When a Chicken is More than a Chicken.

When we first arrived in Nasir, I honestly had no idea how I would ever begin discipleship relationships.  Of course, I was able to articulate the theory: as we meet people in the community through our development work, we would form friendships that would lead to discipleship.  Sounds simple enough.  But then we got here and I realized just how huge an impediment not speaking the language is, coupled with the fact that we spend 30 hours a week in language class.  And I didn’t even know where to begin with community development work.  To say that I was overwhelmed is a huge understatement.

But God is faithful and His plan is perfect.

Half of our language time is spent in the “classroom,” and the other half is spent in the community using what we’ve learned.  One afternoon, I decided to go visit our neighbors.  I was quite laughable…all I could say was, “My name is Cassandra.  I live there.  I am your neighbor.  What is your name? How many children do you have? I have no children.  I want to learn Nuer.  I am going now.  Stay in peace.”

Talk about heart-level stuff! But, I went and I talked and I didn’t understand a word people said to me in response and I laughed and I left.  I did this for several days, which is how I met Mary.

Mary lives literally just down the path from our gate, and in those early days, she was SO KIND and SO EXCITED every time I stopped by to say my 5 new phrases to her, her daughter, and her daughter-in-law.  Soon, I was stopping by every time I came back from town, as her house is just on the path, and she continued to welcome me into her home and to be exceptionally patient with me as I struggled through my very broken Nuer.  Sometimes, we literally had nothing to say to one another.  Thankfully, her daughter-in-law recently gave birth to twins, so even when we [quickly] ran out of conversation, we could just sit and hold the babies, make faces at them, and smile at each other.  Babies have a way of breaking down barriers.

It wasn’t long before stopping by her house became a semi-regular thing.  Every couple of days I would swing in just to say hello and to practice my Nuer.  Then one day as I was having my quiet time at lunch, I really felt led to go to Mary’s house and begin sharing the Gospel with her.  Thankfully, the timing was perfect, as our afternoon language tutor, Simon, was available to accompany me to her house and translate for me.  Finally, we were able to have an entire conversation, and I was able to begin telling her the Good News.  And by telling “her” I mean telling her AND her family.  That’s the beauty of a communal culture!

Anyway, it’s been well over a month since that afternoon, and since then I’ve continued to visit her, pray with her, talk about life, and share Bible stories.  It’s been such an amazing blessing to me, as she is incredibly patient and very kind.  She gently teaches me Nuer, and I feel a sense of belonging when I am at her house with her and her daughters.  It’s seriously been amazing.

This morning, she surprised me by showing up at our gate requesting to see me.  I immediately stopped what I was doing, and received her.  In her arms she had a tut manpalEk (rooster).  With the help of a translator, she explained that she wanted to give this rooster to me as a gift for my friendship.  She told me that it means a lot to her that I come visit and spend time with her family…they are all very thankful for me.  And as an expression of our friendship, she was gifting me this rooster.  She is a widow, which means that she is completely dependent on others to provide for her needs (which is why big families are so important here), but she sacrificially gave just so that I would understand what our friendship means to them.

The verdict is still out on whether or not it’s appropriate to cry when you are moved, so I literally fought back tears as I sat there.  I prayed with her, thanked her profusely, and promised more and more visits in the future.  I walked away with a heart BURSTING with joy, gratitude, and love.  Hän tEEth locdä elong elong.

I would LOVE to get a picture with Mary, but in our training we were cautioned against bringing cameras near our discipleship relationships.  But here’s me with my tut manpalek, which Mary cE hä mouc (gave to me as a gift)…  

Please pray that God would move in power through this relationship and that He would bring Mary and her family to Himself.