On Saturday, I had the opportunity to go to the Jacquot Psychiatric Facility here in Cotonou. It was a nice facility and we walked around the courtyard greeting the hundred-something patient population. On the weekends they are left alone, so Mercy Ships takes the opportunity to minister to the patients. We come together in meeting room for some song and dance as well as a Bible story. Our translator shared the story in French of how Jesus gathered his disciples from all walks of life and brought them together to teach them about God's love. The young woman sitting next to me kept smiling at me throughout the story and at the end whispered, "I don't speak French." So afterwards while we were doing crafts, I took the time to share with Esther, the story in English and we had a good time talking about Jesus. As we were finishing up, I noticed one patient, Bernard, walking back and forth in front of the room, looking at the craft from the week before. There were hearts posted on the wall in French about 1 Corinthians 13. Thankfully, I memorized the Love chapter in 6th grade and with the little French I knew- Bernard and I recited the chapter about love. What a wonderful day it was to not only share God's love by action, but by word as well to these people of Benin.
Practice your French by reading 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 about Love. You might be surprised how much you know! Love is.. L'amour est...
4 L' amour est patient, il est plein de bonté, l'amour. Il n'est pas envieux, il ne cherche pas à se faire valoir, il ne s'enfle pas d'orgueil.
5 Il ne fait rien d'inconvenant. Il ne cherche pas son propre intérêt, il ne s'aigrit pas contre les autres, il ne trame pas le mal.
6 L'injustice l'attriste, la vérité le réjouit.
7 En toute occasion, il pardonne, il fait confiance, il espère, il persévère.
No comments:
Post a Comment