Unspoken

I have a friend who is a youth pastor. He felt led to move from the U.S. to France to minister to youth over there. So, a little more than a year ago, he and his wife, along with their two daughters, moved to France. It really is beautiful the way they followed where God was leading them. Anyway, he sent me a message yesterday morning in reply to something I had written to him regarding a recent article of his. The article was about language, transition, and finding your identity in Christ. It got me thinking about how hard it would be to move to a different culture where the people speak a foreign language. Then, I had two thoughts come to me about it:

1) No matter what country you are in, love is love.

Show love. Show Christ.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. - 1 John 4:8

I read a different blog post a while back by someone who brought her daughters to Peru on a faith-related project where they saw a lot of poverty. She said these words to one of her daughters to give her comfort, reassurance, and guidance: "We're just here to love them..."

2) People can be led to Christ in spoken AND unspoken ways.


I've learned that and I believe it.

I am certainly not taking away from verbally speaking the Gospel to people. That is important. I'm just saying there are definitely times when people are led to Christ in other ways. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes unintentionally.

So, while language might seem like a barrier when it comes to spreading Jesus, there are many times you are leading the way to Him without even saying a word.

Another cool little fact that I saw on a photo: "Everyone smiles in the same language." :)

P.S. I am not downplaying the difficulty that would go along with being in a foreign country and learning a new language. And, I do realize it make things easier in every way when you are able to communicate verbally with the people you are surrounded by.