Friday night I went to a youth fellowship gathering at a friend's house in Agdao. He works with YWAM and has helped out at the ministries I've been working with. He had asked me if I would share a word of encouragement to the kids. I agreed and went there this past Friday evening, for the first time. I don't think I had met many, if any, of these kids before.
Now that you know the setting, here's the story.
When it was time for me to share, I greeted the group by saying, "Maayong buntag sa tanan!" (Good morning everyone!)
The kids had mixed reactions, from staring at me to smiling/laughing to whispering to others. My translator turned to correct me and said, "Gabii." (Night.)
I looked back to the kids and said with a big smile, "Char lang!" (Just kidding!)
They all started laughing, including my translator, who gave me a big high-five.
Now honestly, it was one of those you-had-to-be-there moments. Or at least have a good understanding of the culture. Christina has told me that she hears the phrase "char lang" fairly often at the clinic. And I've heard it a few times myself. Apparently, it's a popular slang phrase. And since everyone here has a pretty good sense of humor and likes to laugh, it went over real well when I said it.
I think if I go back there some time, I'll have to say it again. But after that I think the joke will have run its course. But it did its purpose this time by breaking the ice and putting all of these kids at ease.
A large boat at the Sasa Wharf
Turns out it was Chinese and supports their satellite systems (You can read about it here)
And now some randomness from a recent photo shoot we did of ourselves:
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