The kindness of strangers

 Hey friends! 

Update, I just finished training camp!! 4 weeks down, 8 months to go! Today we’re leaving for Asheville, North Carolina to go do ministry in the community!

This week my team and I had the opportunity to evangelize in Clarkston, Georgia which is know as the most diverse mile in the United States. More than half of the population was born outside of the United States and 60 languages are spoken in the city’s one square mile.

As soon as we drove into the small town we realized just how diverse it was. Every sign was in a different foreign language, every person from a different ethnicity, every store offering something unique to each culture. 

Our van pulled up to Refuge Coffee, a local coffee shop supporting and run by refugees and immigrants. 

My friend Alexa and I decided to evangelize together. While waiting for the bathroom outside the coffee shop, I saw a lady struggling with bags of groceries. I realized she had just got them from a community pantry which had foods and goods provided by people who donated them.

I started to pick up some grocery bags on the ground and she handed me the bags with compassion in her eyes. I quickly realized she thought I needed the groceries and was willing to give me the groceries she needed so I would have them. I handed them back and told her I was there to help her. The lady didn’t speak English but was filled with gratitude when she realized I just wanted to just help her. It was a sweet moment to be able to care for someone without even speaking the same language.

Not long after we saw two of our teammates, Maura and Libby talking to her. We realized she was teaching them her language by pointing to things and telling them the word in Arabic. The joy of her face was precious! She was so excited to be teaching them! We walked over and she introduced herself as Miriam. She slowly started to communicate that she needed help getting her groceries home but had no car. Some of our teammates offered to borrow a shopping cart from the grocery store and push her groceries home. For 20 minutes they followed Miriam with no communication but pointing. How sweet it was to see how grateful she was!

We had many encounters like this in Clarkston. 

We talked to Tamaco who was brought to tears when we prayed for him saying he wasn’t sure if God has a purpose for the season of life he is in but said he felt peace knowing God was still looking after him. 

We met Eben from China, a random stranger we befriended, who showed us his favorite foreign food and then paid for it! He even offered to invite us to have dinner with him and his brother after knowing him for all of 10 minutes!

As we were walking around, we saw two brothers outside of a store. The younger one had shoes that were starting to fall apart. The store owner came out and tried giving him new shoes without wanting anything in return. 

We met a woman and her family from Dubai who shared her experiences and some of my squad mates got to try some of her cultural food.

I met Mr. Z from Ethiopia, who told me about his life and his beliefs. We got to share our love for Christ together and talk about what God has down in our lives.

I got to share the gospel with Jett who is agnostic and got to have a conversation about what we believe.

It was so cool to get to hear about other cultures and to share the gospel with people from all over the world. Everyone in the community was so joyful and welcoming! 

Clarkston taught me to be more selfless and always be willing to talk to everyone around me. You never know what you could learn from the person walking past you. This all happened within a block. It’s crazy to see how God can move and what can happen when you slow down and spend a few minutes getting to know someone.