Homework, snacks, Bible stories, puzzles, games, tennis...Homework doesn’t always have to be done at home. Since January, a group of young residents at The Pointe, where we also live, has gathered in the apartment complex’s clubhouse to work on assignments, enjoy snacks and hear and discuss a Bible story.The young people also enjoy other activities, such as puzzles and games.Last week brought a warm, sunny day. So once the homework was done, we headed outside to the tennis courts. Tennis is one of our 11-year-old border collie Tessie’s favorite pastimes.I am proud of these hardworking students and thankful for their faithfulness in coming each week. We really have a ball!
On Fridays, The Refugee Sewing Society meets to create beaded necklaces and earrings. A group of Bhutanese and Somali refugees gathers inside the sunlit auditorium at Clarkston Community Center.Today as our beading teacher was showing me the completed necklaces, I kept exclaiming, "Awesome!" She showed me several fascinating types of beadwork. "Aren't these awesome?" she asked. "Yes," I answered. "They're just awesome!"I noticed that the ladies were talking among themselves and shaking their heads. "What's wrong?" I asked. They explained, "These are not Assam necklaces. They are from Bhutan!" Huh? It took a few moments for us to realize that we had another funny ESL moment going on! "Assam," they explained, is a country bordering Bhutan, where they used to live. "Awesome," we explained is a word meaning wonderful, amazing, beautiful.
Laughter is what you'll usually hear if you pass near the ladies of The Refugee Sewing Society. But the women are serious about their craft. Most of them are newly arrived, still unemployed, and worrying about how to care for their families.They work very hard to create products we hope to sell for them at craft shows, fairs, Bible studies, and other venues. Thank goodness the Lord sent a good beading teacher our way. She ran a small business and knows the ins and outs. She's making all kinds of charts and record notebooks to use as we teach the women the essence of microenterprise.
A great joy for me today was unpacking three black garbage bags filled with donated fabric. COTTON fabric! Our favorite! Fabric goes fast at The Refugee Sewing Society. We're now stocked to begin our new sessions on Monday.These are pre-cut patches -- from the newly donated bags and from the Women On Missions group at First Baptist Church, Camdenton, Missouri.
I can't wait to get started sewing!There's just no other way to put it . . . ASSAM!
What a terrific Tuesday! Kelly and I began the day with a visit to our friend from Burundi. While she worked to prepare lunch, I practiced ESL with her. It's tempting to pronounce words the way they're written: po-tay-toes. But I worked with Eveline on good ol' southern: puh-tay-duhs.
She was babysitting her own daughter and a neighbor's son. Are these the cutest kids you've ever seen? I think so, too! While Eveline and I worked on conversational English, Kelly was making burritos . . . kiddie burritos! I noticed Eveline's attention wandering and a smile creeping over her face. When I looked to see what she was chuckling about, I saw Kelly rolling the kids up in blankets! They were having a major giggle-fest. Here's Simon the Burrito! In the kitchen, we continued to work on ESL. "I'm washing the potatoes." "I'm cooking beans." I was really excited when Everine began to try some sentences on her own. "I have a knife." "I have a bowl." YAY! Our next visit was the home of one of our Bhutanese students. Her baby is about a month old now. What a cutie pie! We took some baby clothes that had been donated, and some beads for our friend to make into a Bhutanese wedding necklace. Our third visit was in the home of our Sudanese friends. Her baby is due this month! I knew she was worried, because she didn't have ANYTHING ready for the baby -- no crib, carseat, stroller, clothes, diapers . . . We gave her a basket of items for her home that had been donated by our partners at Holly Springs Baptist Church in South Carolina. Then we all headed over to World Relief, the resettlement agency that brought her to America. I was thrilled when I called earlier in the day, because they said they had a BUNCH of baby furniture and clothing, and she could take whatever she needed. I drove our friend, Kelly and Ruthie over to World Relief, and we got her completely outfitted for the baby.
Her husband was waiting for us back at their apartment. They insisted on putting out fufu and stew, traditional Sudanese food. We each got a spoon, and we all ate from the same bowl. Fun! Just when you think life couldn't get any better, along comes fufu! We all enjoyed visiting and discussing our different cultures and religions. Please keep us and all our refugee friends in your prayers!
An old adage says March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. Here in the deep South, March 1 arrived amid the roll of thunder and a blinding blizzard. Does Atlanta even have snowplows?Early morning rain had turned to snow by the time church let out this morning. Andrei, Tim, Kelly and I went to Vikhyat -- our favorite Indian restaurant -- for lunch. When we stepped outside, we hardly recognized Atlanta! Andrei loves snow. He'd been feeling pretty grumpy about living in such a warm city. Not anymore!Here's the bench he usually sits on to wait for us to pick him up . . .the magnolia tree outside his door . . .and the pansy bed nearby!As we drove into Clarkston, we wondered how our refugee friends would react to the snow.These Bhutanese kids were building a snowman.Shorts, flipflops, and umbrellas in the snow? Yep! Excuse me . . . umbrellas in the snow? Many of them!The Mission Year team taught refugees from Bhutan, Somalia, Turkey, and Congo how to play in the snow. Step 1: Grab a bunch of snow and hide behind a tree.Step 2: Outsmart the Americans by shoveling up a bigger pile of snow!Step 3: Let 'em have it!This pretty Somali girl in her Muslim headwrap enjoyed her very first snowfall. A sweet little Congolese fellow stood under a tree. Frozen in place, his eyes wide, he stared as if in total shock at what he was seeing. So THIS is America? When my sister Libby and I -- who grew up in Bangladesh and Kenya -- saw our first snow, we were stunned, too. I remember we came running inside and exclaimed to our parents, "But it's so cold! And people are always stepping in it!" !This tree stands right beside our apartment. Hey, who's that in the shrubberies?Tim called out "Merry Christmas" to several refugees as we drove by. They gaped at him as if he were nuts. Actually, we were all a little nutty today.
