This last month (aka the last month of my whole race WHAT) my team had the opportunity to work with WYCLIFFE Bible Translation. This month was a bigger blessing than I could have ever even asked for or imagined. My team was located in Tomohon which is a small village located in Northern Sulawesi Island in Indonesia. I love being in small towns because it gives us more of a chance to interact with the locals and form deep relationships. Indonesians are so friendly and hospitable and they loved making us feel at home this entire month. We were invited into peoples homes and they cooked meals for us (shout-out to Albert’s corn fritters). We were taken on so many fun adventures (hiking an active volcano and snorkeling in one of the top snorkeling spots in the world). And we were able to form so many deep relationships in the span of three short weeks.
Our main ministry this month was teaching english to men, women, and children in a one-on-one setting. The bible translators at the WYCLIFFE office are all local Indonesians and they have a deep desire to learn English so they can better translate God’s word as well as share their faith with others. I had the opportunity to teach the same woman every single day. Her name is Jane and she is a mother of two. On our very first day of English lessons she was extremely shy and nervous. We went over basic English and when we got to colors I asked her what her favorite color was and why. She told me the color red because it represents bravery and she really wanted to be brave and speak English.
Over the course of two weeks I got to spend two hours with Jane every day. I taught her English, but more importantly I formed a friendship with her. I got to know all about her family and her life. We shared our testimonies and I was able to teach her how to share her faith with someone in English. Each time we met she gained more and more confidence in herself and in her ability to speak English. When she would wear the color red I would tell her that she looked beautiful and that she was so brave.
On the last day of our English lessons for the month I gave her a note. In the note I told her how much I enjoyed teaching her and that I would miss her very much. She was reading the note out loud to me and she began to cry as she read it. She gave me the biggest hug and told me that because of our English lessons together she felt that she was so brave and was not scared to speak English anymore. I cried saying goodbye to Jane who is someone I did not even know three weeks ago.
I can look back at this month and see how God used me to touch one person’s life. I didn’t transform tens or hundreds or thousands, but through teaching English to one woman, God allowed me to use the gifts and talents he gave me to encourage Jane to be brave and to show her His love. Teaching Jane showed me that God has given me a special gift for one-on-one interaction and that I can use that gift to glorify Him. I don’t need to reach hundreds because God can use me to reach just one person and honestly that’s enough for me.
