7/1 Our home-stay began today. We are staying with a local couple. They have nine children, seven of whom are adopted. They are just beautiful. The goal this month is to learn language, which will surely be a formidable challenge. We are supposed to be focused on serving the family that we are living with, because their life is quite hectic for obvious reasons. I’m excited to work on teaching the kids some English and hopefully developing a relationship with the mom and another woman that lives here. Learning to speak the language will be really good for that. I’m a little nervous that we’re not going to have a real language helper. We need somebody to sit with us for at least an hour each day and help us learn language using TPR. Perhaps we can communicate this to our host family. They speak fairly good English which will be good and bad for this month. I’m happy to be playing with the kids even though it is doubtful that I will ever be able to get them to truly mind me. At this point, I’m not really sure if the kids speak very much English, and if they do they pretend that they do not much at all.
7/3- The last two days have been really good. We have been learning a lot of language from the family. They are really making an effort to help us which I appreciate greatly. It must be annoying for them. We are always asking how to say something or what something is in Urdu. I know I would be a little annoyed and impatient. They do expect us to be able to say it after they say it once or twice which is difficult. I love this family though. They love the Father and there is much love among them. Not to mention, we laugh a lot at and with each other!
Yesterday, we experienced our first family devotion time which is just about the most precious thing I have ever encountered. They first sing songs to the Father—some in English and some not. All of the little kids follow the leads of their father and mother. It is nothing short of adorable! Next, the father will read some of the Word. He has been reading in the language we are studying to try and help us out. They keep telling us that we are family and not guests, and we should not be afraid to ask for anything. I’m still working on figuring out what they actually want me to do and what they are saying to be polite. They are always putting their needs after our desires. This can be a little frustrating because I want to be treated the same as a member of the family. I know though that I will always be an outsider.
Today was a lot of fun! Instead of entertaining the kids all day and helping with school work, I helped the mother of the family learn how to bake a chocolate cake. Here, the women do not bake much. Measuring is a pretty foreign concept. I am foreign, so measuring is normal to me. I made the first cake and she watched. Then I discovered that we were making a second cake, but she was going to do it now that I had taught her. Naturally, her cake turned out much better than mine. Her icing was much better. I suppose though, icing is something one really must make by look and feel. Measuring never really works for that. Needless to say, she is a great cook.
The mother also recently bought a microwave from an American, but she did not know how to use it. In a way, it intimidated her. After some initial microwave rules- no foil, metal, cheap plastic- and guidance on what buttons to push and how much time was needed, she heated up some leftovers. Now, let me just say that only five minutes before, this woman had touched a pan fresh out of the oven with her bare hands. I know, she’s super hard core. However, when the microwave dinged she was apprehensive about opening it and was afraid that the bowl would be very hot. The bowl was still cold after the amount of time allotted. It was a good time. I don’t even remember not knowing how to use a microwave. For her, though, it was a completely new experience.
Tomorrow is the 4th of July. We made Jell-O. I’m excited to see the kids (and the adults) try it out!
7/8: Yesterday I had a good conversation with my language helper about her religion. She is a follower of Is. She considers herself to be very devout and a good person. We talked extensively about the idea of sin. She told me about major and minor sins in Is. And how the minor sins can be covered up by one’s own good deeds. Her concept of forgiveness is very interesting. She sees the need for forgiveness. If a person realizes that they have been doing wrong and turn away from that and start doing good then Al—h will forgive them. It was a good conversation and I am grateful for her openness. I told her that I did not think that anything good we do could ever cover the bad. I also don’t believe in major sins and minor sins. Sin is sin and it keeps us imperfect and separated from G-d. I told her that the Son is the only way we can have our sins covered. This idea almost offended her. She saw it a bit like taking away human responsibility. Our conversation came to a close soon after that.
It struck me on the way home that she understands her need for forgiveness and coverage of sins, but does not see the need for a S-vior. Please talk to the Father about this.
Last night was our first scary time here. Praise the Father, though, I do not feel fearful for the situation. Yesterday evening there was a group of young men throwing lots of large rocks very close to our gate. This is their way of protesting. Our family was very protective of us. According to the news, the army was deployed for the first time in 15 years to try and keep the peace around here. The people are in constant protest over the political situation here. They close their shops and throw these rocks. Unfortunately, that can cause problems for the average family. Sometimes they cannot buy much food for more than a week because of all of the strikes.
Anyway, in the house last night we could hear all of the rocks being thrown and people yelling. We heard the whistles of the police to try and stop the violence. We turned off all the lights in the house and closed all of the curtains. Our family told us that the worst that has ever happened to them is that one of their windows was broken by one of the stones. Kallie and I naturally wanted to see what was going on. It reminded me of how in Kansas when there is a tornado everybody goes out on their porches to watch. There was one window in the house we could look out of. Our family is protective, though, and made sure we were not too close to the window. I feel loved by them and really feel a part of the family even though it has only been a week. We laugh together and last night it felt a little like we were suffering together. I love them deeply and have been asking the Father that they receive confidence to proclaim their belief in Him amongst all of this darkness. Unfortunately, they continue to live in fear and suspicion.
Things are never perfect. Never expect the next day to be as good as the last. Things are always up and down. I am enjoying my time here over all. Your yarps are encouraging though!
