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 "It was a normal Sunday service. I opened the service with an encouraging verse. It was simple; about the love of God and His desire to have relationship with us. The service proceeded from there.
After the service, a visitor, Robert, came to me. He was visiting long-time friends who had invited him to attend the church with them. In slow, slurred speech, he asked how a loving God would allow his brother to die and allow him to have irreversible damage to his body due to a car accident. This is the kind of question a pastor wants to have people ask, but it breaks your heart at the same time.
We had spent many hours studying the German language, but we were not yet comfortable in conversation. In very basic German, I was able to share more about God's love with Robert. He spoke less English than I spoke German, so we struggled and smiled through a difficult conversation.
With a smile on his face, he left for the train and a six hour return tip to his hometown. I may never see Robert again, but I was able to help with
a few answers to his questions about God. I pray that God will use my
simple German to reveal the immense love of God to his heart and life.
This incident exemplifies why we spend so much time, energy, effort and money on learning the language of the country to which God has called us. Missionaries MUST have a command of the language to be effective in communicating the Gospel of Jesus."
From Matt Riegel
First-year AGWM Personnel in Germany
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