I have been preaching a lot recently, which I love but it would be nice to have more time to really polish the sermons and look up words in French that could pose dificulties to interpreters who have never been around native English speakers. Th first night I was pretty confussed about the program. The second night was awesome. I keep having people come up to me to say they were touched by it. The confereence was all about the Holy Spirit. I was restricted to a certain degree on what I could say because of doctrinal differences but all of us could tell the Holy Spirit was there that day. I am realizing more and more that in order for people to regain hope all that is necessary is one hot coal in the midst who can with the help of the wind (Holy Spirit) spread hope to everyone around.
The third night was hilarious. I showed up at the church and the pastor explained to me that there was no interpreter. I was slightly disapointed but I just told the pastor that I was looking forward to his message. He looked at me like I was crazy and said I was still preaching. I tried to explain to him that it was a bad idea and I did not want to. I even refussed but he didnt understand me. He was convinced I had to preach. It was frustrating because I had had no warning and couldnt even look up words in French to somewhat prepare. I then went to an elder in the church who can understand my broken speech and tried to explain to him. He just kept saying it had to be me and even challenged me that I had to have faith that the Holy Spirit would help me. So we started by praying and I was very fervrent. I went from thinking it was impossible to being excited to try. When I got up to the front I was thinking wouldnt it be incredible is Swahili tounges hit me and I could preach to the people in tounges especially since we were talking about the Holy Spirit. Maybe my faith was too weak because broken sentences of confussion is all I could do.
The beginning was awful and then a lady in the church encouraged me with the little English she knows by saying just speak. I was reminded of how Jesus wanted to help me and the Holy Spirit helped me. I abandoned the sermon I had prepared and instead picked one of my points and dove in using whatever came to mind. The Holy Spirit really did help me remember words. Mostly though I used actions. I was jumping and flopping on the ground and grabbing people and using whatever I could find as an example of what I was trying to say. At the end I had made 2 clear points and it was simple but everyone got it. I left the church feeling really stupid for how I had acted and the difficulty I had had but the was quickly encouraged by how much the people loved it. Everyone was laughing and no one was bored. They all thought it was amazing and made comments about how I am becoming Congolese. I survive but I have no ententions of ever doing that again!
Thankfully on Sunday I had an interpreter. I was really excited about my sermon for Sunday it was all about how being a good Christian is like being a good football player but I dont know how well it went across. Part of it was harsh so i think that might be why. Plus the interpreter had a lot of trouble with simple things I think he was nervous. I was more thankful than ever to have an interpezter though.
That afternoon I started the sports program for the youth. Unfortunately the 2 youth in our church who speak English were both at a wedding in Lubumbashi so i was without a translator. Also they sent out little chldren to play like 10 and 12 years old. It was not what I expected but it was really great. We found some random people who played with us and everyone loved it. Walking around with the football made lots of people ask about it. A lot of people like to play football but arent organized enough to make teams and set times. I am really excited for next week.
The third night was hilarious. I showed up at the church and the pastor explained to me that there was no interpreter. I was slightly disapointed but I just told the pastor that I was looking forward to his message. He looked at me like I was crazy and said I was still preaching. I tried to explain to him that it was a bad idea and I did not want to. I even refussed but he didnt understand me. He was convinced I had to preach. It was frustrating because I had had no warning and couldnt even look up words in French to somewhat prepare. I then went to an elder in the church who can understand my broken speech and tried to explain to him. He just kept saying it had to be me and even challenged me that I had to have faith that the Holy Spirit would help me. So we started by praying and I was very fervrent. I went from thinking it was impossible to being excited to try. When I got up to the front I was thinking wouldnt it be incredible is Swahili tounges hit me and I could preach to the people in tounges especially since we were talking about the Holy Spirit. Maybe my faith was too weak because broken sentences of confussion is all I could do.
The beginning was awful and then a lady in the church encouraged me with the little English she knows by saying just speak. I was reminded of how Jesus wanted to help me and the Holy Spirit helped me. I abandoned the sermon I had prepared and instead picked one of my points and dove in using whatever came to mind. The Holy Spirit really did help me remember words. Mostly though I used actions. I was jumping and flopping on the ground and grabbing people and using whatever I could find as an example of what I was trying to say. At the end I had made 2 clear points and it was simple but everyone got it. I left the church feeling really stupid for how I had acted and the difficulty I had had but the was quickly encouraged by how much the people loved it. Everyone was laughing and no one was bored. They all thought it was amazing and made comments about how I am becoming Congolese. I survive but I have no ententions of ever doing that again!
Thankfully on Sunday I had an interpreter. I was really excited about my sermon for Sunday it was all about how being a good Christian is like being a good football player but I dont know how well it went across. Part of it was harsh so i think that might be why. Plus the interpreter had a lot of trouble with simple things I think he was nervous. I was more thankful than ever to have an interpezter though.
That afternoon I started the sports program for the youth. Unfortunately the 2 youth in our church who speak English were both at a wedding in Lubumbashi so i was without a translator. Also they sent out little chldren to play like 10 and 12 years old. It was not what I expected but it was really great. We found some random people who played with us and everyone loved it. Walking around with the football made lots of people ask about it. A lot of people like to play football but arent organized enough to make teams and set times. I am really excited for next week.
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