Do you remember our Burmese refugee friends? If not click here and here. On Sunday morning we loaded up the car with baby items that Nathanael has out grown, a baby gift, baby bathtub, bassinet, bouncer, and a few baby toys and headed to Atlanta to visit our Burmese friends again. The car ride to their apartment is always filled with anticipation: will they be there, will they be excited to see us, will they understand us, will the Lord open new doors, etc... On our way to their apartment we remind Andrew where we are going, why we are going, and how to behave. It's so cute to hear him say "we going to visit our new friends to show them Christ's love".
When we arrived Mark went to the door and was warmly welcomed by the mother. We were excited to meet her. She has always been at work when we have come, so this is our first time to meet her. She is just precious. She has a smile that is contagious. I see Mark wave for me to come inside. As I begin to get the kids out of the car Mark and the 2 men living in the house come outside to help me. We open our trunk, that is filled with baby gifts, the 2 men are pleasantly surprised. We bring the gifts inside and give them to the soon-to-be mommy. I'll admit- it's akward. She is naturally very shy and you could tell she's not sure what to do. So I helped her look through the bags, showed her how to use certain baby items, and we put the bassinet together for them. She was very grateful. ~ Remember they don't speak English so our communication is limited ~ I noticed they kept looking at the baby bathtub like..what in the world is that thing. I said, "bathtub" and pretend to wash myself. You could then see they began to understand. I put Nathanael in the tub lying down and then on the other side where he can sit up to be bathed. Then they smiled and gave me the 'I get it now' nod. Ha!
We stayed and visited with them for close to an hour. Understand when I say 'visit' I mean talking using body language, a tiny bit of English, translation through a 9 year boy who speaks a little English, playing with the kids, and laughing. Lots of laughing. I am amazed at how joyful they are. Joy is from the Lord! In the world's eyes they have nothing- white walls, mattresses on the floor, empty pantry, one change of clothes, etc.. They are so joyful. Smiling, laughing, loving. When Mark asked if they needed anything the little boy (our translator) told us they needed a name for the baby. The mom and dad want the baby to have an English name. Mark and I looked at each other thinking... oh my goodness we don't know about naming their baby..... so I asked for a piece of paper and wrote down close to 10 girl names from the Bible. The mom sat next to me and repeated the names with me several times. She really liked Naomi. The baby's due date is at the end of the month. I can't wait to meet her!
Ultimately they all want to learn English and asked us to help them. Next month when we go back we will be hoping to teach English. Any suggestions on how to do that? We need your help : )
(Sorry no pictures this time. I purposely didn't bring my camera. I want them to feel 100% comfortable with us and I think the camera may make them a little self conscious)
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