God speaks, even when language is a barrier
Story shared by David Dolores, former intern and DOXA Journeys participant
Over March Break, our DOXA Journeys team of 14 youth and young adults (plus 3 leaders) served together on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. While in the DR, they partnered with the local Youth for Christ chapter in the capital city of Santo Domingo that runs community outreach programs for children, youth and families.
David, one of the young adults on the trip, was excited to meet new people and have new experiences of God at work. He was ready to serve and enthusiastic to jump in and meet youth in the community. However, he quickly encountered an issue while helping teach an English language class to some young students; his words could only get so far when he didn't speak their language. There was laughing and a desire to understand, but the more Spanish speaking friends he made, and the greater the conversation around him, the less he understood.
Refusing to be deflated, he worked with some of the YU leaders to come up with a plan. They pulled out flash cards with photos and used those to build relationships. That helped a little, but it was still hard to communicate emotion when all they had was pictures of farm animals. That’s when a few of the kids jumped into action. One of them created a card game with different value rankings. Did David understand? No. But did David enthusiastically slam cards on the table and match their excited reactions with each point? Of course!
Throughout the rest of the week, God showed David that language wouldn’t get in the way of His work.
Later, on the soccer pitch, David made friends—not because of his eloquent vocabulary, but because of his fancy footwork. He learned connections can always be made through smiles and celebrations, even when words fall short.
At the end of the week, he didn’t call his new soccer teammate over for a chat to end the trip. Instead, David gave him a bracelet off his wrist as a token of friendship. And, in return, he received the only thing his new friend had on him—a few candies from his pocket.
The last thing these two did was spend some time praying together with a translator.
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