New Friends...

Mujeeb is from Afghanistan. I met him the other night at our New Year's Eve party. It was his first time with us, and we hit it off right away. We stood watching others play basketball and talked about our respective homes and backgrounds. His story was much more interesting than mine. Mujeeb's father was killed in the early 80s during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. His mother now lives in Pakistan as a refugee. He has a brother who has a family of his own. Mujeeb has worked in and around Afghanistan and it's neighboring countries including Iran. Due to his contacts with other people groups, Mujeeb speaks 6 languages. His is now studying in Daejeon.

I must admit some aprehension. World opinion about the U.S. varies, but based upon his cordial attitude, I had to assume he would not mind some questions. I asked how he felt about current events in his country. He sadly explained that the Taliban has successfully driven his country backward 100 years. He related the oppression of women and the cleansing of any academic study except religious and that which would serve the fundamentalist cause. He also shared his confusion at the inability of the powers that be to deal with the Taliban. He said the territory they control is really no larger than the area we live in here in Daejeon. He said he sometimes wished we would just wipe the whole area clean and be done with it.

I commented that it would be nice but is impossible when you are trying to protect the innocent. Unfortunately in these situations it is difficult to tell one from the other. Still, morality demands that we take great pains to try. Pray for Mujeeb and his family. Pray that his wishes will soon be realized for a free and peaceful Afghanistan.
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Jayprakash Nair is an 8 year old Indian boy. He and his parents attend ANCF every Saturday, and today he went with the children's group to Muju Resort (www.mujuresort.com) for sledding. It was a day of firsts... J. P. as we call him had never been in the snow. Really. Never. Snowballs, slippery surfaces and sledding were all new. He and I went down together a couple of times, and I gave him a few pointers. Then he was off and loved it.
Another first was that I answered every question you could possibly ask in the space of 8 hours. J. P. can ask the questions. He asked about me, my home, my parents. He asked, "When do we eat?" "What do we do next?" "Can we go again?" and "Can I play now?" That last one was followed by a barrage of snowballs. He asked me if I liked the stars or heaven better. I said, "Heaven" to which he asked, "You don't like stars?" I replied, "Yes, I like stars. You asked which I like better."

He asked, "Do you like your father or God better?" I answered, "I like God better, but it's partly because He gave me my father." Finally, J.P. asked, "Did you give your life to God?" I said, "Yes." "Then why are are you still alive?" he asked. I then explained that giving my life to God doesn't mean He will end my life. It means that I serve Him and trust Him only. I explained that sin is when we do or think bad things. I told him we deserve to be punished, but Jesus came to take our punishment for us. We can trust in Him and be with God. J. P. listened and then said, "Krishna is our god."

Pray for J. P. and his family. Pray that God will reveal His true identity to them. Pray that they will see that the God of the Bible is not a creation of man but the revelation of Himself.
On the bus ride back, J. P. asked if I had any books. I told him I only had my Bible but he could read it. He opened it near the story of David and Goliath. He said he had seen the movie, so I suggested he read it to see if it was the same. Later we shared my Ipod, and he asked, "Is this David and Goliath?"