Gently Flowing Water
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Monday, April 1, 2013
Getting to Know You
My husband Frank and I had a wonderful experience yesterday, but I'd better backtrack so you can know the background.
In our Sunday school class, we met an Iranian Christian and his wife. Since Frank and I enjoy learning about other cultures, we asked them over and had a Persian dinner.
I enjoy learning to cook recipes from other lands. In addition to the pictured food, we also had a wonderful dish of chicken and almonds in a tasty sauce and saffron rice. Our friend made us a very refreshing drink of yogurt (plain), mint and sparkling water.
After this great repast, we watched a video of their last visit to Iran. We just couldn't stop talking. Then, we decided to attend a service at the Iranian Christian Church. The people were very friendly and kind to us. Since the service was in the Farsi language, we needed earphones for translation. Even though we didn't understand a word of Farsi, it thrilled my heart to see these people worshipping with raised hands and singing with gusto. It made me think. Here are people who came from much different backgrounds than we did, yet the worship was real and I could sense their love for Jesus in my soul.
When a nation is judged as a whole, we tend to forget the individuals who are decent and kind and who also love the same Lord that we do. They face or could face shunning, or worse from their own families just because of Jesus Christ. I found this a great inspiration.
One of the things that is very important to me is that I look around in our church to see who might be from another land. We have organized a group of Christians participating in ethnic dinners, so that we can help them through their loneliness, their homesickness, their sense of being alienated by their own people and those of their host-country. In this small way, I believe we are helping the cause of Christ in bringing peace on earth.
I challenge you to look around in your own church and see if there is someone of a different nationality and show some interest in them. We have people from Uganda, Hungary, China, India,
Japan, Mexico, Germany, Georgia (formerly USSR), England, Zambia, Viet Nam and many more.
Next stop: Uganda.
And the food is an amazing experience in itself.
In our Sunday school class, we met an Iranian Christian and his wife. Since Frank and I enjoy learning about other cultures, we asked them over and had a Persian dinner.
I enjoy learning to cook recipes from other lands. In addition to the pictured food, we also had a wonderful dish of chicken and almonds in a tasty sauce and saffron rice. Our friend made us a very refreshing drink of yogurt (plain), mint and sparkling water.
After this great repast, we watched a video of their last visit to Iran. We just couldn't stop talking. Then, we decided to attend a service at the Iranian Christian Church. The people were very friendly and kind to us. Since the service was in the Farsi language, we needed earphones for translation. Even though we didn't understand a word of Farsi, it thrilled my heart to see these people worshipping with raised hands and singing with gusto. It made me think. Here are people who came from much different backgrounds than we did, yet the worship was real and I could sense their love for Jesus in my soul.
When a nation is judged as a whole, we tend to forget the individuals who are decent and kind and who also love the same Lord that we do. They face or could face shunning, or worse from their own families just because of Jesus Christ. I found this a great inspiration.
One of the things that is very important to me is that I look around in our church to see who might be from another land. We have organized a group of Christians participating in ethnic dinners, so that we can help them through their loneliness, their homesickness, their sense of being alienated by their own people and those of their host-country. In this small way, I believe we are helping the cause of Christ in bringing peace on earth.
I challenge you to look around in your own church and see if there is someone of a different nationality and show some interest in them. We have people from Uganda, Hungary, China, India,
Japan, Mexico, Germany, Georgia (formerly USSR), England, Zambia, Viet Nam and many more.
Next stop: Uganda.
And the food is an amazing experience in itself.
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