Hello  ,
 

A man who (a few years ago) provided sign language interpretation on stage for Nelson Mandela's memorial service, attended by scores of heads of state, was a "fake," the national director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa said.  
 

The unidentified man seen around the world on television next to leaders including United States President Barack Obama "was moving his hands around but there was no meaning in what he used his hands for," Bruno Druchen, the federation's national director, told The Associated Press.
 

Druchen and three other sign language experts said the man was not signing in South African or American sign languages and could not have been signing in any other known sign language because there was no structure to his arm and hand movements. South African sign language covers all of the country's 11 official languages, according to the federation.

Ingrid Parkin, principal of the St. Vincent School for the Deaf in Johannesburg, said she's received complaints from the deaf community from Canada to China about the man on stage and that his movements look "like he's signing gibberish." He also used no facial expression to convey the emotions of the leaders, a key element of sign language interpretation.
 

"This man himself knows he cannot sign and he had the guts to stand on an international stage and do that," Parkin said.
 

Nicole Du Toit, an official sign language interpreter who also watched the broadcast, said in a telephone interview that the man on stage purporting to sign was an embarrassment.
 

Can you hear me now?
 

I cannot count the times that I have tried to communicate with others, and it was clear that I was not speaking on a level that they could understand.  I wasn't speaking their language (pun intended).
 

God knows how to help us  reach others for His kingdom, but we first have to recognize that without His divine help, we cannot possibly know or understand how to reach them.
 

Am I asking God to be in the conversational transactions (verbal or otherwise), that I will have with others today?  

Is God's will, my will?  

If not, why not?

Have a great day and God bless!

Pastor Mike / The Open Word