During our recent mission to Ukraine, Julie Breazeale, a nurse, joined the mission team. Julie is one of those vibrant, energetic people who is deeply committed to making a real difference. And she worked tirelessly to make sure opportunity was given for real connections with the people she met in Ukraine.

Julie was asked to present health talks at a meeting site that was farthest away from all the others. This location did not have a visiting evangelist to preach for the evening meetings and Julie wanted to make sure that her presentations were special. She knew she could provide great information that would not only benefit the guests, but support the local church members who were excited the team was coming to represent their church.

But Julie was facing a huge challenge.

It is very hard to connect with people when there is a language barrier. Julie discussed this with her hard-working translator, Olha. Together, the two women went to work, meticulously crafting in-depth Ukrainian-language health presentations. Merging their talents, they created a captivating experience for the attendees. The local pastor and church members were thrilled!

One evening, as Julie and Olha prepared for their presentation, a young girl approached them. Members of the local congregation, she and her family had been so excited about having guests that the girl’s aunt taught her a song in English. She had been dreaming about it and practicing diligently for a month! That night she would finally sing for the very special guests.

The eagerly anticipated moment arrived. Suddenly, the little girl froze. Faced with the reality of strangers and a real audience, she lost her gumption. Instead of singing beautifully as she had planned, she turned away, too scared to go on.

Julie understood the incredible gift it is to learn something in another language. After all, she had just spent time figuring out how to share her talents in Ukrainian! She also understood what it’s like to loose your confidence.

Going quickly to the girl, Julie reassured her that she understood how hard it was and praised her for all her practice and courage. Then, Julie asked if she could record the song instead. This thrilled the little girl, who shyly and beautifully sang for themÑin English.

From Julie, to Olha, to a little girl with a song in her heart, these three exchanged an important gift. The gift of going outside your own comfort zone to connect through the language of love.

When we travel throughout the world to support, encourage and serve others, the impact is real and tangible. The connections and relationships that are developed last foreverÑand onward into the Kingdom of God.

Missions Minute: The Volks

Learn why the Volks of Summerland, British Columbia take QHM trips to share the language of love.

[vimeo 218813108 w=640 h=360]