Poisonwood Bible: Critical response to a passage

As I make my way throughout the book, the characters in the Poisonwood Bible grow and change beyond what I could ever expect. I think that one of the most interesting aspects of any book is how the personality of the character is shown through his/her words. While I was reading "The Judges", one passage stood out.

"Tata Jesus is Bangala" declares the Reverend every Sunday at the end of his sermon. More and more, mistrusting his interpreters, he tries to speak in Kikongo. He throws back his head and shouts these words to the sky, while his lambs sit scratching themselves in wonder. Bangala means something precious and dear. But the way he pronounces it, it means the poisonwood tree. Praise the Lord, hallelujah, my friends! for Jesus will make you itch like nobody's business."

In class, we discussed how Father does not truly immerse himself in the culture of the Congo. Unlike Brother Fowles, who learned to accept the culture while spreading his own, Father stubbornly refuses to learn about the culture. I think this passage gets one very important message across to the reader. Father is truly an outsider to these people. He tries to incorporate Kikongo into his sermon, but he ends up mutilating the language. What's worse, he doesn't even seem to notice that he is pronouncing the word incorrectly. In my opinion, this is Father's biggest mistake. He fails in every aspect where Brother Fowles succeeded. The people don't like him because he only acknowledges his own beliefs. This passage can show us how ignorant Father really is.