Let Him In

I hope you enjoy today’s post. I’m in Miami airport now, on my way back to Boston today for a stretch. There was a 5.1 earthquake in Ecuador right near the airport after I left that caused some local destruction and closed the airport. Thanks be to God I wasn’t affected, but I don’t know yet if there are any injuries. Please remember the people there in prayer! -Jerome

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This past week in Chontal I was invited into the English classes to help out the teacher. The current teacher doesn’t know much English and she’s trying to stay a chapter ahead of the students. So, she was very glad when I showed up at the door on Monday.

We had a meeting and I asked her what she’s doing in the class. She teaches 5 classes a week to 7th, 8th, and 9th graders, and for the 7th graders, it’s their first experience in English. She showed me the book, and how they were about to do the parts of the face and the body. It just so happened that that was exactly what I had I mind. Perfect.

I get to the class, and the first thing we do is introductions. I explain my name, where I am from. Then, I tell them that in order to learn a language, you have to take risks and make a lot of mistakes. I proceed to tell them about a few of the funnier mistakes I’ve made with Spanish, and everyone laughs. Then, I went to each student, got on my knee and personally introduced myself to them, and each of them introduced themselves to me. Next, because we were just face to face, we started with a drawing of the face and naming the parts of the face, practicing pronunciation. We practiced looking like fools pronouncing the “th” sound with our tongues sticking out of our mouths, and we finished with a game where the students had to compete for naming parts of the face quickly and with an intelligible pronunciation. At the end I got an applause!

The next day, we started with a step by step follow-the-leader in the English. First, the students had to take out their notebooks. Then, a pen or pencil. Then, they had to tear out a blank page of paper. Then, they wrote the word in Spanish for embarrassment on the paper in huge letters (vergüenca). Then, everyone crumpled up their paper. Then I said, “now everyone turn to the window like me.” And everyone did a 90 degree to turn to face the window. “Now, boot the paper out of the window!” And I kicked my paper out of the window. And in a happy crazy frenzy, everyone else kicked, tossed, whipped their crumpled up papers out of the window. When things had calmed down, I said, “There is an expert in language education who said that you cannot learn a language if you have vergüenca. Now, it’s gone out the window and we are ready. The last step other step is to now go outside and pick up the papers and put them in the trash.” When we did a review of the day before, everyone remembered the words. So, we started with the parts of the body, and did like before, and when we did a review of the day before, everyone remembered the words. Finally at the end when the bell rang again, I got another applause from all the kids!

So, after the week was all done, I was sitting with the teacher talking about visiting again when I come back the next time, when she said something that surprised me. “You’ve done all this for me, but I haven’t even given you a cup of water. What can I do for you.” I hesitated for a moment. I’m thinking, a cup of water?? I just got the chance to meet face to face every 13 to 15 year old in the village. I got the chance to share who I am, do the creative things I like to do, watch early adolescent kids throw embarrassment out the window, see them grow in English and confidence in just 2 days, and I got a standing ovation from every one of them. Where does that happen except in the movies?? A cup of cold water? Are you kidding? I leaned over to her and looked her in the eye. “Martha, I just got the chance to meet every young teenager in the village personally, face to face. I got the chance to share who I am, watch them grow in these few days. You have already done something for me. Thank you for letting me in. That’s all I wanted.”

There is nothing that we can do for God or give to God. He can already do everything and He already has everything. There is only one thing that He wants, and that is to be let into us, into our heart and our lives, into our relationships, to bless us and to bless others through us. Being in us and being able to reach everyone else through us, that’s what means everything to God. So, this is the gift you can give Him:

Let Him in.

Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, indeed I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. (Rev 3:20) My delight was with the sons of men. (Proverbs 8:31)