Guatemala was such an incredible time in my life. It was a combination of learning about who He created me to be, the calling He’s given me, and also who He is. All of this while learning about a totally new culture and language. I was super blessed to be a translator for my team during our time there. I honestly think this is part of the reason that Guatemala has such a special place in my heart. I got to talk and form relationships with so many Guatemalans, and also be the bridge between my team and so many people. There was so much grace and patience given to me from strangers as I said the wrong words or simply didn’t make much sense. Through that process I learned so much about the power of words, and how people truly care about what you have to say.
Every time my teammates would want to talk to someone, they would have to first grab me to translate. Eventually they too picked up a good bit of Spanish and no longer needed me, but for a long time this was what had to happen. At first, some arrogance crept into my heart. I liked feeling needed and as though I had a purpose. Yet just as quickly as it entered it was extinguished. See, there more you learn of a language, the more you understand how terrible you are at speaking it. Its like turning on a light in a very messy room. You don’t realize how messy it truly is until you can see all it. This was my experience with Spanish; I quickly realized that I needed to learn a lot more before I could translate well.
The irony here is that the Lord was teaching me about His message and my purpose at the same time. Obviously, I knew that when I signed up for a 9 month missions trip, the goal was to tell people about Jesus. In the back of my mind though, I never thought I would be sharing the gospel with people. I know this sounds kind of silly, but most of the missions trips I went on before were service work oriented. I thought the world race meant 9 months of feeding people, playing with kids, and maybe physical labor. All of that I could do, but explaining to people who Jesus was and why they should follow Him freaked me out a little. What was I suppose to say? Was I even qualified? I could name like 20 people who could do a much better job of sharing the gospel then I could. And yet Matthew 28:19 (possibly the most missionary verse ever) said to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son, and the Holy spirt”. The “Go” wasn’t exclusive. Jesus wasn’t telling just the evangelists, the pastors, and the qualified to “Go”. He wasn’t saying “only those who are over 40 and feel like they need more purpose in life should go”. No, He was calling every single person who gave their life to Him to “Go”. This why He gave us unique stories and unique lives. Each of us is equipped to reach a different group of people. A common saying we use of the race is “He doesn’t call the qualified, but He qualifies the called”. And yet, I still didn’t feel worthy of the message I’d been given.
My very first time ever sharing the complete gospel message with someone was actually in Spanish. My team was doing ATL in a local Guatemalean town, and we met a man working at an auto body shop. I translated for my teammates as they asked questions. Sometime translation can be awkward, as the person you are speaking to may think that you’re the only one in the conversation with them since you’re the only one they can understand. This was one of those situations. As we chatted we learned that he used to be an alcoholic, and that he was 6 years sober. He told us that during the height of his addiction, he went to the Church for help but they only threw him out. He then found alcoholics anonymous which accepted him and basically saved His life. He asked why we would travel so far just to tell people about a God that kicks broken people out. This broke my heart, because in some ways, I resonated with His story. I also was well aware that I was not good enough at Spanish to share the gospel in a fluid and non-confusing manner to this man. So I prayed and asked the Lord to help me. In my previous Guatemala blog post I shared how the Lord helped me speak perfect Spanish to a women during ministry. This situation was quiet the opposite, in that the words I was saying were just as choppy as I had expected them to be. The affect of them though, I hadn’t expected. The choppiness and confusion led to Him feeling comfortable to ask questions and clarify things. I believe He walked away understanding more of what I was saying then if I had shared perfectly. I told him how there was room for everyone in the Fathers house, regardless of how messy their story was.
I learned a lot that day about how the Father wanted to use me and the urgency of the Gospel. He actually has spent a lot of the race changing how I feel about sharing the gospel. Guys, He has literally given us the one cure to brokenness. We are the only people on the planet who get to look at suffering, sickness, death, abuse, poverty, sin, and so much more and say there is hope! What an incredible message it is to share! There’s a reason that it’s called the good news! Every person we meet is looking for the answer to brokenness, a light in a dark world. We get to tell them the way out! The thing the enemy wants most is to mute an entire generation of Christians because they are too self-conscious or insecure to share the gospel. We are torchbearers of Christ! We weren’t worthy at all, but Christ made us worthy through His blood! And now we get to go and tell the world about Him!
I want to share one last thing about the Matthew 28 commission. The “go” part doesn’t mean that you need to move across the world to people who have never heard the name Jesus before. Rather, it is a challenge to take a step out of your comfort zone. To step out of the boat and onto the water, knowing that He’s holding you. See the more you walk with Jesus the more you realize how much you need Him. Sharing His message is a great example of this. There’s this weird moment when you start sharing the Gospel where you realize how ridiculous you truly sound. Somebody died? And then resurrected? All so that I could live with Him in eternity? Thats literally bonkers. Who on earth would every believe me when I tell them this? Honestly, all of these are valid concerns. But you have to push past them and continue sharing, because what you don’t realize is that the Lord has been revealing Himself to the person you are talking to long before you came around. He chose you to witness to them so that they could know Him fully. ISN’T THAT LITERALLY WILD? THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE CHOSE US TO CARRY HIS MESSAGE! My challenge for you all back home this week is something I also strive for. Tell someone who doesn’t know the Lord about the goodness of God! Be bold and take that step! I’ll take it with you. I promise the Lord is right there cheering you on! And please, tell me if you do! Reach out and testify of the way the Lord used you! Okay that’s all for now!
-KJ
