Just Following Along
Posted by: clean-hewmor <clean-hewmor@...>
A new missionary recruit went to Venezuela for the first time. He was
struggling with the language and didn't understand a whole lot of what was
going on. Intending to visit one of the local churches, he got lost, but
eventually got back on track and found the place.
Having arrived late, the church was already packed. The only pew left was
the one on the front row.
So as not to make a fool of himself, he decided to pick someone out of the
crowd to imitate. He chose to follow the man sitting next to him on the
front pew. As they sang, the man clapped his hands, so the missionary
recruit clapped too.
When the man stood up to pray, the missionary recruit stood up too. When
the man sat down, he sat down.
When the man held the cup and bread for the Lord's Supper, he held the
cup and bread. During the preaching, the recruit didn't understand a
thing. He just sat there and tried to look just like that man in the
front pew.
Then he perceived that the preacher was giving announcements. People
clapped, so he looked to see if the man was clapping. He was, and so the
recruit clapped too.
Then the preacher said some words that he didn't understand and he saw the
man next to him stand up. So he stood up too.
Suddenly a hush fell over the entire congregation. A few people gasped. He
looked around and saw that nobody else was standing. So he sat down.
After the service ended, the preacher stood at the door shaking the hands
of those who were leaving. When the missionary recruit stretched out his
hand to greet the preacher, the preacher said, in English: "I take it you
don't speak Spanish."
The missionary recruit replied: "No I don't. It's that obvious?"
"Well yes," said the preacher, "I announced that the Acosta family had a
newborn baby boy and would the proud father please stand up."