Trip to Mlumpe

I was scheduled to speak at the church in Mlumpe on Sunday. They have recently repaired the road so I decided to set out on my bike. When the road was bad the trip took 40 minutes by bike so I figured surely it would be easier this time. And it was so much easier this trip.

Leopold was out of town so his wife, Mary Madeline and I had a fine time sharing life together. She speaks English fairly well because of her time in Ghana while Leopold was in Bible School. She however speaks very little French so we speak English. This was a great trip to get to know her.

Sunday morning, we faced the problem of translation. I do function here daily in my French but I do not preach in front of churches in French. I feel very insecure to do this because my French is adequate but not at the level I feel comfortable preaching in front of a group. However, with Leopold out of town and Mary Madeline shy to stand up with me and translate, we decided I would preach in French. This is a major victory for me. Normally I share prophetic words with the church members or the church as a whole if I receive them during worship. Translating an abstract vision was really difficult. But God was totally in control and people seemed to understand most of what was shared. Bertrand and I worked together with the French to translate it into Jola. Most of the church are really Jola speakers. I am very animated and try to keep my messages short so that tends to help keep people engaged.

The last week or so I have felt attacked spiritually in Fear, humiliation with my language skills and shame. My trip to Mlumpe was a victory in so many ways. God set it up for me to over come all three things on several different levels. I am really thankful for this last trip and excited to be back in the fight.