lenten journey, day 9 — a prayer for the garifuna people

If an average Christian person from America went to China, or Syria, or Ethiopia and started telling everyone they met that Jesus is a great and merciful savior, what would happen? Probably nothing, if Mr./Ms. Average Christian is testifying in English!

The truth of the Gospel can only revolutionize a life if it is understandable. The Garifuna people of Central America are a beautiful example of what can happen when the church reaches out to a people group in their own language.

The Garifuna are descendents of African slaves brought to the Caribbean islands in the 17th century. Most Garifuna today believe a hodge-podge of religious beliefs. Nearly all children are baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, but their lives are largely governed by belief in evil spirits and omens that foretell the future.

In the past two decades, though, many Garifuna have been coming to Jesus with a strong faith that delivers them from their fear of evil spirits and gives them the joy of abundant life. Why? Because missionaries who devoted decades of their lives to learning the difficult Garifuna language have brought the truth of Jesus to these people in words they can understand.

The New Testament has been translated, and the Old Testament is in the works. The Jesus film has been dubbed in the Garifuna language, too, and many have come to know the forgiveness and salvation of Christ through it.

Upon receiving a translated New Testament, one Garifuna minister said: “May we chew God’s word, swallow it and let it enter into our veins.” Oh yeah.

Father, you are the creator of language. Thank you for giving us such a powerful means to express our thoughts and feelings. And thank you that the Garifuna and many other people groups are hearing the Gospel in their own language. May they be drawn to you in ever increasing numbers. While nations and tribes are divided by language barriers, the truth of your love is a universal theme. I pray that the church would be diligent in finding ways to bring that truth to all the people of the world in whatever language speaks to their hearts. Lord, I don’t know any language but English. Would you show me how I can be a harvest worker anyway? Yes, and amen.

“Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me.” — 1 Corinthians 14:10-11

“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” — Matthew 9:37-38