While the men were hiking and sharing, the women on our team stayed in the town where our friends live to share with neighbors and minister to their family....this meant lots of great visits over tea and pastries and lots of playtime with kiddos. During our first day we visited with a wonderful friend "Rebekah" who fed us and painted our hands with henna. She is a mom raising four children, two teenage girls and two handicapped sons. We were very touched by her hopeful smile and generous spirit.
We also shared tea with "Joy" who is well-known by our friends as a baker extraordinaire. We enjoyed this visit, although we could see for the first time the risk many friends here take if they choose to believe. During this visit there were many extra family members there and we could feel even as our friend talked with them the tension that comes with their friendship. Joy is what our friend calls a watcher, but her hospitality was big.
On Day Two the people here have a big Muslim holiday called L'aid Tefsca, celebrating the stories of Abraham and Ishamael and the provision of a lamb. Similar to our Christmas, the families gather to celebrate and give one another gifts. The day begins with families slaughtering a ram then eating it together as they celebrate. We were invited to share the beginning of this celebration with a precious friend "Mercy" who made great sacrifices to share with us. This friend works very hard in a difficult family situation to provide for her six children. We rejoiced this day as the holiday gave great opportunity to share. Our friend asked about the sacrifice of "Brahim" and if they talked about the story on this day. Often like our Christmas, many of the people celebrate the tradition without understanding the meaning. As Mercy asked her mother about what they believed about the celebration we were astounded as her daughter said, "Yes, we know the story. It's the same that we watched in the movie (God Story shared with them several months ago) where God gives His Son. What a joy to see a precious family here learning and sharing and coming so much closer to genuine relationship with God's Son. Our friend was able to follow up with the teaching that the blood spilled all over town that morning is not what takes away our sin.
We spent the evening in the neighborhood playing and sharing with neighbors - giving gifts brought with us, many of them given by you! We cooked together and played with the kids and enjoyed conversation, stories, and encouragement that is rare for our friend here. Today we visited the downtown area and bought some groceries that we would need to feed the hungry men on our team as they returned from their trip! Our afternoon visit was to "Perpetua" a believing sister who is precious beyond words. We felt the connection to her with the first kiss on our cheeks (the customary greeting here). Her life is so difficult but we parted with the assurance that we would meet again, if not in this lifetime, in heaven with Jesus. Our evening was spent making tortillas, tacos, salsa and guacamole. It was a group effort that took all of us and was a fun time of laughter and sharing stories.
