When Words Fail

Bible Reading: Luke 10:25-37

“I can’t play with the kids here,” Marley told Dad as they washed dishes after supper. “They don’t understand anything I say!”

Marley’s family had gone overseas to help some missionaries in Papua New Guinea. They were living in a village in the mountains, and making new friends hadn’t been easy. The village children spoke a language called Pidgin, but Marley’s family spoke English.

Dad plunged another plate into sudsy water. “You’ll have to find another way to communicate with them.”

The next morning, two girls from the village spotted Marley outside and ran to her. Beaming, one of them timidly held out a short stick that looked like bamboo. Marley reached for it uncertainly.

“Sugar cane,” one of the girls said in accented English.

The other girl pointed to the side of the sugar cane with its bark peeled away. The inside of the sugar cane was yellowish and packed together in coarse strands. “Gut.” She grinned and rubbed her belly.

Marley tried to take a bite out of it, and the girls burst into laughter.

“No, no,” giggled the first one, and pretended to slurp.

“Huh?” Marley imitated the girl and discovered that the juice of the sugar cane was deliciously sweet. “It’s good! Gut?”

The second girl’s eyes lit up. “Gut!”

They grabbed her hands and motioned for Marley to come play with them.

During lunch, Marley told her parents about her morning. “You were right, Dad. Even though we speak different languages, we can still be friends.”

Dad grinned. “Who would’ve thought those girls would use sugar cane when words failed?”

“What do you mean?” Marley asked.

“They couldn’t use words, so they gave you something even sweeter,” Dad said. “A gift. Kindness. Sugar cane. Friendship isn’t always about words. It’s about actions. Jesus told a parable about the Good Samaritan, who found a man lying on the road who had been robbed and hurt. The Samaritan cleaned the man’s wounds, took him to an inn, and left money so the man would be cared for until he was well. That’s the kind of friendship Jesus shows us and we need to show others, no matter how different they are from us.” Hannah Edwards

How About You?

Do your words ever fail? Maybe you’ve been to another country where people speak a language you don’t understand. Maybe you have a hard time saying what you feel. Jesus shows us that we can show love not only through words but also through actions. He tells us He loves us in the Bible and showed it to us by dying on the cross in our place. Show others that kind of friendship.

Today’s Key Verse:
Luke 10:34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds…put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. (NIV)

Today’s Key Thought:

Actions speak when words cannot