My first night in the refugee apartment complex I stayed with a Rwandan family. They brought me platters of fruits, replaced warm water bottles with colder ones, and repeatedly told me to come visit at ANY time. Knocking isn’t necessary! What a foreign concept (literally) to those of us who are too conscious of intruding in the business of others.
Momena, the Somalian mother across from my apartment, stressed the importance of visiting. “Neighbors should ALWAYS check on eachother! What if someone is sick and he/she needs help? What if they need you to make them dinner or clean? My other neighbors never visited. You MUST visit. It’s what a good neighbor does,” she told me. Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. So often I offer my help to those around me. I tell them to let me know if they need anything at all, but rarely do I take the initiative to truly serve. Because my team and I are living with the refugee community, this concept of initiative must be grasped. These precious people welcome us in even if they speak little to no English. They offer us everything they have even if it means missing a few meals. In relationships with hindering language barriers, where words are hardly understood, actions must speak louder than words.
Please pray that this team will have a door that is always open, that we will continue to be well received, and that our actions would speak loud and clear.