So Merry Christmas, Happy March, and Welcome to America!
On Tuesday, Kelly and I drove around visiting all our families. We have moms with new babies, women about to become moms, and people with needs too many to count.
Toward the end of the afternoon, feeling pretty exhausted, we went over to the sewing room to straighten up.Crowds of women, shelves of fabric, bins of yarn, boxes with files -- it can get pretty crazy in there! As we worked, we discussed the new sessions we'll be starting on Monday. Kelly is going to run our yarn circle.
Big problem -- the yarn bin was almost empty. She wants to begin by asking the women to make baby blankets. I told her we would have to go buy yarn in "baby" colors, and that was going to cost a bundle. Meanwhile, the Women on Missions group at our partner church, First Baptist of Camdenton, Missouri, had recently sent us three boxes. I told Kelly that Mary Lou and Dori had called to tell me they were sending these boxes filled with cotton fabric already pre-cut into squares for our patchwork projects. I showed Kelly the first box, and sure enough, there were the patches. My heart filled with gratitude toward those precious women.
Then I opened the next box. Not fabric but . . . YARN! And most of it was . . . you guessed it . . . "baby" colors! Weeks ago, before we knew what we would be doing on February 24th, and before we knew what we would need for our next classes, God was already at work. Providing for our needs -- that's what He does best.
As Mission Service Corps volunteers, Tim and I raise our own support. Or I should say -- our Father provides it. We laughed when we heard a speaker talk about MSC last week. He said, "Other missionaries are paid for being good. We are good for nothing."
Just when doubts and fears about the future begin to get the better of me, the Lord reminds me that He called His name Jehovah Jireh -- God provides. And He sure does!
Tim and I left Atlanta and drove to Savannah, Georgia, on Wednesday, February 18. We were excited to receive training and commissioning from our sending agency, the North American Mission Board. We loved our brief side-trip to the Atlantic shore, but it was cold! We're planning another stay when it's warmer.
We enjoyed visiting the Savannah Baptist Center, where -- to my surprise and joy -- I discovered a women's sewing program. This lady made the elegant outfit she's wearing. With pride, she showed us the tailored suit she was sewing -- lining and all! I was impressed.They have a much bigger room than ours, and look at all that fabric . . .
and all those sewing machines!
The class in Savannah stitches lap blankets as their first project.
Each blanket and garment carries a special tag. I came away inspired with lots of great ideas.
Sunday morning, we drove to First Baptist Church, Pooler, Georgia. I haven't seen one of these record boards in years. Does that ever bring back memories! The pastor preached a sermon that helped clarify what Tim and I were sensing the Lord was telling us.
On Sunday evening, all 144 missionaries and chaplains gathered at First Baptist Church, Rincon, Georgia. Children carried flags from every state and Canada. We posed with the young man who held the New Mexico flag, our former home state.
During the service, we had the opportunity to tell the congregation about our work in Atlanta with refugees and immigrants.As we stepped off the stage, fully commissioned, we felt like we were nine feet off the ground!
Afterward, we celebrated with longtime friends, like Tim Yarbrough. He leads the Acts 1:8 program at NAMB. Tim made the trip from Atlanta to witness our commissioning.
We had made so many new friends, it was hard to say goodbye. God put us together with this wonderful couple again and again throughout the week. They are Donna and Ron McCullough. She runs a food distribution center in Alabama.
This woman directs the international student program at a university in Vancouver, Canada.
One of our hardest goodbye was to Pastor Charlie, who plants churches in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. Every night, he sang the blues for us in the lobby of our hotel. A Vietnam war veteran, Charlie was permanently crippled by a mortar blast at age 22. You would never guess the pain he suffers, because he smiles all the time -- even when singing the blues!
Our hotel was filled with orchids everywhere. To me, they became a symbol of God's majestic design and His love for all His creation -- from the mightiest oceans to the tiniest orchids. The lilies of the fields, Jesus told us, never worry about what they will wear, nor do they labor or spin. Yet, not even King Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. These bromiliads reminded me of my childhood in Kenya. That's where I first learned about Jesus and His amazing grace and mercy. I thank my parents for teaching me about God's love and for modeling His compassion in all they did. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them ina]"> the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."Matthew 28:18-20
Homework doesn’t always have to be done at home. Since January, a group of young residents at The Pointe, where we also live, has gathered in the apartment complex’s clubhouse to work on assignments, enjoy snacks and hear and discuss a Bible story.
The young people also enjoy other activities, such as puzzles and games.
Last week brought a warm, sunny day. So once the homework was done, we headed outside to the tennis courts. Tennis is one of our 11-year-old border collie Tessie’s favorite pastimes.
I am proud of these hardworking students and thankful for their faithfulness in coming each week. We really have a ball!
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