5 Things I Learned in Brasil ~ Aula Tres

Or Lesson #3 ~ God is a Universal Language

I mean...common sense told me this lesson forever ago.

But in Brazil, I got to experience it.

It started that Saturday morning. Ismael had gotten up early to take the bridesmaids staying with us to the hair salon to get ready for the wedding and then from there he headed to drop me off at the place where the bride was. I guess Ismael is no different than me. He got in the car and CRANKED UP THE RADIO! It was playing off of his jump drive, so I'm assuming it was all of his favorite songs. Now...it might help to know that he is also the worship pastor at their church. He and one of the bridesmaids are singing and rockin it out! Me and the American bridesmaid are in the back seat just smiling and pretending we have some understanding of what they are singing, but in reality it was just funny to watch em!

But when it's just he and I alone in the car, the song changes over. We have no translator in the car anymore. Google translator is on the laptop at the house. And the translation book is in the mother of the groom's bag. But as the song starts and Ismael begins to sing with it, I instantly know what it is. And I join in. In English.

Tears begin to roll down my face as this man who I have come to love and I are in two different languages singing "The Heart of Worship". That song always gets me anyway, but today...was much more. The beginnings of that song says, "When the music fades and all is stripped away and I simply come." At that point God was a universal language that we both understood.

The next day was Sunday. Now, there they have it flopped from us. Sunday mornings are like our Sunday evenings and vice versa. So after spending the day in the countryside, we all headed back for Sunday night church that started at 8:00.



There was absolutely nothing comfy about this place. The pews were hard and tiny...it was all open air...we were all sitting hip to hip.

But I have never seen such joy in EVERY SINGLE PERSON in a church building like I have here. These people weren't faking it. They were just overjoyed to be there.





There's my Ismael!





I didn't understand one single word that was said.

And yet I understood everything perfectly!