The Trip

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."