Universal Languages

Tammy recently posted about her excitement over seeing her teenagers use the universal love of sports to hurdle over language barriers. For me, it's been interesting to see how Charlotte has helped me and Jennifer birth conversation after conversation.

Just today, while at La Escuela Suenos de Luisa (a local school you'll read more about soon), I had a chat with a mother. She told me la niña es bonita (the little girl is beautiful). As we chatted, I heard enough words I have either learned or can recognize to piece together a conversation. She said something that included anos, which means years, so I told her that Charlotte is 1, but will be 2 in August. She said something that included cuánto, which I figured out meant "how many." So, I told her Charlotte was number 1 (uno), but I then gestured that mama was soon to have number 2. I also showed a picture in my camera because the woman wanted to know if Charlotte looks like mom. She told me that she has tres niñas y cuatro niños (three girls and four boys). Now, for those of you who know me, you can easily imagine how odd it is for me to be in Nicaragua discussing children with a mother of 7.

This evening, Jennifer and I walked to the grocery store--while I carried Charlotte in our backpack carrier--to get some ice cream. On the way back, we stopped and chatted with a mother and grandmother of a 1-year old girl.

And just to show that even old people can speak the language of sports, I joined Justin in doing some BMX tricks on the bike of a kid while waiting for the church service last night. I showed him one he'd never seen (it was too old skool), and I even crashed while riding no-handed standing on the top bar of the frame.

I hope that these conversations plant a positive seed in the hearts of people we meet and that, when they hear there is a gringo preaching in town, they will want to go and hear the message of salvation that he has brought for them.