Maybe you’re a math person; you truly enjoy algebra and trigonometry. But you barely grasp the grammar of the English language. Foreign language in general is your Achilles heel; the Everest that stands between you and your science-y, techie career. And, quite frankly, you are super annoyed. Those conjugation drills! The subjunctive — isn’t that some kind of eye disease?! THIS IS SUCH A WASTE OF TIME!!! you shout — in your head, of course, not actually out loud (though it would be really funny, but not advantageous) — as you struggle through the scripted conversations in Spanish class.
Then the youth pastor announces that the church’s missions trip to Australia is full, but all high school students who would still like to go on missions should check us out. And the trips that fit within your summer vacay are all to Spanish speaking places like Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru, and Puerto Rico.
And as much as you disdain the ol’ español, you go, because you love Jesus. You’ve committed the “my grace is sufficient for you” verse to memory, and recite it before every quiz and exam, especially with Spanish class; you decide that will be the theme for your summer.
You go to training camp, hoping for a Spanish for missions for dummies crash course. There’s no language workshop. You arrive at the ministry site.
Suddenly a drove of children surround you and your teammates. They crane their necks to look up to you, as if you belonged in the NBA. And you find that some of them speak English better than you do.
You get a little scared. But they’re so darn cute that you open your mouth and say, “Hola, me llamo…” and they giggle with delight. With the local teens helping as interpreters, you get to know the kiddos.
Pretty soon, you’re able to communicate the gospel in very, very simple language…first in English, then in Spanish. You and the locals you meet are surprised by how well you speak Spanish. And as you step out and share the gospel, not only are young children getting saved, but you remember the fundamentals of what it means to be a Christian. You’ve made new friends.
And, you learned how to order a legit taco, now forever ruined for Taco Bell or even Chipotle or Moe’s. You level up in español with relative ease, stomach no longer turning at the sight of your textbook.
You’re not ready or willing to take it to the AP level… yet. But while you saw fruit of fumbling through foreign phrases, your classmate suffered academic amnesia. You returned to school, having climbed over your Everest.
God showed you that it wasn’t a waste of time. And you got to connect people to Jesus.
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