One of my worst fears about The World Race was realized in month #2… Door-to-Door Evangelism. Yes, our main ministry this month in Chao, Peru is going from house to house in this small “pueblo” of about 20,000 people, telling them about Jesus and inviting them to church. The day we arrived and realized our assignment I think our contacts had the same reaction we did “How are we going to do door-to-door evangelism (D2DE) when we don’t even speak the language”, which here in Chao is a different dialect of Spanish called Castilian. Not to mention, this is the first time the church here is doing D2DE and they were expecting to learn from us. Oh boy this could be a long month…
We split into groups, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and join members of the church for two hours of knocking on doors. Depending on which members of the church are assigned each day determines our role in the conversations at each home. Some members will knock and introduce us as the missionaries from the United States and then step aside. The first time this happened I panicked a little, stumbled over my words, only to receive some confusing looks or giggles over my “gringa” pronunciations. I’ve gotten good at saying in Spanish “My name is Nicole, I am from the United States. I am visiting Chao for one month to work with the Allianza church down the street. I want to share with the people of Chao the love of God and how God changed my life for the better.” Then I usually add “Lo siento for mi espanol es no bueno” to ease the tension a little.
After a few days of discomfort, I started to relax and enjoy our assignment. The people here are actually willing to talk to us and often invite us into their homes. It is not like the US where often people slam the door in your face while saying “I’m not interested” (I’ve certainly been guilty of doing this). Here the people almost seem excited to have a visitor. They ask questions, allow us to clear up any confusion about Christianity, talk openly about why they don’t believe, allow us to pray for them and many have asked Jesus Christ into their hearts!! Even with the language barrier, God is clearly using our team to help reach the lost people of Chao.
At the same time, I also feel He is using us to encourage and pour into the members of the church walking the street with us. One woman in particular, Lucinda, is probably the most joyful woman I’ve met in all of Peru! In a tranquil, simple and sometimes serious town she is a spirited, dynamic and silly lady! God has used her to bring comfort to our team in the form of hospitality (hot water thermoses and laundry services), laughter that often eases frustration, and reassurance that she understands some of the physical and emotional challenges we face being here. (Lucinda is on the right in the photo) On one of my recent D2D outings with Lucinda, in between her knocking on doors and stopping random people in the street to tell them about our Great God, we did a lot of laughing because she finds English words very amusing. I taught her three words/phrases: Squash, Sweet Potato and I love you. “Squash” was a big hit which she wanted me to say over and over. And ever since this outing when she sees me she opens her arms to give me a big hug while saying “I love YOUS” (yes “yous” with an “s”). I thank God he put Lucinda in my life and in the lives of the people of Chao!
I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Philemon 1:6
Philemon 1:6
