Brandon came in Saturday after playing badmitton with some friends on the street and said that they hit the birdie over one of the neighbor's walls. Each house has it's own wall surrounding their back yard. It's a big thing here, partly for protection from thieves, and partly for privacy in your back yard, I guess.
Brandon said a neighbor said, "The man who lives in that house is mean." He was afraid to go to the door and ask to get the birdie. We were busy, but tonight Daddy finally took the time to brave it out and go ask the neighbor if they could get the birdie out of their yard.
When the man opened the door, he right away said, "Come in." He told his wife, "A neighbor came to visit us." Before Doug could tell him why he was there, they started chatting. The family lived in Miami for 20 years and have lived here for the past 3 years. They speak English quite well and the children do not speak Spanish. He said they stay in the house all of the time because they don't know anyone, they do not speak much Spanish, and they do not like it here.
Doug said they seemed very lonely and were glad Doug and the children stopped in. They have a boy about Brandon's age and the boy immediately asked if Brandon could stay and play. We offered to take the boy to the park sometime to play baseball. He really lit up at that idea.
He asked what we were doing here and if we had adapted. Doug told him we were missionaries and was able to briefly witness to him. The wife said, "That's great to have something you believe in." Doug was able to tell them it was more than that.
We're convinced that God has us here for more than to just live in a restful community. These people are wealthy, but they are very hungry. In the 9 months we've lived here, God has given us the opportunity to share Christ with several of our neighbors. Our focus is not necessarily to work this community (we live about 15 - 20 minutes from the church), but we are always willing to share Christ with whoever we come in contact.
We're also convinced that there are a lot of lonely people. Don't be afraid to reach out to someone - no matter how mean they may seem. You don't know how lonely they may be inside.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
That is such a neat story! I'll be praying for you as you witness for him in your community. Thanks for the reminder that we all should be doing that. God has us where we are for a reason.
Yes! A missionary across the back fence! I guess that if we are supposedly missionaries at home if we talk to our neighbors (an arguable claim), we're definitely missionaries if we talk to the neighbor while serving in foreign lands.
What a great contact! And some friends for your kids to play with. You're in our prayers.
Post a Comment