Here are some hilarious excerpts from my life….
I thought Alexandro was asking in Spanish if we were going to be eating breakfast, and if so, he was going to go and pick it up. I said yes and offered that one of us could go with him if he needed help. Turns out, he wanted to know if he were picking up breakfast, and if so, could he get in the shower first. Needless to say, he did not need anyone to accompany him in the shower.
We made the mistake of leaving the church door wide open and a local strolled in to sell us some food he had. In trying to say ‘no thank you, I am not hungry’, instead I said something to the effect of ‘no thank you, you need a man’.
Similarly, when hungry, I often say “I need a man”
When visiting with locals, I try to ask them if we can pray with them. Instead, I usually say something to the effect of “I need prayer”
Please pray for me as I have been feeling very discouraged lately by not knowing the language. Part of it is that I usually mess up what I am trying to say, but the biggest problem is that I cant understand their responses. What good is it to ask ‘How are you’ if you cant understand when they give you a genuine answer beyond ‘bien’ (good)! I try and pull in one of the translators when I can, but sometimes, even that breaks the mood. Last month, I hugged and smiled at a young girl and ask how she way and she burst into tears and launched into telling me something very deep and heartfelt, but I had NO IDEA what it was! I tried to call over a translator, but the girl completely shut down and clammed up at the addition of this third person. I am so thankful to the Lord that He designed me to get to the heart so quickly, but I feel so lost and helpless when I am operating in another language.
Next month will likely be even more challenging. At least we have 1 very good Spanish speaker and both me and another girl know a little bit. In the Philippines, it will be a whole new ballgame! Please pray that I would not ‘shrink back in fear’ and avoid engaging the locals, but that the Holy Spirit would show up in new and tangible ways to set people free, even without my words.
