So I’m learning español. People ask how it is going. To be honest, I do not know enough to tell you. In class, I do not understand enough to ask questions! There are some people in class that are having complete conversations and I am completely lost. I’m not without hope in the process. God has called me and he will equip me. This doesn’t mean I don’t need to study it just means he is with me when I am.

There are three ways to say give a demonstrative pronoun in Spanish. They are éste, ése, áquell. These are masculine forms. For you grammar types, there are also masculine plural (éstos, ésos, aquéllos), feminine/plural (ésta/s, ésa/s, áquella/s), there is also a neuter form (ésto, éso, áquello). Now that I have satisfied the grammar nerd in all of you and figured out how to do accents on letters, which was no small feat. Let me tell you why this is comforting to me.

In English we use, “this” or “that” as demonstrative pronouns. These words represent things that are in our hand (this) or things that are far away (that). In español, it is different. They add a different degree of distance. They use éste, ésta, and ésto for something at hand. They use ése, ésa, and ésto for something close but not in hand. They use áquell, áquella, and áquello for something far away.

So while studying this for class, I began to think about how there are some people close at hand. I can talk to them on a daily basis, get to know them, and share the love of Christ with them. There are others who are a little farther away. I may see them occasionally or I may speak to them on social media. There is yet another group of people, those who are far away. Those people, I will never meet. I will never get to know them. They are too far. Even though someone may be too far for me to reach, they are not beyond the reach of God. God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. No one can hide from him.

It makes me think about the people Sentinelese people. They are uncontacted. They live on an island in the Bay of Bengal. When contact has been attempted they have shot arrows and killed anyone who comes close. For this reason, India has imposed a three mile buffer zone around the island. The Sentinelese people are too far for me but not for God. I’m praying that these far off people would be open to the Gospel and those who are far off would be brought near.