Predicación

I've now preached twice here in Colombia, and it looks like I'll have two more opportunities. Normally I would be intimidated by the task, not really wanting to preach and my first response would be “no thank you.” But when I signed up for this trip, I made it my goal to serve in any way I was needed. I realized it would be weird for a seminary student, a pastor in training, to decline the request to preach, and so I agreed. As soon as we started meeting the residents here and were able to hear their stories, I actually got excited to preach. I have an opportunity to give them a message of hope, something they are thirsty for as they carry out their lives as displaced people.

Preaching here is very different from what I’m accustomed to in my home context. The biggest challenge is that I don’t speak Spanish, but I’m blessed by Kelsey who is very skilled in Spanish and is able to interpret the message for me. The first week when we preached in El Tres, I was thrown off by having to pause after every sentence to allow her to interpret. It felt very disjointed and at several places I lost my train of thought. In a different situation I might have considered that sermon an epic fail, but somehow I was okay with how it went. I preached on 1 Peter 1:1-9 about living hope. My hope for that sermon was that the Spirit somehow spoke through it and gave the congregation a message of hope and encouragement.

This week I wrote out a manuscript which I was going to try to avoid, but I resigned to it after realizing the interpretation element was going to be a challenge. I was hoping to let the “Espiritu muevete,” which is the custom for preachers here in Urabá. But even the Holy Spirit seemed to be struggling that first week with having to move through two languages. So, I used a manuscript, which I found great comfort and familiarity in, and the sermon was much more fluid this week.

Each Sunday we find ourselves at a different church, which makes it a bit easier because I can use the same sermon for all four weeks. Normally I wouldn’t dare do such a thing, since I like to think that each context and location deserves a fresh message. But here I have limited time for sermon preparation and I don’t have access to any commentaries, so I’m going to stick to one sermon.

May the Spirit continue to move as we preach this message about living hope.