Since moving to our new ministry location about a week ago, we have not had an official team translator like we did at our last location. That responsibility has been passed onto me, and at first it was totally difficult. Now, I am having SO much fun with it!! I love being able to help my team in that way, and I absolutely love having that connection with the staff and locals here at Light & Salt.
During this first week as the “unofficial” translator, I have translated devotionals for the boys, translated preaching to elderly people and other locals here in the community, church services for my teammates, and just translated things the staff or locals say to us for my team (including catcalls to my teammates LOL)
My biggest struggle with translating had to be the first day I dived in. Going from not speaking hardly any Spanish at our last location, to speaking Spanish all day every day here (which I absolutely LOVE now) was a huge step for me. There were a lot of words I did not know, especially when translating Bible verses and sermons. But since translating a few times and working in the kitchen, I have learned so many new words and ways to say things and its so exciting! I was really hard on myself and feeling really ashamed and embarrassed for having such a hard time the first few days. I was really disappointed that I wasn’t doing how I expected I would and I felt like I was really letting my team down when I couldn’t tell them what people were saying. After a few days of getting to know the staff and them getting used to how to talk to me so I could understand, things are going SO much better now. The staff knows to talk to me slowly when they have a lot to say, but they also know when they can challenge me a little bit and teach me new things! They are so patient and so understanding as well as excited to help me learn, and it’s all thanks to the Lord for that!
One of my favorite things is the way people react when I tell them im not Hispanic- everyone asks me if I’m Mexican (which doesn’t help that I have a t-shirt that says “Mexico” on it LOL) and when I say no, they don’t believe me! It’s soooo funny.
I just wanted to share how my Spanish is coming along since switching ministry locations, and I can confidently say SO AMAZING! To think that 4 years ago the Lord already knew these plans He had for me, so He placed that passion for Spanish on my heart to prepare me for this. I absolutely LOVE this culture, I love the people, the music, the dancing, but most importantly their hearts for God and the fact that I get to connect with them and talk to them about God by using Spanish. Thank you Jesus!!!
Con mucho amor, Raquel <3
