God: Interpreter, Provider

I didn't realize how much time Neal and I spent together in Nicaragua until I got home and started telling these stories.  I think this is the last one (for now).

On Thursday morning we drove to another middle-of-nowhere church where we were going to do a service at 10am.  The Nicaraguan pastors suggested we walk around town and invite people, especially children, to the service.  So we did exactly that.

We strategically split into two groups with our best Spanish-speaking students split up and our bilingual Nicaraguan pastors split up.  Manolo, the bilingual Nicaragua pastor in our group, told me he wasn't going to translate our invitations.  That was all my job.  Huh what?  Not fair!

I would have much preferred to hide in the back and not do any of the talking.  Manolo was going to make sure that didn't happen.

So towards the first house we walked.  Our team stayed in a crowd in the street, and Neal and I approached the front door.

"Buenas," he said.  "We're going to have a church service over there at ten o'clock if you'd be interested in joining us.  Especially children, we're going to have activities and games for them."

Yeah, I don't know those words.  But I translated the best I could.  Then Neal and I walked on to the next house, and Manolo talked to the people, probably clarifying what I said.

Neal tried to get the other people in our group to introduce the neighbors, but only a few did and still I did all of the translating.  Honestly, I didn't really think it fair that they got to hang out and talk while I did all of the work.

That's because it was awkward and very uncomfortable to walk up to a house and talk to strangers about church... in Spanish never the less!  Neal and I confessed to each other that it was out of our comfort zones.  But with every house, we admitted, it got easier.  Neal became comfortable with his spiel and thus I began to anticipate what he was going to say.  Of course, he threw me a curve ball now and again but the more houses we talked to, the less clarification Manolo gave afterwards.

 Of course, by now it was 10:05 and we were still inviting people to the service at 10:00... Nicaraguan time.

As we walked back to the church to prepare for the service, we talked about how the Holy Spirit interprets for us.  It communicates what we cannot.  That brought me so much peace.  Even with my befuddled Spanish, the Holy Spirit allowed to be heard what needed to be heard.

When we got back to the church, we were able to see the fruits of our labor.  Not at first, mind you, but slowly the church filled up.  Eventually, they dismissed the kids to go out back.

One... two... three... four... I stopped counting at 50.  Our final estimate was about 80.  All squished into an area the size of a dorm room. 

And again we had no plan.

We did a skit to stall for time.  Then Sara told the story of Jonah (and Annalisa, our best Spanish-speaker, interpreted).  Then we handed out Jonah coloring pages... until we ran out.

Then we handed out home safety coloring pages... until we ran out.

Then we handed out blank pieces of paper... until we ran out.  That time we ran out of kids asking for paper.

I manned the paper and crayons while our other team members scattered themselves among the masses.

Some of our girls set up in the corner of the backyard area and made Salvation Bracelets. 

We kept worrying about running out of beads, so we signaled for those incharge of the service to wrap it up.  They saw, "Keep going."

Five loaves, two fish, and a half-a-bag of beads we did not run out.  God is such a provider!  It's was awesome!

It was great to be on the bus leaving and see the children wave, each boasting a Salvation Bracelet on the wrist that matches mine.

I came home with some very important lessons learned:
1. Sometimes God asks us to do things that are uncomfortable.  But the more you do them, the more comfortable they become.
2. The Holy Spirit interprets and speaks when we cannot.  What needs to be said is said through no doing of our own.
3. The Lord provides.  It's as simple as that.

Thankful for Grace,
<>< Katie

What just happened?

I have never taken an American Sign Language course in my life. Before August, I knew one deaf person and she doesn't sign. I knew like four words in ASL (No, I'm not kidding... Four signs: God, Jesus, worthy, and "I love you").

Last week when [my hard-of-hearing friend] Renee suggested we study together I was down right terrified. I've learned enough sign to hold my own in a short conversation and I like to watch conversations at dinner, but study together for multiple hours? And history? I don't even know the sign for the United States of America. Plus, Renee signs quite fast. Even if I could understand every fourth sign, what were the chances I could carry on a conversation with her and actually study? To help calm my nerves, I asked a mutual friend, Lizzy [name changed for confidentiality], to study with us. Unfortunately, she couldn't that day. So Renee and I studied together. And by studied together I mean studied the same thing sitting next to each other. We did this two or three times before Lizzywas actually able to join us. Each time I learned more sign, and we were actually able to communicate together.

Renee, Lizzy, and I studied together again last night. This time we really studied together, quizzing each other, and everything. For awhile I was wondering what the heck I was thinking trying to study history in a foreign language with two native speakers, but it worked out really well! I learned a lot of sign and a lot of history.

A little over halfway through our study session, we decided to take a break and go play BINGO. After the first round, Lizzy looked at me and said,
"If you want to help me interpret, that'd be great."
WHAT? Are you kidding me? It made more sense for me to interpret because I was sitting across from Renee and Lizzy was sitting next to her, making it harder to sign but still! So, I tried. I mean, how hard can it be to interpret Bingo, right? O 66. I 33. B 14. Relatively easy, right? Well, yes. Except that I didn't know any numbers above ten. So, I'm struggling through this Bingo game, apologizing for being a crappy interpreter. Renee said I wasn't that bad and she was helping me learn numbers like 12 and 13 (I missed those up EVERY TIME... haha).

Chief (the caller) announced this would be the last game and the president was paying $100 to the winner.
Phew, we're almost done! I thought.
Chief made a call and I hear Renee's voice,
"Bingo!" What?! Well, someone else across the way with a louder voice had screamed it almost simultaneously and Chief heard his scream before hers. We urged Renee to go up anyway (she said it first, in all honestly). The president decided to give all three winners $100!

So, my first interpreting experience and she wins $100! How cool is that? :-)
Once again, God's shoved me out of my comfort zone, but He hasn't forgotten about me. He's still right there! I love that about Him. :-D

Still learning to listen,
<>< Katie

"The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? " Psalm 118: 6