the faith passed in the language of the home will survive the English of the school. In the name of the one who spoke Aramaic in the home, who prayed in Aramaic in the garden, who read the Hebrew scriptures in the synagogue. Amen.

Johannesburg Bible Study Church meets online every Wednesday at 7:30pm. The home language of the prayer is the home language of the faith. Call +27 77 487 1295 or +27 67 442 4461 to join.