On Monday we went on an adventure with some of the young people from Pastor Willy’s church. We bussed 40 minutes from the church to the heart of San Pedro where we met up with more young people and started walking from there. We hiked for about 45 minutes to this waterfall. The hike was muddy because it had rained the entire night before, but that did not keep us from going. We hiked through diary cow fields and I have never seen rolling hills covered in grass as vibrantly green before. This countryside was honestly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The cows seemed so happy roaming in these lush fields. I imagine that heaven will have rolling hills like this for us to enjoy, or at least I hope it does.
One of the things I found to be the most interesting about this hike is how getting out into nature can connect people deeply. While waking it was fun to see how even though there is a language barrier we all had the same desires. We all wanted to stay on the dry ground as much as possible, we wanted sure footing and to stay away from the cow pies. When we would encounter a large mud puddle everyone would take the same path through it. We would try and find the driest parts to step on to keep our shoes from squishing in the mud. And when someone would slip or their foot would sink in, others would rush into help and laughter would bubble up. Laughter is one of those things that transcends every language. It is the same in every language, it bonds people together even when they can not understand each other. It turns everyone into a kid again, breaks down walls and tears down barriers.
Making connections with the local people has been hard because of the language barrier. I have felt the Lord challenging me to step into the uncomfortable and try to connect anyway. If you know me well you know that I don’t like to do things I am not good at. I am only comfortable jumping into situations I know that I can either control or be proficient in. So trying to communicate with my broken Spanish is SUPER uncomfortable for me. I don’t like to be wrong or have people correct me so it is hard for me to even try. But days like Monday are encouraging me to jump in anyway. To go ahead and make a fool of myself because every person is worth connecting with. It is worth the two seconds of being uncomfortable to build a relationship.
So I am working on it. Working on putting myself out there. Making connections and hopefully translating love through my actions and broken Spanish.
