We just came home from church.
I apologize ahead of time if you’re expectant of some beautiful flowing words.
But this post is nowhere near close to an attempt to beautifully illustrate what I am about to write about.
Because what I’m about to express is truth. It’s brokenness. It’s frustration. It’s sadness. It’s pain. It’s me being incapable of understanding evil. It’s anger and a want for justice. It’s also thankfulness.
We just came home from church.
There was a little girl crawling around the floor, every time her Dad put her down, she would start crawling… I knew she was under two.. so when her Dad picked her back up I asked him how old she was. His response “a little over one”. Our conversation continued as an introduction to his two baby girls, his wife, and a short version of his story.. one where he filled me in on two things.. and I instantly felt the humility hit me like a brick wall.
They’re a family of refugees from another country.. not Thailand, who have been here from almost 5 years.. 4 years and 6 months to be exact. They are here for 6 more months.. until the process is complete for them to permanently move to Canada… not their home country.
4 years and 6 months. His baby girl was born in a different country than her parents’ native country.. not by desired choice.. but because of desired freedom.
I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t ask many more questions. His response to my facial expression (which I don’t even remember) when he shared those details was
“but praises to God because we are free”
The humility.
Here I am, 26 years old, traveling the world, spreading the Good News, and learning about Yahweh and culture at a rate faster than I ever could have imagined for my own life. Its like the last 8 months have been a school of their own… and this week my Dad comes to visit.
My Dad comes to visit from my home country. The one I live in without fear of needing to flee, but the capability to be called out by Yahweh to travel and tell my story.
But what really needs to be told here is the story of this family. The story of a family who HAD to leave, who Yahweh opened doors for so they could find refuge on a different continent.
And here’s why I’m mad, and it’s all so messy.
Because we live on the same earth… the same earth created by Him. The same earth that has the same sun no matter which country I’m in. The same earth that has the same dang Cheetos in Asia as it does in the States. The same earth that one millennial American woman can move about freely, who can be financially supported by those who know what God is calling her to do, who can be prayerfully supported by those around her during the highs and the lows is the same earth that a family with two girls under age 10 has to FLEE from their own home for a multitude of reasons that this American woman could not even get into because.. well.. humility.
It hits you in the face. Then it subsides and the anger sets in. The injustice is agonizing. The threshold is right here. We are in the doorway. We know what we have to do to change it. The war is not against flesh and blood, it’s against evil. It’s against the chains that bond people, the ones that He breaks.
Abba, Yahweh, it’s a mess. I’m a mess. But your compassionate and gracious love is what we need, and it’s what we receive. I am thankful.
Goodnight friends
Love, Nico
