Holy Spirit, Google Translate and Momma Gigi

So what do you do when your translators are unavailable and you have five hours to be ready to give a message to a group of women that are hungry for the Word?

Well my first thought was….Run and Hide!!! My second…tell Mamma Gigi there would be no message to bring to the ladies. (Now when thinking about that I wanted to refer to my first thought:>) My third thought…which really should have been my first…PRAY SILLY!! This is what I did and in the hours that followed before I brought the message God reminded me that He was my translator and to trust Him. So I sat down with the the message, the computer set for Google translate knowing that the translation wouldn’t be great from there, but I knew it would get me in the ballpark…so to speak.

It was 10 min. before I was to meet with the ladies and I began to get just a slight bit nervous. I wasn’t nervous about the message, but translating it so that the ladies would understand. The thought of them being confused or taking something the wrong way began to flood my mind and heart. Right away I got up pretended “to dig a hole and put the devil in it!!” There was no need to fear, no need to worry…God had this and He had me.

I went out to our group area to meet the ladies and there were already six of the ladies from our Discipleship Dames that were front and center and had huge smiles on their faces. I greeted them each with a hug and kiss on the cheek and then I asked them to do something for me. I told them that there would be no translator for me and if they would pray for me as brought the message to them. I told them that the Holy Spirit was my translator and that I was asking Him and for them to ask Him to help each woman understand the message. You would have thought I was giving them food or clothes because they were so excited to be able to do this for me…some of them started praying right then and there. How many of us get excited when someone asks us to pray for them? More importantly, how many of us stop right then and begin praying? Just today I posted this from VOM “As humans we think we have to 95% act and 5% pray, in reality it’s reversed. We must 95% pray and 5% act.” –this from a former prisoner for Christ in a restricted nation.

As we waited for everyone to arrive I felt the butterflies begin to fly in my belly…I knew all would be well, but I don’t think the butterflies received that message yet:>) Mamma Gigi and M’NeNe who usually begin with worship and prayer were not there yet and so one of the other ladies asked me if I thought we should start. “I really wanted the ladies to be there…of all the Monday’s for them not to be there…really God?” This is what went through my mind.

As we began to worship in song my heart began to become more at peace as He reminded me once again that He had this and to trust Him. Right at that moment Mamma Gigi and M’NeNe arrived laughing because they knew they were late and their smiles were of great encouragement to me. We prayed and then I again told all of them that I had no translator and that I was going to give it a go with the Holy Spirit as my translator. A shout of “Amen” came from these beautiful ladies. That was confirmation enough to tell me it was going to be fine.

We were studying Colossians 1:1-14 of how we can pray for one another. As I began reading in my best Creole that I could and trying to make eye contact with these precious ladies…each point was made, but with a little help from my friend. When the words were jumbled or there was a better word for what I was trying to say…Mamma Gigi would step in for clarity. Don’t you just love how God orchestrates His people? God knew what and who I needed to help these ladies to understand His message.
I asked them to pray for one another in these 6 ways…{ Ask God for the person to be…}
1. “Be filled with the knowledge of His will” (v. 9). Every believer needs to know the Lord’s specific plans for his or her life. That they would desire to seek Him in all things and run only to Him.
2. “In all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (v. 9). Ask God to help them walk in a manner worthy of Christ’s name. As believers, our conversation, character, and conduct should reveal obedience to God.
3. “Bearing fruit in every good work” (v. 10). Christians should have an eternal influence on our world. As we obey God, He makes our lives fruitful.
4. “Increasing in the knowledge of God” (v. 10). A believer should grow closer and closer to the Lord over time. On a practical level, that means we should study the Bible, apply what we learn, and observe what happens when we obey or disobey God.
5. “Strengthened with all power” (v. 11). Pray that the other person will experience the power of God in his or her daily life. The Lord loves it when we realize our helplessness and cry out for His supernatural strength.
6. “Joyously giving thanks to the Father” (vv. 11-12). This request has to do with the person’s attitude. God wants us to meet life with thankfulness, trusting Him in the midst of hardship. He brings good out of suffering and deepens our character.
(Notes taken from Dr. Charles Stanley and NIV Study Bible)

Within each of these I placed a story or illustration to help cement what we were discussing. You know they are understanding when you hear the “Amen’s” or when they are looking so intently at you as you speak. Both were being done. It also was a joy to see a few ladies with paper and pencil actually taking notes. Many of the ladies are unable to do so, but the ones that are…Wow!!

At the end of the message I asked them all if they understood what God’s Word was saying in these passages…a resounding “YES”. Then I challenged them to practice praying for one another in this way and they agreed.Oh how I love these ladies and what God is doing in them and with them. Their child-like faith inspires my faith and my walk. They know how important it is to go straight to the Father. There is no waiting…no jotting it down for a later time…THERE IS NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT!!

Lord, give me confidence and boldness to pray with urgency…right then, on the spot. Thank you Holy Spirit for being the ultimate translator and that I can rely on You always for what is needed at that moment. Amen.