“One who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Sprit” 1 Corinthians 14:2
I had never heard of tongues before training camp. Someone prayed over me there in a language I did not understand. I wasn’t opposed to it, just not familiar with it. The first morning I was in Ecuador, we had ministry with our whole squad. We sang songs and listened to the leaders and logistics people talk about what to expect on our journey.
Allison, one of the AIM leaders, spoke and afterwards asked us to stand up and pray to God out loud. I started to pray to God for my family back home, and to let them feel at peace about my going on this 11 month mission. I asked him to give me guidance and strength. Then I started to speak things in a language that was not my own and that I could not even understand. I repeated myself over and over and over again, in a language I have never heard before. I was frighten at first and tried to stop it, but was unable to. I was thinking to myself; while still speaking in tongues, will I ever speak English again? I know it sounds crazy, but at the time I was surprised and didn’t know whether to embrace it or fear it. It took me a second to respond and when I did, I told God thank you for the gift you have given me; I fully embrace the gift. It was not until Allison began speaking again that I was able to break from speaking in tongues. I couldn’t stop smiling, and that afternoon at lunch I shared the experience with my team.
That same night, we had ministry worship, and Michael, our speaker from AIM, was talking about speaking in tongues. I raised my hand and stood up, and said that I have been given a gift from God – the gift of tongues. I also told them that back at training camp when we were told to try and prophesize over each other, the last girl that I prophesized over told me two days later that I would one day speak in tongues. At that time I said, whatever God wants for me, but in reality I thought that won’t happen to me. I’m happy that God has giving me the gift of tongues. Now every time I pray I first speak in English and then I go right to tongues. I plan to use it to its full potential! For God knows what’s in store for me.
