Sometimes I have these moments where it really hits me– God not only knows every detail of our hearts, but he cares about them too. If only I get my sticky fingers off the controls (as the wonderful Anne Lamott always says) and hand God over the pen, He will write a much better story than I could ever really dream up for myself.
This is what I was thinking about as I drove into Clarkston, GA Saturday to meet up with two of my fellow squad-mates, Alyssa and Heather.
To anyone driving though, Clarkston may look like just another unassuming Southern town on the outskirts of Atlanta. But after reading a book about this town my freshman year of college, I knew that Clarkston’s history and demographics tell a fascinating, heartbreaking story. A refugee settlement center since the 1990s, thousands of families are relocated to Clarkston from various war-torn countries all over the world, including Liberia, Sudan, Iraq, and Nepal (just to name a few). As a white person, I am very much the minority here. Driving by the local elementary school, our sweet guide from Global Frontier Missions informs us that over 100 different dialects are spoken by the children there. At a nearby apartment complex, kids of all ages and with various shades of skin color play soccer, seemingly oblivious to the tragic yet miraculous circumstances that brought them together to this little Southern town. The adults sit nearby watching them, and I wonder at the pain they experienced in their former lives in a country far different from the one they find themselves in now, and the struggle they must experience as they try to feel at home in this foreign place.
My heart breaks for the stories they are too afraid to share.
As Alyssa, Heather and I drive around town with our guide, I think about how appropriate it is that we are meeting for the first time in what feels like a different country. We visit sari shops, eat Indian food that wasn’t marked as spicy but sends us searching for ice cream, and see signs everywhere written in unfamiliar symbols. It looked, tasted, smelled and sounded a lot like what we’ll be experiencing on the World Race.
(Saris in the making)
(Somali/Ethiopian cuisine being shared)
(Dekalb Farmer’s Market- a feast for all the senses)
(BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha- Hindu place of worship. Each piece was hand crafted and shipped from India)
The wonderful people we met from Global Frontier Missions not only showed us around town and gave us so much interesting information about Clarkston, but they also gave us such valuable insight into cross cultural missions. It gave me a greater passion to build relationships with the people I’ll be meeting on the Race and a bigger heart for them to know Jesus. I’m so eager to get to work with Heather and Alyssa and I’m so, so glad we got to meet. They are lovely, amazing women and I can’t wait to get to know them more!! Getting to visit and explore and learn about Clarkston had been a dream of mine for the past four years. And God just took it even one step further by allowing me to get to go with some of awesome new friends. I’m so excited to see what’s next.
