Our last weeks have been full of visiting friends in their homes, enjoying hosting meals of our own, and participating in a wedding celebration as a family for the first time!
The second big holiday of the year in Islam, Eid-Al-Adha, happened recently and we were able to host a dinner for our students who expressed their loneliness after spending the first Eid by themselves. Along with a big feast, we were able to play games, have deep conversations, and bless our friends by providing them with community and family at a time when they were feeling so alone. As I sat in the kitchen and listened to the chatter of several conversations around me, my heart swelled with joy at being here for such a time as this. Tom was able to go deep in conversation with several different men and we had a glimpse into how God is working in many of their lives.
Our secretary from the school just had another baby and we were able to go for a visit and surround ourselves with the joyful chaos that comes from four children under four. She has her hands full!
A student that we are quite close to recently got married and we were happy to be invited to the celebrations. What we didn’t realize, however, was that Tom was part of the wedding party!
It wasn’t until the afternoon of the wedding, after the groom had finished getting ready, that he turned to Tom and said, “Your turn!” and pushed him into the chair at the barbers to get his own turban wrapped.
While we’ve come a long way with learning culture and what our roles might be, this one was not even on our radar! However, we thoroughly enjoyed our time celebrating with our friends and learned a lot about how this culture celebrates weddings.
Thank you for continuing to journey with us as we pour ourselves out to those around us.
“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
What a privilege it is to do life with so many wonderful people!
