Something that I greatly underestimated coming into the race was the difficulty of language barriers. That sounds silly, I know, but I assumed that I would pick up Spanish easily and that a decent understanding would do just fine. It did not take long to realize that I was wrong. It was not like speaking Spanish at different times in America for class or something else, where the person speaking understood a lot of English as well. To no surprise, this was not the case. Some store owners and local people understood English throughout Costa Rica, but Guatemala was very different.
In Guatemala, our ministry was with the small town of San Lorenzo, a very poor community with many uneducated families and rich Mayan culture handed down through generations. English is rarely spoken and almost never understood. I would try my best at speaking extremely broken Spanish, usually with almost no success beyond learning names and other basic information. This became frustrating really fast. I had fully embraced the why of the race and I wanted to spread God’s love and the gospel to as many people as I could. I wanted to encourage strangers and uplift kids that had so little hope or purpose for the life that they were living. It was discouraging when all I wanted to do was love and language barriers seemed to be preventing that in some aspects. Getting past this obstacle was a consistent prayer of mine. I prayed for understanding and that prayer was answered as I began to understand much more Spanish very quickly, but I still had the issue of speaking back. The Lord answered this prayer in a different and unexpected way. The Lord showed me what it meant to love in action.
I learned what it looked like to push past the obstacle and begin showing love in a way that I never had before. In the states, it is easy to express love to people through kind words, intentional questions, and words of respect. Words are also the easiest way to pass an awkward moment with anyone, and the world race is FULL of awkward moments. For example, we did home visits almost every day. A home visit is exactly like it sounds, we go to houses unannounced and ask them how they are doing, how they could use prayer, and how we could possibly provide help. Sometimes there was a translator, and sometimes there wasn’t. Another example was our interactions with kids. Every day we would have eighty or more kids out on a soccer field, divided into groups and placed with us. If adults couldn’t understand my broken Spanish, there was no way that kids would be able to. In both of these situations, I learned to seek out how I could SHOW love, rather than just hoping that I could make them feel loved through words.
What does it look like to show love? Jesus lived his whole life showing love every where He went. Everyone has heard the phrase “actions speak louder than words”, but how often do we lean on words alone? At home visits, showing love began to look like kind expressions, smiles and genuine interest shown through eye contact. It is amazing what these things can do to make someone feel seen and loved. How love is shown in our interest in the conversation may be the difference on the home owners being willing to talk about their struggles or not, and the interest has to be real to show the love of Christ because love is genuine (1 Cor 13). Otherwise it is all a waste. Love in our own power or fake love may make them momentarily happy, but it will not show them Christ inside of us. Love in action at homes also looks like acts of service. This one is hard because it takes the most sacrifice. Anyone can walk up to a house, act like they care, pray, and leave, but it requires so much more of us to serve physically. Serving physically throughout the race has looked like so many different things: tearing down houses, pouring concrete, sorting beans, picking avocados, carrying bags, and so many more. In some cases, the fact that a group of white people just showed up to the door can be intimidating to these families and sometimes no words can help to ease that tension, but acts of service almost always create a way for the hope of the gospel to be shared. The other area where love in action became extremely important was with the kids. Every week day, the volunteers at One Way ministry in Guatemala host as many kids as they can take, feeding and teaching them. This is a huge task for a group with almost no income and a community dependent on their help. Volunteers stepping in for them makes a great difference, and it was a blessing to get to do so. Every afternoon when the kids arrived, we would be divided up and each given anywhere from five to twenty kids that we were responsible for watching, teaching, and keeping in line. If you have done any work with kids, you know how challenging this is. Now imagine that none of the kids speak your language. It is both difficult and exhausting, but what room do I have to complain? These kids all come from families making less than $75 a week and a large portion of the kids are left with single mothers. It is literally the least that I can do for these kids to be a source of love for them, which presents the same issue- How can I love them if I can’t even speak to them? Love in action with the kids often looked like patience and willingness to let them speak their mind, or the patience to not be frustrated with them, no matter how many times they had already tried the same problem without success. Love in action looked like hugs, dances, and just being willing to sit with them, especially through awkward moments. Home owners were often uneasy with random white people and their children were VERY uneasy with white people. The responsibility was on us to break the ice and it became a fun challenge. Each kid is unique and how they can be loved best needed to be figured out with time and trial and error, but the effort is always worth it. Seeing a child let loose knowing that they are in a safe place is so fulfilling, knowing that this may be the only place they ever feel safe and loved.
The lessons learned in San Lorenzo will help me long after the race ends as it already brings up the question, “am I just acting like I care with my words in order to pass the time? Or am I loving them in action?”. Jesus’ words were powerful and they effected everyone for the better, but His words were almost always accompanied by action. I’m thankful that what could have been my greatest obstacle on the race, became a great lesson of how I can walk a little bit more like Jesus.
