It was the night before ten of Alison’s* friends would come over to study what the Bible said about God’s heart for the lost. Her roommate, Karly, a Beyond field worker, had just finished making muffins and asked, “How are you feeling about leading the training?” But Alison thought Karly’s team leader was coming to facilitate the training! “Oh dear!” Alison said. “What are we going to do when these people show up in twelve hours?” Even though Karly had only had four months of learning the local language, she was convinced they could do it without the guest “expert.” Alison could give the introduction, and Karly would lead the Scripture study herself. Feeling good about Karly’s plan, Alison turned to comfort her friend, “Don’t worry. You can speak English.”
The next day everyone arrived and began to meet, greet, and catch up in the local language. As Alison introduced the training in their native tongue, Karly started to think through all the questions she planned to ask . . .. “Who would like to read 2 Peter 3:9?” “What can we learn about God’s heart from these verses?” “Who does God want to be saved?” etc… “Can I do it in my new language?” Karly wondered. She knew it was worth a try. “Give me words, Lord!” she prayed. “You are the Teacher.”
God came through for Karly, and Alison’s friends were able to learn about Jesus’ strategy in their native language. As they closed, Alison encouraged the group to pass it on. “Anyone can lead this training. See, Karly’s had only four months of language learning, and she can lead it!” Karly agreed, “It’s not about us. I love that God set me up to lead my first training through a miscommunication, long before I would have felt ready!”