Who Knew I’d See 22 Countries in Just One Summer?

Oh, how time flies.  I have been in GA for a full month, but it feels as though I just got here yesterday.  The Lord has been so gracious in giving me the opportunity to be here.  The past few weeks have been filled with hosting various VBS church teams, teaching English classes, and doing home visits to get ready for the after school program.

Each week the Family Heritage Foundation has different church groups come to the community to do Vacation Bible School and other youth activities.  As hostess, my responsibilities are to make sure everyone knows where supplies are found, the volunteers are taken care of, to help with crowd control and so forth. 

Teaching English, the area I was least looking forward to, has turned into my favorite time of the week.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, about twenty refugees come to a small three bedroom apartment for class.  We all sit in a circle on the floor and class begins.  Depending on the day, there are other volunteers who also teach; my favorite students are the beginners.  Being a visual and auditory learner myself, I can see how the Lord has gifted me to teach English.  Saying the vocabulary words over and over again so that the students can achieve the correct pronunciation never gets boring.  The smallest little accomplishments thrill me!

During my second week, a church hosted a concert where we shared the gospel and invited families to join the after school program.  About forty families asked us to come visit their homes, and so I’ve been doing home visits for the past two weeks.  These times have been both wonderful and challenging.  Because there are refugees from so many different places, it is hard to know just how to act.  For instance, when going to the home of a family from Iraq, you will hug and kiss all the women; but when meeting someone from Burma, you bow the first few times visiting and then hug after that.  I found this out when I went to hug a woman from Burma and she practically lunged to the opposite side of the room.  The next time I came to her house, she gave me a hug and held my hand half the time.  It’s a constant learning experience. There are people from over 22 different countries and I never know what to expect!

            I wish I could take more pictures of the adults; many of the people wear their traditional garb and it’s so cool to see all these different ethnicities. These visits act as a foundation to build friendships and start conversations leading toward Christ.  It is always an adventure going from home to home as we meet people from different cultures, many of whom speak little to no English.  On one particular visit, an elderly Burmese couple invited the team into their sparsely furnished living room.  Sitting in the corner of the living room was an old dog kennel with a duck in it; the couple had presumably caught it in the trash-filled lake nearby.  The old man pointed to the kennel and said, “You eat, you eat?”  Bill, a gentleman who is doing church planting said, “Yes, we eat duck.”  The old man quickly got up from his place and ran to the kitchen to get a knife.  As he was reaching into the kennel, the duck quacking for dear life, one of the girls cried out, “No, don’t kill it.  Eat it when we’re gone.  I’ll cry if you kill it now.” This is just one of the many stories, so when you think of me, I am always in need of your prayers.

Thanks for those of you who have been praying.  We have a Family Fun Day this weekend and could use prayer for safety, our volunteers, that the program would run seamlessly, for good weather, and so on.  Pray that God would bless the relationships that are being built with the refugees.  There are several families that I have connected with, and I just need wisdom when I’m visiting them.  Also, pray for my host family, that they would be blessed; as they have been so generous in having me stay with them.  Finally, school is just around the corner, and I’m really seeking the Lord’s provision.  Thank you for all your love and support.