A new missionary recruit went to Venezuela for the first time. He
was struggling with the language and didn't understand a whole lot
of what was going on. Intending to visit one of the local churches,
he got lost, but eventually got back on track and found the place.
Having arrived late, the church was already packed. The only pew
left was the one on the front row.
So as
not to make a fool of himself, he decided to pick someone out of
the crowd to imitate. He chose to follow the man sitting next to
him on the front pew. As they sang, the man clapped his hands, so
the missionary recruit clapped too. When the man stood up to pray,
the missionary recruit stood up too. When the man sat down, he sat
down. When the man held the cup and bread for the Lord's Supper,
he held the cup and bread. During the preaching, the recruit didn't
understand a thing. He just sat there and tried to look just like
that man in the front pew.
Then
he perceived that the preacher was giving announcements. People
clapped, so he looked to see if the man was clapping. He was, and
so the recruit clapped too. Then the preacher said some words that
he didn't understand and he saw the man next to him stand up. So
he stood up too. Suddenly a hush fell over the entire congregation.
A few people gasped. He looked around and saw that nobody else was
standing. So he sat down.
After
the service ended, the preacher stood at the door shaking the hands
of those who were leaving. When the missionary recruit stretched
out his hand to greet the preacher, the preacher said, in English:
"I take it you don't speak Spanish."
The
missionary recruit replied: "No I don't. It's that obvious?"
"Well
yes," said the preacher, "I announced that the Acosta
family had a newborn baby boy and would the proud father please
stand up." |
