Our first interaction with Sara was talking together on the beach. She replied to someone's question of the time with, "just be here now." Katrina complimented her on this philosophy and then complimented Sara's tattoo that says the same. This opened the door for her to a universal spirituality conversation we were having with Tom.
After Katrina and I each expressed our viewpoints, Sara said she found them interesting and invited us to a barbecue her hostel was putting together the next day. We replied that we could stop by after church. Her face expressed shock. She said sarcastically, "that's fun." I explained that we were missionaries doing an 11month/11country journey.
She appeared surprised that we were missionaries and began to ask us about our personal beliefs. After we replied, she said it was refreshing to hear of church-goers that were more accepting than the previous interactions she'd had. We were glad to hear that also and said our goodbyes. We said we'd enjoyed the conversation and would try to make it to the barbecue. She said she hopes to see us there. "I want more of this," were her last words to us that day.
The next day, Ryan and I went to touch base in the early afternoon and the grilling hadn't started yet. Katrina and I went back later that evening. Sara greeted us warmly and welcomed us graciously into her circle of hostel friends. We drank and played together for some time as though we'd known each other for years. I mentioned that I wanted to go visit my friend Tom's hostel because he was leaving the next day.
Sara came with us and shared with us a wondrous amount of her journey that had led her to the current point in her life. As we arrived at Tom's hostel we were told he'd gone to a barbecue. We opted to wait for him since he had likely been looking for us.
As we continued our discussion Sara made a comment that was the highlight of both Katrina and my day. Sara said that she felt more at ease with us than even people in her hostel; she felt she could express herself with less filter with us than most people she'd known. She went on to say that coming out with us is the first time she'd left her hostel to go out and have fun, other than with other people from her hostel. We thanked her for the compliments, of both her words and her level of trust.
As time drew on, we gave up on waiting for Tom to return. We began the walk back to Sara's hostel. Along the way, we heard music coming out of one of the buildings. We checked it out and it was a dance club. We all wanted to go inside, so we did. Sara danced, Katrina danced, I danced. We all danced together.
We continued the rest of the way to her hostel together. We thanked her for inviting us to the barbecue and for coming out with us. She thanked us for sharing the evening with her. She gave us her Facebook tag and a hug, then we went our separate ways.
My experiences with Sara were a reminder that too often we seek to change the people we encounter. This experience and the wonderful compliment of her feeling at ease with us, so much more so than with other Christians, reinforces a lesson that we must learn over and over again… we are not called to condemn one another, but to live with and love one another.
Thank you Sara. Thank you for reminding us to simply be present wherever and whenever we are. Thank you for allowing us to share, if in even just the smallest part, of your personal journey.
