Love Knows No Language Barrier

Love has no language barier.

One of the hardest thing on the race has been dealing with the language barrier. Even in the countries where most people can understand you it has been frustrating. But as much as that has been the case I have learned something very very important.

Love knows no Language barrier.

No matter how little I know of the language, or the person I am listening to knows English. They all can understand one thing. Love.

Last month I met a kid named Erin. Erin didn’t speak much English in fact outside of his name and him being about 6 or 7 years old I really couldn’t tell you much about him. But one other thing I could tell you is that he loved being around me. Over the course of the month we were building a new church for our contact there in Kenya. And since we are building African style lets just say that there was a lot of down time. Over the course of the next 2 or three weeks I must have held Erin’s hand for close to 40 hours. If I wasn’t climbing a ladder, digging up dirt or nailing in a beam I was holding Erin’s hand.

I learned a lot from Erin in that time. We didn’t really talk, we wouldn’t have been able to understand each other. But what I learned from Erin even without words was how I should desire time with my maker. It doesn’t always need to be something hugely significant. I don’t have to be in prayer or reading G-d’s word but simply sitting there simply being in his presence should be the desire of my heart.

On the flip side I learned the importance of just being there. I didn’t say anything life changing to Erin. But that wasn’t what mattered to him. It was the simple fact that I was there.

I read a book called G-d’s Smuggler this month, and there is a quote in there that sums it up pretty well I think. Brother Andrew visited a church across the Iron Curtain in Poland for the first time and the pastor got up to express his thankfulness for his being there. He simply said ‘your just being here means more than words can express’.

I think we forget that sometimes. We too often become to focused on what we are going to do or say that we forget the great impact we have by simply ‘just being there’. Maybe this will help some of us remember that. Because I think a lot of times we aren’t ‘there’ because we don’t know what to do or say. Don’t worry about that… just be there.