Multilingual
How many languages do you speak? You may be thinking that you only speak one language, but I will show you that you can easily speak more than one language. You just have to think outside the linguistic box.
Back in 2014 I had a Spanish Pastor friend that was encouraging me to go to Guatemala to help out a Mayan village. I really wanted to go, but there was just one problem, I only speak English. When I pointed this out to him, he said, “Don’t worry about it. God will work that out.” LOL. I forgot about Him.
I went on the trip and had a great interpreter. The man that was interpreting for me told me, “I have been working with these people for a year and a half and they are just now accepting me. You come down and in two days they are treating you like family.” How does that happen? I spoke a universal language they understood: Love.
I served them by bringing food to the homes of those that were poor. I bought clothes for kids that needed shoes. I bought school supplies and back packs for the kids who otherwise would not have what they needed to go to school. I did these things because I truly loved these people. They were so gracious. I never left one of their homes where they did not want to give me something to eat.
The other language that is universal is music. Most people love music in one form or another. When I first got there I was introduced to a couple of young girls. I am guessing that they were around 5 years old. When one of them told me her name was Maria, I stood up and in a deep baritone voice sang: ”Maria. I just met a girl named Maria!” It is a line from the musical West Side Story. The little girls loved it! Every day after that they came up to me and begged me to sing Maria, which of course, I was obliged to do. LOL.
Music and love are two ways to connect with everyone in the world, regardless of what language you speak. Now you can proudly say you are trilingual at the very least.
Shalom!
Dan Skognes