Language is No Barrier for God

by Naomi

Before dispersing in pairs around a shopping centre, we prayed God would be our translator in the event that we encounter any insurmountable language differences. Mary and I prayed that God’s purposes would be accomplished and he would lead us to someone who needed and wanted to know that Jesus loved them.

After walking for a bit we began heading back in the direction from which we’d come but then sensed we should return. As we did, we both noticed a woman having lunch, and agreed that’s where God wanted us. We tried to open a conversation hoping she spoke English but she replied in Afrikaans. Normally, we would have apologised and just walked away but we decided to persevere.

The lady tried telling us something and we could see that she desperately wanted us to understand. I saw a man standing not far away and asked him to translate. It was explained that her mother had recently died and her five-year-old child was lying in the hospital suffering with injuries from a fall down the stairs. She felt hopeless.

Though we now knew her struggles we were unable to offer any comfort. All we could do was to hold her and pray and weep with her. For a moment we shared her pain and as we embraced her in tears we trusted God to impress on her what he wanted to communicate to her. It wasn’t long before she was visibly comforted and at peace.

We were aware of people glancing at us curious about what was going on but we didn’t feel intimidated. We had a deep-rooted sense of satisfaction that following God’s gentle promptings was worth it. We resolved to make ourselves available to him for his purposes even if it’s not always possible to see the outcome in advance.