Our interpreter Collins, Jared, and I were walking through the village when we came upon a house where the family was outside preparing their lunch. They welcomed us to come over and visit with them. We spent some time talking to them and then we prayed for their specific prayer requests.
The next day we decided to go visit them again. They were so happy to see us, they were much more open and more talkative. They told us that their boy had a name that meant “trouble” and they wanted his name changed. They felt that his name might b
e influencing his general behavior.
Jared asked them who had originally named the child and why they had named him a name that meant trouble. One of the older sisters shyly said that she had named him, but she did it when she was young and did not know what the name meant. They asked Jared and I to give their son a new name. We looked at each other in shock! Jared said that we would pray and ask the Lord what his name should be. The parents said, “it’s not a big deal, just name him”. SO we prayed!
After we prayed, Jared asked them if a name popped into any of their heads. They all said no. The mom said “the ball is your court; you two give him a name”. After standing there for quite some time, not knowing what to say, I finally thought of a name that I felt would be a nice name, “Jonathan”. Jonathan means gift of God. Our translator asked the family if they liked that name and they all raised their hands as if they were voting…. yes they liked it! It was hard for me not to laugh through all this. I asked them if I could see their son, thinking they would bring a baby out, but nooooo,….a boy that was sitting nearby listening to this conversation stood up. This was the child. He was around the age of 12. He had been sitting there the entire time, through this entire process. I asked him if he liked his new name and he said he did. I told him that it was very important that he liked the name or we could change it, but he said he liked it. So, he shall be called Jonathan! In the picture, Jonathan is the boy on the far left with 3 of his sisters and 1 brother.
I have already named a child without even having one! News spreads fast in the villages and every one knows everyone else; most seem related in some way. Even while we were still there talking to them we could hear a lady down the road yelling out calling him by his new name and laughing. Everyone in the village seemed happy and liked his new name!
