A {Pretend} Yemeni Wedding

Kasool, me, Samara, and Roobi

One of my favorite parts of each day is spending time with the women's children in their homes.  I always love being with children, but these Arabic kids have found a special place in my heart.  At one Yemeni home, Maria works with Alyan, Anna works with Haraz, and I work with the children.  Alyan and Haraz have four kids.  Some days I help the kids practice spelling, writing, and reading, but other days (my favorite days!) we just play.

One day, I asked them to look up a Yemeni song on YouTube and teach me to dance.  As they showed me how they danced at weddings, Samara and Roobi belly-laughed and Kasool tried to suppress her giggles at my dancing attempts.  Roobi dressed up in a beautiful little pink dress, complete with a "veil", and pretended to be the bride.  The girls took my hand and taught me the Yemeni version of line dancing.

At first, I was a little embarrassed at my white American attempt at dancing compared to their naturally beautiful, Eastern dancing.  But I realized my skill isn't what really matters.  What matters most is that my little friends see the love Isa has for them through the stories I tell them, the kindness I show to them...and my willingness to look silly by trying to dance like them.

Isa left His home in heaven and entered into our lives on earth so He could show His love for us and restore our relationship with Him.  God's plan for reaching the lost hasn't changed.  We can't show the great love of Isa by putting up barriers between "us" and "them."  

The Lord still calls us to leave our homes, our culture, and our way of life and enter into the lives and culture of those who don't yet know Him...and sometimes the best way to do that is through making a fool of yourself by dancing!