“BOG”
Yesterday our team did ATL (ask the Lord). It’s an exercise in listening prayer where we walk around the city in prayer, asking the Lord to show us an opportunity. It can be someone to meet or pray for, an opportunity for ministry, or an experience to have as a team. We prayed as a team and started walking.
After a few minutes, my teammate and friend, Thomas, asked me, “Isaiah, how ya doing?” I knew he wanted to know how I was actually doing.
“Lately, I’ve been in a season of silence from God. I’ve heard Him actually speak to me many times, but lately He hasn’t been telling me. I’m trying to just stay trusting in faith, but it’s been a little frustrating I think.”
“Hm.” He thought of a response as we kept walking. “Something I’ve seen in life is that when you’re teaching a little child to walk, there are two options. One is, you are constantly encouraging and coaching the kid ‘Come on! You can do it! Lil baby steps!’ Or the other way is you can sit back, be quiet, and watch the kid learn to walk on his own. Does that speak to your life at all?” Thomas has a lot of wisdom.
I was really encouraged to think about it that way. It changed the stakes for ATL. I went from being discouraged by God’s silence, to being excited to see what God wanted me to learn to walk towards. We departed from the path that I thought we were going to be taking, so I asked from the back of the group, “Do we know where we are going?”
My team told me we were going to the apartment complex where one of our new Serbian friends lives. When we arrived, we didn’t really have a plan. We passed the two buildings, and an old woman was seated on the steps out front. I started feeling like I should go talk to her, but we kept wandering around the property. We all kind of stopped and weren’t sure where to go. We walked in between the two buildings which took us past the old woman. Again I felt like I should stop and talk to her but kept walking.
I started thinking about the words Thomas spoke to me just 20 minutes earlier. Yep. Okay, God definitely guided me toward this, and then we passed her again. I get it. I am not outgoing; I don’t initiate conversations with strangers very often, but I decided I had to. I walked up to her with a smile and said, “Dobor don.” (Good day)
“Dobor Don.” She smiled back.
“Kako si?” I asked how she was doing in Serbian. She said she was good. Uh oh. I was at the end of my Serbian language skills already.
“Engleski?” I asked, hoping we could communicate in English.
“Ne.” Exactly what I had worried about was now happening. I stood there in silence trying to figure out what to do or say. I pointed to myself and said my name. I pointed to her and she said, “Nena.”
“Can I pray for you, Nena?” She didn’t understand. I pressed my hands together in classic “prayer” pose. She still didn’t understand. I wanted so badly to communicate with her and pray for her. I quickly remembered the Serbian worship songs we sang at church on Sunday when I figured out the Serbian name for “God” from the context clues. I pointed to the sky and said “Bog.Can I talk to Bog for Nena?”
“Da. Da.” She agreed with a big smile.
I prayed that Nena was doing well. That even though she didn’t understand my words, she would understand my intention. I prayed that God would touch her despite this language barrier. That she would know Him and feel the love of Jesus in her heart. That God would guide her and provide her with comfort and strength and love.
She looked very joyful as we parted ways. I felt very joyful as we parted ways. I finally stopped waiting around for God to tell me what to do, and I did what I already knew He wanted me to do. I have a feeling this will not be the last time Holy Spirit overcomes a language barrier. I look forward to more beautiful encounters where the only thing that makes sense or makes a connection is the Lord.
