It’s been a week since our plane landed in Santiago, Chile.
Our ministry host’s received us with more grace then we could ever dream of. As we came out of custom’s to exit the airport, sweaty and exhausted from travel, we spotted the whiteboard that had our team leader’s name on it. We introduced ourselves to some of our new family and they grabbed our massive packs off of our backs and put them on a cart.
It’s happening. I’m really doing this.
When I walked into our new home for the month, I was overwhelmed with joy. Greeted by many kisses on the cheek (as that’s what you do here- which I’m a big fan of btw), and a delicious lunch, I felt the warm tears streaming down my face. God has totally been preparing this place for my team’s arrival.
Ministry has been good, but hard.
My team and I have had the opportunity to do home visits, prayer walks, share during church services, help with worship, spend time in a local old ladies home, and host a women’s bible study over the past week.
The language barrier has been a struggle. More than I thought it could be. Being the social human that I am, I want to interact so badly with everyone through words. And that’s not exactly possible yet. The enemy has totally been attacking me with this weakness.
There have been multiple times when someone asks me a question that I don’t understand. I feel my insides shut down. I hear the enemy’s lies that “I don’t belong here. I have nothing to offer because I can’t understand this language.” It totally sucks.
But yesterday, the Lord gave me a simple opportunity to help. Without words.
We were doing a home visit. A sweet woman named Elsa, 94 years old, had been bed ridden for awhile due to a broken femur. She was sharp and very present despite her old age. Her husband likes to plays guitar and sing hymns and the local music to her. Through translation, he learned that I also play guitar and asked if I could tune his guitar for him because he didn’t know how.
So I did.
Something so easy for me, but the Lord knew I could complete this simple task to bless this couple’s worship time.
Week one, I learned that I don’t need to preach a fancy sermon, say an extravagant prayer, or lead a worship set to serve God. I just need to show up and be present for the little tasks that the Lord lays in front of me.
