Speaking in Tongues

This is actually from visiting a church recently, but it has
the same idea of sitting around outside with men!

Last week was a big week for me as I got the chance to lead the men’s fellowship group weekly meeting for the scheduled activity of a prayer. It was the right time and situation for me to try leading it all in the church's native "tongue."  This was a nerve-racking preparation for me, since I like to be precise and nuanced when I give a message and also had a pretty detailed way I wanted to ask them to try praying. Of course, being detailed and nuanced is not a very easy thing to be in a language you’re still learning. But things went well. We sit outside in the dark depending on the time of year and also plan the song we’ll sing the next day in worship, so I kept the reflection short and sweet. Then I explained how we would pray and each man went around and shared a prayer request from his family so we could pray for each other. I found the prayer requests interesting. The first guy was maybe caught a little off-guard, so it was hard to tell if it was just a “Sunday School” type answer or not, but it was related to what this elder himself had just preached on the week before. He asked that his family would be strengthened so that they’d be better reflection of God’s righteousness in their family relations. The next asked for guidance for his children that were studying in another city. Another man asked for a return to health for his wife. Another asked that his family would be better at sharing their hope in Jesus with their neighbors. The last one asked for special provision for his large family as his wife’s work at a NGO will take her to a faraway country for the next year. I thought that was a pretty good survey of everyday things people are thinking about in the church here.

-- El Padre