<\/font>Have grace for those who don\u2019t speak \u201cyour language\u201d.<\/font><\/h3>\n
In the last year, I have travelled out of the country for missions 3 times. 2 times to the Philippines<\/a> and now once to Honduras and Mission Lazarus. Both works are INCREDIBLE and are doing great things for the Kingdom of Heaven but there was one major difference. In the Philippines, I speak their language (most of them speak English), in Honduras, for the most part, I do not!<\/p>\n I messed up the Spanish language at EVERY turn it seemed. I lead songs for VBS in Spanish and there is no telling how bad I messed that up. The worst time for me though was on the very first day. We were waiting on time to start VBS and were playing with some local kids at the public soccer field (a dirt field with some goals). We were playing soccer\u2026.um\u2026.I mean futbol, and throwing a Frisbee that Everett had brought. At one point, a little boy came up to me and said\u2026.something\u2026.I\u2019m not sure what. One of the things I learned early was how to ask their name in Spanish, so since Again, this was very frustrating to me, but what amazed me, and taught me so much, was And this is what God was teaching\/reminding me. It is very often that I get frustrated with people who don\u2019t \u201cspeak my language\u201d. Sometimes it is the English language I wish people would master and I get put out by people who want to come to \u201cmy country\u201d but not learn \u201cmy language\u201d. How arrogant and unloving of me. But even more so, I find myself getting frustrated with people who don\u2019t speak \u201cmy language\u201d in church. By \u201cmy language\u201d here, I don\u2019t mean the English language, I mean the language that we learn that is different depending on our beliefs or our surroundings or our backgrounds. I confess that I get frustrated with people when I judge that they aren\u2019t as \u201cenlightened\u201d as me or they \u201cdon\u2019t get it\u201d. How arrogant and unloving of me!<\/p>\n This was not the example of Jesus\u2026oh\u2026if Jesus would have waited on me to \u201cget it\u201d before he had grace for me and compassion on me\u2026.he would still be waiting I\u2019m afraid.<\/p>\n So, Honduras has reminded me to have more grace for those who don\u2019t speak like me\u2026in all of the ways that applies. To love those that disagree with me. To learn from those who I think might need to learn more themselves. To stop being so arrogant\u2026ugh\u2026.<\/p>\n Father, thank you for Ishmael and Digna and Phillpe and Santos and all of those kids who loved me and had grace for me\u2026.no matter how dumb I was. Thank you for using them to remind me of Your grace for me. Thank you for your patience with me Father. And now I will be patient with those around me who \u201cdon\u2019t speak my language\u201d.<\/em> <\/p>\n Doyle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On my Honduran journey, I learned so much\u2026.how to lay bricks, mix concrete, ride a horse, play revolution (the card game not the Beatles song) but there were three things that truly stood out that God had for me on … Continue reading ![\"Espanol_Yellow_Shirt\"](\"http:\/\/doylecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Espanol_Yellow_Shirt_thumb.jpg\" "\\"Espanol_Yellow_Shirt\\"")
<\/a>This was very frustrating to me. I am a communicator. I love to talk to people and especially to laugh with people. I love to lead groups by motivating them and verbally creating an environment for worship or fun or learning, etc. But in Honduras, I felt hamstrung from the very beginning. In people’s homes I couldn\u2019t sing in their language or pray in their language or tell them how great God is. At the work site, I couldn\u2019t ask the questions I wanted to ask or respond to questions or instructions when spoken to me. <\/p>\n![\"DSC_0301\"](\"http:\/\/doylecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/DSC_0301_thumb.jpg\" "\\"DSC_0301\\"")
<\/a>I couldn\u2019t respond to his speaking, I asked his name by saying, \u201cTe amo!\u201d He looked at me\u2026very confused\u2026so I do what I always do when people can\u2019t understand me, I said it LOUDER, \u201cTE AMO!!!\u201d. Here, I was, a foreign giant white man, leaning down to this poor little child, yelling at him, trying to figure out his name. The only problem was, I wasn\u2019t asking his name (I later was reminded you ask that by saying, \u201ccomo te llama\u201d), no, I was yelling at him, \u201cI LOVE YOU!!!\u201d. How disturbing this must have been for this poor child!<\/p>\n![\"DSC_0512\"](\"http:\/\/doylecorder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/DSC_0512_thumb.jpg\" "\\"DSC_0512\\"")
<\/a>the fact that they NEVER got frustrated with me! I never saw the roll of the eyes from anyone I was talking to. I never had anybody give up on me. I never once was made to feel stupid because I could not speak the necessary language to communicate even the simplest things. In fact, it was just the opposite, I was made to feel loved.<\/p>\n