By Benjamin V, DTS student
Our team split into small groups and walked the streets, praying as we went. As we returned from this prayer walk, we encountered a Muslim mother and her three daughters who were returning to their house from the food market. One of their bags of potatoes spilled into the street, tumbling like a small avalanche. Seeing their struggle, my prayer group offered to help the family carry their goods. The mother graciously accepted our help.
Now, understand that no member of either party understood the language of the other; we spoke no Turkish, and they spoke no English. We stumbled through a cumbersome attempt at conversation as we walked, and in the end, few words were understood between us. Still, I can’t forget the expression of supreme gratitude on the mother’s face. She knew that neither of us understood the other, but she quite clearly understood our desire to help.
Love and kind-heartedness do not need a language. These expressions can be communicated across cultural and lingual barriers, like a bridge between two worlds. And across this bridge, we have the privilege and opportunity to communicate Christ as well, even without the support of language.
Photo from Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/papagandalf/