"Blah, blah, blah," said the woman at the supermarket meat counter. At least that's what it sounded like to me. We were already being helped by another clerk so I had no need to talk to her. "I understand little Croatian," was my Croatian reply. The clerk then looked at the two of us with a face that asked, "are you daft?" I think she wasn't sure if we were stupid, rude, or crazy. I was O.K. with that. Brenda wasn't, so she added, "We study Croatian."

When Brenda said those simple words the woman's countenance changed. Suddenly she was interested in where we studied and lived. She wanted to know how long we had been learning Croatian. These are questions we could understand...and actually answer in Croatian. We quickly went from being daft to intriguing. She was even impressed by how GOOD our Croatian sounds.

Speaking some simple Croatian words was all it took to change a stranger's first impression of us. I am so thankful for Brenda having such wisdom. One or both of us go to this supermarket multiple times per week. I don't know if we will talk to this woman again, but we might. Next time she might ask why we are here. Someday, we might be able to introduce her to Christ as we know him.

We aren't in Croatia to be oddities, to defy logic, or to be daft. We are here to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the people of this country. We aren't here to cut conversations short by saying that we only understand a little Croatian when we don't need the person who spoke to us. As Rick Warren wrote in The Purpose Driven Life, "It's not about me."
We need to keep this in mind every day. We need to be mindful of opportunities to begin relationships. We need to remember that everybody needs Christ...not just the people we already know.

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