Poco a Poco: Little by Little

“My times are in YOUR hands.”  Psalm 31:15

So, after being in El Salvador for 6 months I can say that the most difficult adjustment for me to make has been one of language.  I study with a teacher 3 days a week and usually have homework in between.  I attend church gatherings to be immersed in Spanish and talk as much as I can with the cashiers and baggers at my neighborhood super market.  I can see great progress in my Spanish and conversational skills, yet I am forever aware of how much more I need to learn.  I can usually get my point across, but can’t make complete sentences yet, and often just don’t say anything at all because I don’t know where or how to begin. 

I have to admit, not being fully competent in the language of the people around me is very difficult.  It’s hard to be in a conversation and realize that everyone else understands what’s going on except me.  It’s also difficult to understand parts of a conversation, but not the whole…or to have something to add, but not know how to say it.  

Praise God that communication is SO MUCH MORE than words alone.  Body language and context are at least 50% of it!  I praise God that while I’m struggling with the language of Spanish, the language of His love is spoken with very few words! 

I share all of this to set the stage for sharing with you how God spoke to me today.  I was walking to the grocery store to buy ingredients for dinner (homemade chili and cheese scones) when I saw some friends from our neighborhood church and the women’s Bible group I attend.  A mom and her two girls.  We smiled, waved, and stopped for a few greetings.  I asked how they were doing and they asked the same of me.  I told them I was on my way to the grocery store and they told me they were on their way home after waiting a long time to see a doctor.  The mother showed me her youngest daughter’s hands (she’s around 3 or 4 years old) and the rash that has been growing on them for 8 days now.  She’s a bit worried about it since it’s been there so long.  They went to the free clinic, but the line was so long, she knew they wouldn’t see a doctor today, so she decided to take her girls home and try again tomorrow.  I asked her if the rash was anywhere else and it was also on her bottom.  I actually knew what it was!  Hands, foot, and mouth disease, a common rash that young children get in the states.  I knew that a simple trip to the clinic would enable them to get the relief needed to clear up this rash.  Yet I didn’t have the words to explain that.

I asked her if she had been to the Methodist Clinic and she told me “no.”  I suggested she should try there and that I would call Brian to see if he could help her with a ride.  She explained to me that the $3 fee to see the doctor would be impossible for her to pay.  I told her I thought we could help.  So I called Brian, told him what was going on, and he quickly said, if she goes to the clinic I will pay for it.  I can go by there now and tell them she’s on her way.  When I asked him where he was, he was just around the corner, actually at the grocery store I was walking to.  We hurried over to where Brian was so they could get a ride to the clinic, improving their chances to see a doctor today. 

Once they were on their way to the clinic with Brian I went on my way to the store to begin preparing for dinner.  Once I got home and started cooking, I had time to reflect on what had just happened.  I was actually helpful to that mom and her daughters!  I couldn’t help them directly, but I could help connect them to someone who could.  I couldn’t fully express all my thoughts in Spanish, but we were able to communicate enough to get her the help she needed.  Each day God allows me small glimmers of progress in which I can rejoice!!!

Many days I feel so un-useful here.  What good am I to the people God has called me to serve alongside in El Salvador if we don’t speak the same language?  Am I wasting God’s time being here when I could be of so much more use in North Carolina where I speak the language, know the people and the lay of the land.  I understand the context there so well.  Here, it’s almost like starting from scratch.  And then I was able to help a mom get her child to the doctor.  Nothing major, but a tiny glimpse that God is working in me and preparing me to do His work, but I must not be in a hurry.  He’s still preparing me for what He knows lies ahead.

And that’s all the motivation I need to continue spending my days learning the language, getting to know the people, and soaking in all the information I can about El Salvador.

Poco a poco (little by little) God is working a great work in me, teaching me Spanish and guiding me to appreciate the people and culture of His beautiful country El Salvador.  Each day He speaks to me and ministers to me through the people I encounter.  I can’t wait for the day that He allows me to give back all the great things He is preparing in me.  Until then, I shall wait in Him!

I have been so programmed to be constantly “doing” that I find it hard to be in my current position of “receiving.”  Yet, we can’t be doers of God’s Word and work without first being receivers of it.  I can’t even begin to count the many times before that I have run ahead of God with the mindset of doing His work…without ever really waiting long enough to fully hear His instructions.  Through my language deficiency, God is teaching me a lot about waiting for His perfect timing.  I pray He’s giving you awareness of the glimpses in your life through which His perfect timing is being revealed!

Prayer Request:

That I don’t become impatient and don’t give up on waiting.

For clear vision and direction in Sunday School Lessons for the Lenten Season.  (My goal is to have them ready to share with the Methodist Churches in El Salvador by their Annual Conference at the end of February.)