In the past four and a half months, I have traveled through, over, and around more than eight different countries. My first three months were spend speaking, mainly, broken Spanish to Hondurans, El Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Mayans. Between Central America and Europe, we ended up in New York for a day, so we were able to speak English (my language of choice) to anyone we so desired. From NYC we traveled to Turkey (Turkish language). We got to Albania, and although we were able to speak to our British contact in English, we still needed to communicate with the townspeople when we went to the grocery store, or to small restaurants near-by. Albanian is much different than Spanish and English.
We traveled by bus from Albania to Bulgaria. Driving over night, we passed through Kosovo, and Macedonia. Don't even ask me what languages they speak- I couldn't even begin to guess. However, we are now in Bulgaria, where they speak Bulgarian. There are also people who know a little bit of Spanish, English, Russian or French, or any combination of the few. I'm starting to catch on to the signing game. I have had a few conversations with my hands and body movements. I thank God for Google and WiFi at restaurants. If there is one language that I am confident in speaking, it's Google Translate.
In Ruse, where we spent our first week and a half, we were lucky enough to meet some people within the church that spoke English. One of which we got to know pretty well. She's one of the youth at the church. Her and her sister showed us around the city, came to a ballet with us, and were really intentional about spending time with us. The relationship that we were able to form with her and her sister was one of strength, and love. When we left, she said that our being there had pushed her to move harder towards God.
All prettied up for the ballet!!
There were other people who spoke English, just as well. Our contact was one of those people. Daniella is a sweet sweet mother of a beautiful three year old daughter, Yuanna. She put her whole heart into all she did. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we went to a house near the river and we hung out with four "special needs" youth. We colored with them, made puzzles, played games, and sang and danced. Daniella's heart was ALL OVER that ministry. She set the perfect example of what God's love looks like coming from a human. Her light radiated. We were also able to spend a morning at a school for severely "special needs" children. We sang songs and danced dances. We pretended to understand their Bulgarian whispers and giggled along with them. We held hands, hugged hugs, and fived high-fives. We loved those kids will everything we could, even if we didn't understand their words.
Enjoying the weather at on of the sites. Hiking up to the rock!
Here's the coolest part about our all-knowing, all-powerful Father. No matter where we go, what language we speak or don't speak, God is the same. He is still constant. He is still all knowing. He is still presented through actions. Words may not be the most effective way to minister to people who don't understand you, but love can still be shown. Whether it be a simple smile, or as much as building a home for someone. Whether you're working with children who have special needs or sitting in on a prayer meeting that you don't understand. The love of Christ will shine through you if you just let it.
This Race brings us to 11 countries in 11 months. And most months, just as you're starting to learn the language, you're packing your bags and heading to your next country. But no matter where you go, Jesus is the same. Christians all around the world, who are living their lives as faithful children of the Lord, know the same God, serve the same God, and are loved by the same God. We may not understand each other's words, but we do understand the love that God is working within us.
