The pizza was topped with vegetables. In addition, I cooked hot dogs for those who ate meat. After I boiled eggs and potatoes, some were put aside in a small bowl for Salome. Then I added grilled fillet cut in cubes into the rest of the salad. Thank God I did not pour in any mustard or mayonnaise, for I found out later that the girls preferred other seasonings or no dressing at all. At first I also wanted to cook spaghetti as a third dish. Constraint by the time, I cancelled it, Actually, the quantity of the first two dishes was just ideal to fill our stomachs and to allow a little more space for the dessert. All the dishes were shared by five and there was hardly any leftover.
Previously, I had given a short account of my encounter and walk with God to Salome in French at CLA. At my house, I told all the girls a more detailed story. During the meal, we continued our conversations about our faith, world view and differences between our cultures, their experiences in Doulos, etc.
Each of us had interesting backgrounds: Essie had spent her childhood in Japan where her American parents were serving God as missionaries. Salome came from a modest family and a church with a very small congregation in her home town in Germany. By God's grace, she was miraculously able to join the Doulos team with the financial support from churches in all over her country. From Tracy's personal testimony on the stage last Sunday, I learned that she had been born and grown up in South Africa before following her family to migrate to Australia. Etna had enjoyed her two-year travel by ship so much that she had applied for another six-month extension.
After the dinner, I invited the girls to watch a movie in DVD. They chose the famous "Phantom Of The Opera" which lasted more than two hours. When the long musical finally ended, it was exactly midnight. So we had spent a wonderful evening relaxed at my house.
When I woke up the next morning, I suddenly had an idea: We would say the Lord's prayer according to the languages we mastered. Though Essie could not quite remember the Japanese version and I forgot to take out my French bible, five different languages were used to declare the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth: English, German, Spanish, Mandarin and BM.
As I had to send the girls back to the church office by 9am for the devotion with the CLA staff, I prepared a simple breakfast. While we were having bread and hot drinks, it was also the last moment of fellowship at my house. We wrote words of appreciation to each other. The girls also left me a picture of them while I gave them a threaded dragonfly each as a souvenir.
Etna had a good rest at my house. Tracy felt very encouraged when I told them that I wished I were already committed to Jesus when I was at their age. My apple crumble the previous night had brought back to Essie memories of autumn with her family in the USA. Salome had regained interest in speaking French after she met me. I was very honoured to be a blessing to these lovely girls who were still strangers to me five days earlier. I also thanked them for being a blessing to Malaysia, Melaka and me.
I especially thank God for giving me a house to open up to these sisters in Christ. I know actually He was the one who opened the doors. I believe it was just the beginning. God will continue to grant my wish to see the world through my guests from all the continents.
No comments:
Post a Comment