Along the Journey: Friends

One thing we have continually asked Dad for during our time here is relationships. As we’ve mentioned before, this is not always easy when you are living in a culture that may be curious about you, but doesn’t really need you.

One thing we've learned over the course of our time here is that no matter how good our language is, no matter how interesting we may be, and no matter how cute our kids are, people don’t naturally have a lot of room for us in their lives. Their lives were basically full before we arrived - full of relationships and full of responsibilities. So for them to make room for us is a sacrifice. And for each person who is willing to make room for us and include us in their lives, we are so grateful to our Father. Some of them know him; some of them don’t. But because of the unlikelihood of these relationships developing at all, we trust that he has a plan for each one.

Tom is one such friend. Several months ago, I (David) was playing basketball with a friend who introduced him to Tom. Tom runs an English school in our city of residence. He studied in the US for 3 years and also spent a year working with chemicals in Germany. During his time in the US, he came into contact with several believing families who were kind to him. He even attended services with them. Though he doesn’t think our faith is for him, he feels a responsibility to repay the kindness he was shown while living abroad.

We thank Dad for providing a friend such as this. I help by teaching at his school and Tom helps by giving advice and helping us get things done. When there is free time, we hang out together, like this time when he took us and some of the other teachers at the English school to a little farm outside town.