Almost six years ago, I decided to take on the task of learning Spanish.  Having studied several languages in high school and college I knew that I was taking on a huge task, not being a good language learner by nature.  I found different apps that I could listen to and practice with while I was on the road and with great difficulty began the journey. It took two years before I could begin to follow the simplest spoken Spanish and two years before I could generate even the most basic sentences.  Not a day goes by that I do not study Spanish and I have become quite proficient at understanding most spoken Spanish.  That ability is very helpful when I am in Ecuador, but I have long way to go in being able to speak Spanish fluently.

 

Sometimes I will read out loud in Spanish to improve pronunciation and reading comprehension and quite often I will ask Susan if she understands what I am reading.  Susan is fluent in Spanish and speaks like a native Ecuadorian.  When I ask her if she understands what I am reading it is not to ascertain whether she understands the content but whether I am speaking clear enough Spanish to be understood.  Sometimes when I am using my Spanish skills (or lack of) in Ecuador I ask “Me entiendes?” In that context I am trying to ascertain if my sentence made sense in addition to whether I was speaking clearly.  In cross cultural settings the goal is to speak in a way that you can be understood.​ The people that we are most likely to reach are the folks that we already know.  Our focus needs to be needs to find a way to communicate the love of Jesus to them in a way that they can understand.  The other day I read a story that relates to some of the difficulties that we have in reaching folks around us. 

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A preacher said to a farmer, "Do you belong to the Christian family?"

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"No, they live two farms down."

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"No, I mean are you lost?"

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"No, I've been here thirty years."

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"I mean are you ready for Judgment Day?"

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"When is it?"

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 "It could be today or tomorrow."

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"Well, when you find out for sure when it is, you let me know.

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My wife will probably want to go both days!"

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We can’t assume anything about what folks know or do not know about the Bible, Jesus, the gospel or our religious jargon.  As we seek to reach others, we need to be prepared to communicate with them clearly the message of Jesus.  We also need to invite them to come and be a part of our services, our Sunday School class or any other events at our church where they will have the opportunity to learn more about the Word of God and experience fellowship where they may see others in whom Christ lives.  We need to pray for friends, acquaintances and family members who need to know Jesus that God would open a door for the Word that they may know the salvation which is in Jesus. 

Let’s keep on serving Jesus together and may we see many lives touched for eternity to His Glory. 

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