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| Old photo: Only one we have with Ma Fado |
Yet among this host of people we try to keep our hearts open and our spirits tuned to guide us toward certain special people. Now of course everyone is special in their own right, but we are talking about ones marked by their generosity, hospitality, respectability and openness. In our favorite Book it talks about special people like this--people like Cornelius--who are happy to receive you and bless you and be blessed by you. So we are always on the look out for these people. Today we thought we could share with you some of the folks we think might be this type of special person.
We’ve already told you about Ma & Ba Fado,our landlords. Since the very first day they have shown us a kindness above and beyond your normal relationship. This past weekend Ba Fado invited Tom to a family celebration. Ma Fado is often bringing us small gifts, things she has cooked or something from her shop. We’ve also noticed their good reputation in our community. They are very well known and respected. Could they be special?
Tom made a good friend just down the road. We’ll call him Barak. In the first weeks when Tom was walking around the neighborhood, this man stuck out as he called him over to talk to him. He showed a patience and a willingness to teach that is rare. He also seemed available. Now Tom goes and visits him multiple times each week to sit and talk and practice language. Barak doesn’t seem to do very much. He owns a small shop, but doesn’t get much business. On the other hand he seems to know everybody and is well received by them. Young men, old men, and even women greet him with a smile and what seems like genuine friendliness, and all sorts of people regularly come to sit with him by his shop. Could Barak be special?
As we wrote about last week, our daughter just started school. On his way from picking her up, Tom got into a conversation with one of her teachers. This woman, we’ll call her Ma Hadisi, was very interested in our work. You see, she has a son getting ready to take a big exam and she wants him to practice speaking English with us. We hear this story often and we always say the same thing, “If they want to come by the house and speak English with us, they are welcome to do that. We are happy to have them.” Most of the time, however, they never come. So we didn’t think much about it. A few days later our daughter and Tom headed to the market (which is across town) and got caught in a downpour. They took refuge under a doorway to wait for the rain to pass, but the rain kept coming. Suddenly the door behind them opened. Standing there was Ma Hadisi. Of all the doorways on the other side of town, we happened to stand in hers. Coincidence??? She invited us in and treated us very kindly and soon we were talking to her son, who we’ll call Nuni, who has now started coming by our house. We are still getting to know this family, but they seem like hard working people with family members in important and respectable jobs. Could this be a special family?
Just yesterday Tom got a call from a guy we’ll call Fakhadi who wants to practice his English. He invited Tom over to his house and gave him some nice juice to drink and was very hospitable. It turns out Fakhadi is a judge and is studying for an advance degree in international human rights. We’ve only just me him, but could Fakhadi too be special?
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| Grace with some neighbors |
Sometimes we get excited by a friendship with an islander that doesn’t end up going anywhere, sometimes it deepens and we find someone special. So whether all of these people or none of them turn out to be those special people, we wanted to share them with you, so that you too could be thinking about them and praying as we look for those people who will bless us and to whom we may be a blessing.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are very happy to see that it seems like things at our daughter's school might be picking up. She got to play outside this week and told us they’ve been doing some singing, some letters and even painting, all of which we are very excited about. We are feeling pretty good about language learning at the moment. Tom is especially thankful for a great language partner as well as people like Barak for informal practice.
PRAYERS REQUESTED
We are very much aware of the incidents that have taken place this week in Boston. Since the Boston area is one of the places we call home we have been extra concerned. Please continue to lift up the people of the Boston area during this difficult time. Megan continues to suffer from leg pain. Please pray for her healing, as when it comes the pain is pretty bad. We’re still looking for Megan to have her own formal language partner. Good women language partners are trickier to find and to fit into the schedule, but are still very important. The important meeting of similar minded people will soon take place. Please pray for its success. Finally, think of these special people we’ve spoken of and that we would have opportunities to share Love and Truth with them.
