This past week and a half I was privileged with the opportunity to go to the Dominican Republic through Foundations for Peace with a group from my church. Our group stayed at the Foundations for Peace house in Santo Domingo, traveling to our work site every day in Hato Nuevo, where we worked on building a church. I met several new people on this trip, American interns, as well as our American foundation leader. One of the people who had the most impact was a Dominican intern, Joel, who spoke little to no English. I, myself, having only taken Spanish for three years in high school had forgotten a good amount of my Spanish. Additionally, many Dominicans do not speak Spanish as it is taught in school, as many Americans do not speak English in the same way. Despite these barriers, Joel and I were able to communicate. We spoke about music preferences and his wedding which took place only months ago. We exchanged pictures of our families, and lots of laughs. He was full of life and God's love. I did not need to speak fluent Spanish to understand that about him. I taught him a few words in English and I could always ask him to teach me some Spanish vocabulary. During the last day, we were all guessing each others ages. After the guessing had taken place, he explained that being young did not depend on age. He said that as long as you have a smile on your face you are young at heart.
Another amazing Dominican intern I met was a woman who spoke English, but helped me with my Spanish on many occasions. At the Sunday church service, I decided to share a testimony, all in Spanish. I wrote about a page of it in Spanish before I needed her help, but she helped me to write about four pages more of my testimony, translating it all. She was nothing but patient and kind, always willing to help. At the work site, she would help me communicate with the children when my little Spanish failed.
God has truly created us in the same fashion. One in which communication can flow even with a barrier as great as different languages. Our connection was something stronger than simple words exchanged. We understood and helped one another. God's joy is unexplainable. He does the impossible in each of our lives. As in the story of the Tongues of Fire, language or background did not segregate the different types of people--God allowed unity.
