I had two conversations at the Vickery Christmas Market! First, I spoke with an 18 year old Rhoyingan girl from Myanmar, and realized quickly she could understand and speak better than others I had tried to talk to, apparently from learning on YouTube. I told her about the English class on Tuesday at the NCC. She was told when they moved to the US she would just stay home and help her mother with her younger sisters, and no go to school. I felt sympathy for her at a market with toys for kids and opportunities to care for parents, she was stuck in the middle. She can’t afford college, and too young to participate in public school education – or even in this instance too “old” to receive a gift from the Christmas Market.
I also asked her if she knew Jesus. She said yes her younger sisters watch you tube videos, and she likes it. But she said she is a Muslim and she worships only Allah. I told her, “oh but did you know, Jesus is in the Qaran?” She said, “really!?” and was
genuinely very excited. I told her, “Oh yes, he is known as Isa in the Qaran. There are stories of him there, and in the bible. You can read those stories too, have you read them?” She replied, “But I am a Muslim, I can be a Muslim and read stories about Jesus?” And I responded, “Oh yes!” She was really excited and said she want to do that. In my American context I wanted to know the reference point and where to send her directly for where to find Isa, but I felt a little comfort from the Holy Spirit to just let Him move in her life, as i know He will. I also felt an encouragement as I left that day, while she didn’t get a gift from the market, she did get a greater gift, I hope discovering an opportunity to learn more about Jesus. I left her with a handwritten note of when & where the English classes were next, and praying she gets to stay connected to the NCC.
Later that day I also spoke with two young girls (Maybe 8-10 years old) from Eritrea. I asked them about Christmas Trees, and if they worship Jesus (knowing most Eritreans are Christians) and they said oh yes, we love Jesus! I challenged them and asked, “What makes Jesus so important.” I got to watch them wrestle with that question, and the finally they said, “Oh yes because he died for us!” It was really fun to see them speak about their faith. They left shortly after to return home and gave me lots of African-Christian phrases they had obviously learned from their parents, “Blessings to you and your family!” It was really sweet encouragement to see them living out their own faith as kids.