Over the last few months I have developed close friendships with a group of girls from the Middle East, as well as one girl from Europe. We all arrived here around the same time and have supported each other through the ups and downs of culture shock… Up until a few weeks ago we just hung out to eat together or to study Arabic, but recently things have changed. We’ve started to talk about Jesus. The seven of us gather once a week in my house--reading the Holy Books and spending up to five hours in conversation.
My next blog posts are a four-part series capturing what God is doing among this unlikely group of friends (including funny anecdotes about the many, many mistakes I’ve made):
- Bridges of trust that bear the weight of truth
- Learning from mistakes
- Pray, pray, pray
- Patience & active waiting: All this could change in a moment
It is easy to have spiritual conversations with these girls, but usually the topics always revolve around their beliefs. Only recently have they become more open to listening and discussing what I believe. I offered to start reading stories from the NT with them and to my surprise they readily accepted!
Since getting them to meet with me was easy, I foolishly assumed that the rest would be smooth sailing… After all, if they just read the Bible with me how could they not see that it is true?
However, to my shock and utter disappointment, the first day that we tried to read the Bible together was a DISASTER from start to finish. I tried reading them the story of the woman caught in adultery, thinking that they would be amazed by the grace Jesus shows her. Instead, the oldest girl in the group launched into a heated monologue about how this is a clear example of the corruption of the Scriptures because that woman deserved to be stoned. I couldn’t believe my ears. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, God!!
I tried over and over again to explain, but I couldn’t get a word in edgewise… For two. hours.
If this wasn’t bad enough, about halfway through her monologue one of the girls accidentally knocked over two of my glasses, shattering them all over the floor. Shards of glass flew into ALL of the food, including the pie I spent hours making from scratch. I stood up to help clean up the mess and stepped right on a shard of glass. It gouged deep into my toe and immediately began gushing blood all over the white tile.
Believe it or not, it continued to go downhill from there.
That night my husband came home to the house looking like a tornado had swept through, and me lying facedown on the floor--a First-Aid kit in one hand and a dirty rag in the other.
After such a disastrous night, I assumed the girls would not want to come back. Instead, they all texted me to apologize and asked to meet up again next week. They felt terrible for the mess they’d made, and for talking over me the entire time. One of the girls even said, “I don’t know how to say this, but you have a pure heart…”
I’ve known these girls for over 6 months now, and their friendship is so precious to me… and they trust me and value my friendship as well. We became friends when we were all struggling to adapt to life here, and we’ve faithfully supported each other through highs and lows.
If this bridge of trust had not been built, I highly doubt we would still be meeting up every week to discuss these things. But we love and trust each other, and no matter how ugly it gets, we will continue to meet up and resolve our conflicts. Not only that, but we are all earnestly seeking Truth together, and we’ve all agreed that we want to keep meeting together until we find the path that leads to heaven. This bridge of trust is strong enough to bear the weight of Truth, and I can’t wait to see how God reveals Himself as we faithfully seek Him together.