(Austin Gardner wrote this when he served as a missionary in Peru, South America)
- Write out your testimony. It will surprise you how easy it is to get sidetracked by all the commotion and translating.
- Keep it brief, maybe about 3 minutes! With translation 3 minutes will turn into 5!
- Open with a greeting in Spanish. The folks like it when you try to speak their language and show a genuine interest in them.
- Tell who you are and a little bit about you, married, work, something about your family, etc.
- Add a couple of positive statements about the country, the church, and the people!
- Do not talk about the poverty of the area, the currency as funny money, how sorry you feel for them, etc.
- Tell what Christ has done for you, how did you get saved, how did you realize your need of a Savior, how has your life changed, how has Christ helped you lately.
- Give a verse and make sure and give the application.
- Do not give graphic details about your sin or your past life.
- Avoid slang and idioms in your testimony. They can be very difficult to translate and may have no meaning in the other language.
- Do not use very long sentences or very short either. Give a good thought that can be easily remembered by the translator!
- Avoid stressing your material success or blessings and especially making any comparisons to what the people have in the country you are visiting!
- Avoid speaking of the sacrifice that you made to get to the field. Remember what it cost you to get to the country may be several months of a workingman’s income. You may share with them the blessing of being able to come and how good God was to answer your prayers and make it possible to be there!
- Don’t tell jokes, etc. without prior approval to make sure that they translate, etc.
- Thank the folks again and ask them to pray for you. Be excited about the country and the opportunity to be there.