Supper with the Littles

Hey everyone! I’ve really appreciated your prayers and its been great to catch up with a couple of you, thanks to technology! Today I wanted to give some insight into what it’s like to process some of the things I experienced abroad and what it’s like to do that in the Little house during this unique time. So… here we go! 

I don’t know what supper time is like for your family, but for mine–it’s sacred. 6:30 PM. 5 people. No phones. Breaking bread together. Supper with my family is actually one of my favorite parts of my day and childhood—and not just because of the food! I’m there, for the conversation. THAT’S where the stories are! Everyone gets a chance to shine whilst detailing their funniest, celebrative, or informative moments from the day. Faith has even stood on her chair and given us an impromptu inspirational speech once when everyone was feeling discouraged about their goals. At some point during the meal, Daniel finds a way to do an impression of a celebrity. And I, at some point, end up singing a sentence in my story rather than saying it—I believe it adds the appropriate dramatic flare *flips imaginary hair I don’t have over my shoulder*, which is essential for storytelling. What can I say? We’re passionate people : )

When I returned from Thailand, night after night my stories consisted of what I’d seen, done, and learned while serving abroad. From running from a monkey in Indonesia, to deeper unsettling situations about morality and injustice, I presented them to my family for discussion. One group of people I was thinking about and describing for weeks were the Rohingya refugees we worked with my second month. We helped get a thrift shop running to fund their secret school. The shop would also provide them opportunities to learn business and social skills. Three or four of them would come and help us some days, but we didn’t get to meet all thirty of them until our last week, when we were invited to their school.

Rohingya Refugees

They are an invisible people. Most of them escaped the decades long war STILL going on in Myanmar, and now they and their children have no identification. The government cannot find out they’re there, they cannot get hired (except maybe for dangerous construction contracts), and they cannot get an education. They’re trapped in this generational cycle of poverty and hiding. But when the students would come to help us wash clothes and build bookcases, they didn’t fit the description the details above drew in my mind. They were happy teenagers. Passionate about renovating and running the thrift shop. Willing to lend a helping hand no matter the difficulty or cleanliness of the job. Grateful. That’s what I saw in their brown eyes—beaming gratitude.

According to a CNN News Report titled, “Rohingya Crisis: How We Got Here,” a condensed context of the Rohingya’s situation stems back to World War II. The Rohingya Mulims were allied with the British and the Rakhine Buddhists were allied with the Japanese, both ethnic groups of Myanmar. Once independence was achieved in 1948, the predominantly Buddhist country denied citizenship to the Rohingyas, and resulted in violent persecution toward them ever since. Their homes have been burned, mothers and daughters raped, families separated and killed. Horrific. And yet, I met these same teenagers and can only describe them as happy, passionate, willing, and most of all b e a m i n g with g r a t i t u d e. What?

Our last week serving in our second country, we were invited to meet them and share with them about our life using a slideshow. They served us lunch. I sat amongst a group of girls, who initially all giggled and whispered to each other when I asked them questions. It was difficult to connect with them on any topic because they were still in the beginning stages of learning English, but the girls were very curious about my hair. Why was it short? That was our connection. Squishing in to listen with their hijabs ear to ear, it opened an opportunity to talk about how I experienced God as a loving father and learned to empathize with others on a whole new level, due to a season of loss in my life (motivating me to cut my hair). Based on 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, now people can share their pain with me, and I can comfort them with the comfort God gave me during that time.  

In hindsight, I think this conversation with those girls was significant. Presenting God to them as a father—someone who is concerned with my tears and affections—is different from Allah. Honestly I don’t have a right to describe Allah because I haven’t read the Qu’ran, but 1 John 2:23 does say, “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (NIV). Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet, rather than the son of God, so what I can gather is that Allah is different than God the Father as Christians know Him to be. I digress ; ) I think it was also significant to get to share the truth that vulnerability is met with grace in healthy relationships, though they’ve been taught to hide their pain—to hide altogether—or they’ll be punished. They listened to my story with wide-eyes, nodded, and then resumed silently smiling and observing my every move.

After we ate our meal together, the girls and the boys did a separate traditional dance for us. It was super fun and beautiful to watch! Then my team shared our slideshows and answered questions. Particularly they were interested in learning about cowboys! Afterwards the students went home, and we walked around the classroom, noticing some of the art the teens had done. Each of them had used a large square white piece of paper to draw four squares, each titled: Happy Moment, Sad Moment, Future, Comments (from classmates). Happy moments included being able to live with their family, being able to come to school, having a baby (girls commonly marry at 13), reading a comic, or getting to play football (soccer). Bad Moments included [their] mom leaving them, sister getting divorced, difficult for [their] father to feed them, getting abused by husband’s family, getting chased by a dog, being beaten, losing [their] brother, house burned down, and being arrested by police and sent to jail. As I read these, 30 or more of them, I pictured the teens I had just laughed and looked through pictures in books with. All 10-18 years old. Reading those words in a young teen’s handwriting surrounded by colorful doodles, just… I don’t have words. 

Going to that school, they are taking a risk. The Christian teachers teaching them are taking a risk. But they are gaining so much more from that school than just an academic education. They have each other and are learning about character. As long as the school is not discovered, they will graduate and be able to get a wholesome job. Their courage can enable them to be the ones who flip the script in their family. They do have a bright future in front of them, because several women are risking everything to teach them. In their Future squares, they wrote: become an astronaut, see the world, be an artist, prove to [her] father [she] can be somebody one day and a responsible person, to help poor and needy people, for their siblings to become successful people in life, to be a baker and own [his] own shop, to be a chemist. 

I was tremendously inspired by these students and thankful I got to learn about their history and journey. I really respect them. I wanted to dedicate an entire blog just for them, because to most of the world they are invisible, but I don’t want them to be invisible to you. For all the disadvantages they’ve faced and things they’ve lost, they are very grateful for what they do have and are hopeful for the future.

Though I’ll sit at our family table tonight telling stories I don’t understand and asking questions I don’t have answers to–it’s a safe place to do that. We all need a safe place to do that. I think back to the beaming gratitude I saw in the refugees’ eyes and in their up-beat effort. They taught me that during hardship we still have each other, we’re learning character, and we’re hopeful—not in the future—but in God, for Him to make a move. If the Rohingya refugees are considering that a WIN against all the odds, certainly I can embrace that beaming gratitude too, and keep sharing about their courage! 

Prayer Requests:

• A teacher from the school wrote me recently to pray for divine intervention because persecution or ability to hide the school is getting more intense.
• Also concerning the refugees… many of them who are infected by the virus are not coming forward for medical help due to fear of being found out, so the virus is being spread much more in their communities.

Resources Referenced:

1. Hunt, Katie. “Rohingya Crisis: How We Got Here.” CNN, 12 November 2017. Web. https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/12/asia/rohingya-crisis-timeline/index.html.
2. “Rohingya Refugee Crisis.” United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Web. https://www.unocha.org/rohingya-refugee-crisis.

Join me for a day serving in the ministry I described above, in the video below! : ) For the sensitivity of the ministry, let’s avoid sharing this post on social media. However, this blog is my equivalent of social media interaction, haha, so don’t forget to leave a comment below!!! I really appreciate it!