Family

As usual, it seems there is no time for journaling, reflecting, or blogging during an intense story training!  Yet, I am determined to carve out a few minutes right now between breakfast and the beginning of another day of training!  Last Saturday (Oct 16), Roberta (my cousin who is here with me this time!), and I had the privilege of going to one of the story team member’s homes for late-afternoon tea.  Most of the participants at the training live hundreds of kilometers away, but this young man only lives a few kilometers away.

Roberta, myself and a Korean friend also at the training hopped into a rickshaw and were off – led my “Adam,” and “Abraham” on motorcycle – two of my Mercy story team members.  A few others were following in another rickshaw.  Soon we arrived.

We were greeting by FAMILY.  A mother, father, a daughter-in-law, and her two daughters.  Oh, it was a breath of fresh air.  A glimpse of REAL life.  An insight into HOME.  What an idea.  What a beautiful creation.  And not just one family, but there were more families in the homes nearby that made up the community.

Somehow, in the midst of a workshop held primarily in classrooms, sitting in plastic chairs– this small moment in time re-ignited my vision and purpose for doing the work that I do.  The stories are for this family who served us chai and sweets.  The stories are for their neighbors who wanted their pictures taken before we left.  The stories are for their children and their grandparents who hold your hands and never let go.

These dark eyes are the REALITY behind the work that I do.  The goal is not to check off an item on a list.  It is not to fill yet another database with information on a language and culture.  The purpose of what I do is to glorify God – and these faces painted by God himself are part of what motivates me to press on in the work He has called me to.

These beautiful faces will be in my mind as I go about my work today.