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I would like to share just one incredible story that really was a culmination of a spiritual journey for me over the past couple of years.  

In preparation for going on this trip many have asked how can I communicate the gospel message if I don't speak the language.  I didn't have an exact answer, but it didn't bother me because if God has called me then He will work it out.  I don't want to be glib about this, I have been frustrated by my desire to communicate to others in thier language.  But it just isn't going to happen. I have a language learning disability (not a clinical diagnosis) but an observation from being in Germany for 3 years and having a 30 word vocabulary, let alone a total lack of being able to pronounce the words I do know so that someone could understand me.  On my trip to Tanzania it took me 3 days to be able to memorize in Zwahili  "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" in order to baptize 28 candidates.  

I determined that when I get here I would communicate my love and compassion through non verbal communication.  Not just acts of kindness and but somehow the ability to convey through listening, contact and prayer.  This was all vaguely in my mind in the days of prayer leading up to my trip.

On Wednesday night we arrived at the clothing tent in Camp Moria at about 11:00 PM.  One of the volunteers was a young lady from Switzerland (I will refer to her as SV Swiss Volunteer) serving her first shift after arriving the day before.  She asked about the WC which was on the other side of the camp.  I offered to walk with her, but she assured me she didn't feel unsafe.  I asked if she was sure, I actually just wanted to stretch my legs.  I didn't say this but she indicated it was ok to walk with her if I just wanted to get out and walk.  Long and short we set off for the WC.  When we got there I used the facility then came out to wait.  She mistakenly went into the shower part of the building.  She emerged to find the other place where the ladies go and was directed there by one of the refugees.  As I stood off in the distance this refugee woman than walked up to me, probably recognizing that both of us were wearing the EuroRelief yellow vests.  She engaged me in a conversation in Arabic.  At first I thought she might be asking for directions to family services or some other service in the camp.  Finally SV emerged and joined us.  Between the 2 of us we realized she wanted to know our names.  We exchanged names with her.  Then for the next 20 minutes she tried to communicate that she was there with her Familiy.  We thought at first she was talking about a friend, but in retrospect I thinking she was communicating she needed a friend.  She was excited to introduce us to her family.  

We walked over to where her family was in 2 small dome tents.  She had 3 boys, ages 6 - 12.  They were very polite and were excited to shake our hands.  We ended up sitting on a bench and having a "conversation".  She knew probably 30 words of English, 10 words of French.  SV knew a little French.  But I would say 95% of the communication was arm gestures, pointing and so forth.  This is the gist of what we were able to learn.  She was Lebonese married to a Syrian man.  Syria, Lebannon, and Iraq are no more because of bombs and I also assume because of the way she spread her arms and named some group, because of ISIS.  They have lost family and thier life back there is gone.  They are journeying on to eventually end up in France based on the registration papers they received at the camp.  We "talked" for over an hour.  SV was incredible in her perseverance to understand, express compassion and to interact with the kids.  At one point I felt compelled to offer to pray with this person.  I offered through hand gestures, but she really didn't understand.  After 5 minutes I needed to pray outloud for her anyways.  I asked for God's peace and comfort.  For a safe journey.  For protection for her family and for her to come to know of God's love and grace.  SV followed suit by also praying asking Jesus to be with her to love her and to give her strength in the days ahead.  There is no way she understood what we were saying except through the miracle of the Holy Spirit.  Yet by the time we were finished she was openly sobbing and the tears streamed down her cheeks.  After seeing that I was soon joining her as I tried to clear the tears from my eyes.  Being cautious of cultural norms SV offered her a hug.  She grabbed SV like a lifeline and held on for the next 5 minutes continuing to sob.  I was truly in the presence of God's Holy Spirit.

We sat there for a bit and then the shift leader who was first worried about where we were and that a group was soon to arrive from a boat came running down the hill.  I felt bad because it was her first shift as leader and there was only her and one other person.  We excused ourselves from the Lebanese lady and headed back to the clothing tent.  This night we had many families.  We had a little bit of a break from 1:00 - 2:30 but then many families came in.  Families take a lot longer as you are searching for both kids and adult clothes at the same time.  Even though we had lots of clothes we didn't have much variety of sizes even for the kids.  It was try this, try that.  We were busy all the rest of the night and when we left at 8:30 am there was still a line, even though our relief crew had been there since 7:30.  As I stated before it is difficult not being able to provide everything that they could use, but one of the great things of working the clothing tent is monitoring the line and letting people in as groups. It gives you a lot of opportunity to "talk" to the folks.  They like to ask questions and joke around.  They are interested that I am from America.  

Please continue to pray that I will be able to communicate in a way that demonstrates God's mercy and grace.

 I have the day off today and then a day shift tomorrow.  Hoping to be able to share more great stories.