The other night at supper, Ben (the neighbor kid in some of our pictures) showed up at the table. That isnt news, but he brought a tag-along we had never seen before. Once Patrick and i noticed there were two little African boys at our table, instead of one, we tried to figure out what to do. I tried to communicate his mom might worry about him if she didnt know where he was, but he didnt seem to care. So everybody else went ahead with dinner, and he walked me back to his house so i could ask if it was ok that he stayed.
Hadush lives in the duplex next to us along with his mother and grandmother. (The neighbors in between are also Ethiopian, but of a different people group. More on that later!) He is an only child, and his grandmother is more protective than what we've been used to in the neighborhood. (Everyone else seems to lose track of their children from dawn to dark. But isnt that how it used to be, I guess?) So she has been walking over to check on him when he's playing at our house. It took a few tries, but she eventually accepted my invitation to come in and visit. She speaks no English, except for a few vocabulary words and basic greetings. So I understand why she felt awkward about a complete stranger inviting her over. I showed her some pictures so she could understand a little of where i was coming from. As soon as she saw a picture of me eating (and yes, there were alot of those. I ate alot in Senegal!) on the floor, from a common bowl, she got very excited, and disappeared. Twenty minutes later, she comes back.
Lunch! Often, people ask what kind of ministry I will be doing while Patrick is busy flying church leaders to seminary and doing medical evacuations for missionaries. I tell them, just living normal life, being available to people, and being part of the community. Sometimes I get funny looks, and I understand that that idea isnt normal for most of us here. Because our lives are so separated. We have to schedule our interactions, and we generally put our agendas ahead of people. So, sometimes we dont make that much time for relationships. And, we are particular about the relationships we have: ones with people like us. Because how could we have a relationship with someone whom we had nothing in common with? We wouldnt know where to start. Never mind people who don't even share the same language, right!?
But this is how. Because some African grandma that cant communicate with me at all was so kind and generous and warm to bring me a huge platter of food, for lunch for my family. And this is not some boxed cupcake mix. This food takes a long time to prepare. Her family is what one might call economically disadvantaged, but she was so glad to share all this food with me. We "visited" a little more, learning a few new words from each other. She tried to describe to me what each dish was, using animal noises. Chicken, ground beef, and lamb. Also some fresh homemade cheese. Two different kinds of bread, one yeast and one flat bread. And some greens, similar to collards, i believe. The food is meant to be eaten by pulling off pieces of the flatbread (rolled up on the right, under the ground beef dish), and using that to scoop up a sauce of some kind. She didnt want to stay to eat with us, but gave me a big hug, kiss on the cheek, and said she loved me. And called me her friend. That, my friends, is relationship.
(And if there are any Amharic speakers in the house, feel free to pass along some tips. That is a hard language!)
No comments:
Post a Comment