The Interpreters

 (Mrs. LouAnn, Karsen, and Mama Judy)

Because I was going to teach the lessons to the children, many people told me of the potential difficulties of speaking through an interpreter. “It will take at least twice as long to talk.” “Speak in short, complete thoughts.” “You have to trust that you get a good interpreter who will repeat what you’ve said.”

Well, my experiences teaching with an interpreter were very good. I had two different interpreters: one in Livingstone – Mama Judy, and one in Mazabuka – Rich.

Mama Judy is a dear, sweet woman. She and her husband, Papa Daka, were with the team for every meal and all of the devotionals, so they became part of our team. She helped us barter at the market, helped us with “crowd control” with the children, and kept up with all of the activities the team did (including a reeeally long, steep hike). She interpreted the stories I taught in Livingstone at the compounds (neighborhoods). She helped explain different concepts to the kids in their language – one of my many disadvantages for being an American in Zambia. In Livingstone, most of the children knew English, but they appreciated the lessons being taught in their heart language.

One thing that told me a lot about Mama Judy was what she did after we finished the lesson. Since the children could understand English, when we played or sang songs, Mama Judy would step out. And every time I looked to see what she was doing, she was speaking with the ladies who were doing laundry or cooking outside. She was sharing the gospel with them.

Rich was a guy about 20 years old. He was a younger Christian, and he had a big heart. He got very excited when interpreting the stories for me in Mazabuka. He interacted well with the children; you could tell he was really enjoying it. In Mazabuka, some of the children understood English, but a lot of them were clueless to most of what we were saying (that, or they were really shy). Rich explained the songs that we sang with them, and he also taught the memory verses to the children (“Repeat after me” is more difficult when you can’t say the verse yourself…). The first day, Mrs. LouAnn shared the gospel with the children, and Rich interpreted; the next, Rich wanted to know if he could do it. When we would first get to the compounds where we were doing ministry, we would look around to see where Rich was. Every time we looked, he was going to houses to get more children.

I am so grateful for such wonderful interpreters. I couldn’t have done it without them! (…really, I couldn’t have done it without them)

 (Rich, the kids, and Karsen)

Please pray for Mama Judy and Rich. Pray that they would have boldness to continue to share the gospel.