The other morning, my group and I were
spending time in prayer at the prayer chosa, a hut they have on the property.
As I was praying, I was asking the Lord to give me a supernatural ability to
learn, speak, and understand Spanish, so that there would not be a language
barrier. The language has been something that I feel has been holding me back a
little. How do I really communicate with the kids and adults around me? I felt
something stir within me and the words ‘Katie, the language barrier is only
just as big as what you make it. You are being my hands and feet and I am with
you wherever you go.’ Every time I pick up that child it’s Him reaching out
through me just wrapping His arm around them. The Lord has been showing me through different people that language
isn’t as big a barrier as I do make it out to be. Sure it would make things
easier, but this mission trip and year is not about being easy. That lesson God taught me has stayed in the
back of my mind and I’m reminded of it daily with the people that I meet.
At the mission school we are staying at,
there is a cook named Fernando. He’s 23
and from an indigenous tribe in Ecuador called Schwar. He speaks no English but we have had so much
fun with him. We don’t understand each
other at all but yet we still love being around each other. The first week we were here, we spent 2 ½
hours with Fernando doing a tremendous amount of laughter. Another night, we were playing a game around
the table and Fernando came up behind me and started helping me play, although
he had absolutely no idea how to play and was showing me the wrong moves. One night, while the team was doing feedback
in a room, there was a knock on our door. It was Fernando coming to us to ask for prayer for a family situation
that had just happened, it took a while for us to figure out that one, but the
Lord always provides a way.
Luisa, is another worker at the mission
school, she is one of the hardest workers I’ve seen. One night she came to our room and just sat
on the floor with us and started watching an episode of ‘Friends’ with us (we have
to have something to remind us of home). Luisa speaks absolutely no English but just enjoys being around us,
probably thinking the whole time, those crazy Americans.
comes to the services every week that speaks very little Spanish, only Quechua,
his tribal language. He feels God’s
presence in the church regardless of the human language spoken there about
being easy.
