I took four years of spanish in high school. 3 weeks ago, when we arrived in Bogota, the only spanish I could converse with was “hola” and “como estas?”. I think I have come a long way in three weeks. I can have elementary conversations and (read: sometimes) I can actually understand what our hosts are saying to us. Truly, a miracle. I think I can speak for my whole team when I say I wish we could take some Rosetta Stone spanish lessons.
The past couple of days, my team and I have been really sick. We are recovering well, but it has been a rough time. When we woke up this morning, I was not thrilled about ministry. I wanted to crawl back into my sleeping bag, call my mom and ask her to fly to Bogota to help me feel better. Turns out, a plane ticket is expensive, my mom has a real life job and I am learning more about how to live dependent on the Lord. I prayed for energy, confidence and strength to make it through the day.
Alas, we went to the local public school, where we got the sweet opportunity to talk about the greatest love story of all time. It took me back to my wyldlife days. I instantly thought of my middle school friends, the things they struggled with, and the love that they craved. I longed to be that for these eighth and ninth graders at Colegio Nuevo Horizonte. I wanted to look all of them in the face of their pain and tell them they are worth so much more than they think they are, to tell them there is far better things out there than what they know. That there is a Father waiting for them to come home.
The hardest part of ministry, for me, has been not being able to adequately communicate my thoughts and feelings with words to these friends. Translators are not always available and spanish dictionary sometimes does a subpar job of communicating my words.
Still, today and many other times throughout this month, I have been reminded by the Lord that my actions speak more than my words ever could.
I believe wholeheartedly in a God who surpasses language barriers. Kingdom can still be brought, whether or not the friends we are speaking with know our language. And that is the most rad thing ever.
Following Jesus is not defined by any language. Because the human language will always fail us. It will never be able to fully describe our deepest desires or feelings, but we can find rest in knowing that the Creator of the Universe knows it all, despite the barriers.
I know that the Lord is showing up in what we are doing. These friends may not understand what we are saying, but it is my hope that they would be able to see Jesus through our actions. When we do the work that the Lord has called us to do, our actions come first, and our words come second.
How sweet it has been to see brothers and sisters from different backgrounds, different ethnicities and different cultures serve, love, praise and join the party with Abba.
so much love,
car
