He stopped me midstride as I walked out of the sanctuary. I could see in his eyes that it would take him a minute to figure out what he would say.
“I need… speak… English,” The smile on his face told me that he had just won a small victory. He formulated a sentence in one of the hardest languages in the world!
I smiled back and told him in Spanish that I needed to speak his language too.
The next time he saw me, his forehead wrinkled in concentration. His brown eyes met my blue eyes and he pointed at me as if he was on a mission and I was his target.
When I walked over, he told me that he needed my help. He needed to learn how to introduce himself in English. I remembered the mountain I had to climb to introduce myself in Spanish and Chinese for the first time.
Of course, I would help him! No one should have to start hiking up a mountain by themselves!
My only stipulation was that I needed to know why he needed to learn English. I needed to know his heart behind it. I wanted to know his story.
He needed a better job. His shoemaking business was simply not enough. He needed a job at a call center to make ends meet. He has a girlfriend. He wants to provide for her someday. He needs to be able to interact with foreigners to grow any kind of business.
As I thought about how many times I had heard similar stories, I wanted to cry.
I wanted to cry because it’s not fair.
It’s not fair that this man or anyone else must learn English just because the most powerful population in the world is, for the most part, not willing to try to speak any other language.
In that moment, I felt honored that God gave me the ability to speak 2 languages. I was humbled when I realized that, that gets to be my ministry right now.
My Spanish may be broken at times. I may sound like a fool when I talk about the past tense with present tense verbs.
But… I want to hear their stories… I want to hear their stories in the way that they know how to tell me. I want to tell them about Jesus’s love for them in a way they can understand.
I wish I could learn every language in the world because it’s just not fair that one of the most difficult languages to learn holds so much power.
“Please,” I asked him, “teach me Spanish too. You be my Spanish teacher and I’ll be your English teacher.”
He laughed back in agreement.
I long for heaven because there everyone can be understood. Everyone can be heard.
For now, all I can do is say…
“I’ll teach you my language if you teach me yours.”
Next time you get frustrated that someone doesn’t speak your language, I pray that the Lord will give you patience and grace.
Learn a little Spanish. Learn a little Chinese. Pick up a few words in Portuguese, Burmese and German. Give them a taste of what heaven might look like.
Judging by the smiles and grace I have received as I’ve simply tried to speak in Spanish this month, I know it will mean the world to them.
