“We are hoping to go to mainland France in late August to spend an academic year studying French.  But why?  Well basically because people on Mayotte speak French!  Lots of people in Africa speak at least two languages, often called a ‘heart language’ and a ‘trade language’.  We spent two  years learning the ‘heart language’ and now we need to learn the ‘trade language’. Secondly, as we plan on doing Bible based ministry in the small international church we will need a very high level of French to disciple, preach, lead Bible studies etc. with Malagasy and French Christians. Why not just learn on Mayotte?  We want to invest an intensive year learning French so we can hit the ground running when we go back to Mayotte.”