Oh no. Did they just ask me to do what I think they just asked me to do?
“Lo siento. Repete por favor.” (I’m sorry. Repeat that please.)
“Diga la escuela un testimonio o una estoria en Espanol, porfa.” (Please tell the school kids your testimony or a story in Spanish.)
Uhhh. You want me to what?
It’s possible I’ve told the parable of the Lost Sheep on every continent we’ve been to this year. But now in another language? With no translator? Oh dear?
Sometimes it’s a train wreck. Sometimes it’s awesome. Rarely do I get out of it all together. (Except this one time when I was about to have to translate in front of 200 people, and an actual bilingual angel stood up from the crowd and offered his translating services….Whew!)
Sadly this scenario has played out MULTIPLE times in the last two weeks. My incredible teammate Justin and I are the only two on our team that know a decent amount of Spanish. Here in San Raphael Cedro, we have mainly been doing house visits to be people, ministering with the gospel and with reconciliation. Praying for the sick. Believing for wholeness, physically, financially, mentally, spiritually. But, Justin and I have to, I mean, get to talk a lot.
(Side note: We are living with an incredible pastor in his family (12 people, one bathroom, eek). He is super solid theologically and has probably been the best example of what a “pastor” actually should be like to me. He visits people regularly, loves on them, speaks truth into their lives. Not just a Sunday morning kind of guy…he’s an all week, there the second you need him kind of guy. Except, nada ingles.) Reminds me of my Dad, kinda.
It is certainly a privilege to minister the good news alongside him. But doing so in a whole other language. Well that’s not a butterflies in the stomach scenario. There’s bats in there. Big, mean bats. I consider myself a fairly confident person and never really mind public speaking, but I guess when it comes to talking about something as eternal as salvation, the situation just gets heavy to me. What if I say something wrong? What if they speak too fast and I can’t answer their questions?
This week I have been reflecting a bit on how much the Lord has done in me this year. There’s way too much to list in this blog, but one thing in particular has stuck out here in El Salvador.
Trust.
I will trust the Lord, in all things. He will provide a way through every single situation He puts me in. I have nothing to fear. Because my Papa lives inside of me. I can do anything He asks me to, because it’s Him dwelling inside of me moving and breathing and speaking.
I heard a poem on TedTalks recently, where this girl said the first step to anything is to say
1. I can do this.
AND
2. I will do this.
I had a moment last week where I just got very afraid and frustrated because my brain was fried from all the Spanish and several mistranslations that led to awkward situations. I said to the Lord, I can’t do this. It’s too hard.
(Yes you can, Love.)
Christ says that we can do all things through Him, but the question becomes, will we?? I guess one first has to believe that they can do it. Enter trust. When we trust Him, we have to relinquish all excuses, justifications, fears, and laziness. If we’d just let him, He replaces the bats in our tummies with warm, satisfying cocoa.
So when you get put on the spot to preach in a foreign tongue and haven’t got a clue…
When you receive a phone call of a tragedy and have no idea what’s next…
When you get a mysterious rash from eating a pork pupusa and don’t think it will ever go away…
When a loved one gets a brain tumor and fighting it seems impossible…
When you’re trying to figure out what the heck to with your life after the race, achheww37daystogocough…
When life throws you what you least expect, I mean, for those of us whose plans tend to frequently fall apart…
Know that you have just been put in the fortuitous position to trust the Lord, to see Him show up, to act on your behalf. To enable you and fight for you at the same time.
L i f e l i v e d b y t h e S p i r i t i s a l i f e o f w i n g i n g i t.
Jump off. You’ll find you can fly more often than you’ll crash.
This post is already long, once again, but I want to close with a song I’m way into lately by Will Regan and the United Pursuit Band:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15puyOWiqfc
“I lean not on my own understanding. My life is in the hands of the maker of heaven. I give it all to you God, trusting that you’ll make something beautiful out of me. I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open. There’s nothing I hold on to.”
