Our family wants to say, THANK YOU!!!, to the way the ministry here in southwest Burkina has loved on us during these last 2 months. We have seen first hand the invaluable blessing and vital need for kindness shown to strangers. Not that we were strangers to missionary, Lynn Kennedy, or even Ministry Director, Pastor Patrice Hien and his wife, Celine. We had the opportunity to meet them prior to making our move here and communicated with them via Skype multiple times. Even still, because of them (and others) and their kindness, patience, and going-the-extra mile, we have a wonderful house, we are weekly being introduced to the churches here and are getting to know new people, we are being tutored in French, learning to drive a standard truck and a moto, have two amazing guards and an excellent housekeeper. Because of their investment into us, we are adjusting better to this culture than we would have been without them. All this to say that without them patiently helping us through the process of getting established and learning new things, we would not be where we are today. It makes me realize how important it is to love-on the strangers among us.
Imagine moving to a new place, not knowing the language, not understanding the culture, and yet needing to both survive and function…then, IMAGINE IT WITH A FAMILY…with CHILDREN! Now, consider those who visit your church, who are new not only to your church but to your town and even your state…or how about your country. You have a wonderful opportunity to be a HUGE blessing to them by reaching out to them with Christ's love and helping them through the process of adjusting to THE NEW AND THE DIFFERENT.
We have learned over these past 2 months what an important ministry this is. Investing time to teach ESL is another wonderful way to reach out to the strangers among you. Language is one of the greatest keys to building relationships and being established in a new place. So, please be kind to the strangers among you. Reach out to them in Christ's love and help them through the process of going from strangers to being friends. It is an amazing way to be a missionary right where you live. You never know how the investment you make will not only impact the individual's life but also his or her family both there in country and back home in their native land.
Leviticus 19:34 reads, "The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God" (NASB).
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