Multicultural Guests!

     A couple of weeks ago we had the privilege of having guests!  This lady, Annala, is from Nepal.  The kids really liked having her around.  The first day, Anneka heard her accent and kept trying to talk with her in Russian.  When she figured out that Annala didn't speak Russian, Anneka began speaking English with an Indian accent.  We got the sense that she was really trying to be helpful, communicating so that Annala could really understand.  Cute.  The first weekend she was here, Anneka had a school project to make something out of a button.

     While I made dinner, Annala helped Anneka to make a little owl with button eyes.  (I found a pattern online and gave them all they needed)  It turned out great!  It was fun to see the display at the preschool with all of the different button projects.

     Ike took a special liking to Annala.  She spoke his language.  For many days we heard Ike and Annala, in loud voices, saying "Da-da-da-da-da!"  When she left it felt strangely quiet.  Anneka made me promise to speak to Ike in his language or else Ike would be too sad.

     One day we ate lunch downtown and took Annala and Christian to the main square.  Nettie and Renata were with us, as they wanted to hear Annala and Christian's stories.  Annala was alone as a very small child and was forced to do child labor from 5-12 years old.  She was without food and clothes in a very cold climate.  Through a series of events she miraculously ran into her sister in Nepal (a different country) and was reunited with her parents.  She didn't speak their language and they tried taking her to the temple.  She kept hearing a voice (God!) that she shouldn't go in there, and kept refusing.  She didn't know Jesus, but was introduced to Him through dreams.  The community ostracized her for not going to the temple and called her a Christian, even though she didn't know what this meant.  She rejected by almost everyone, but Christ kindly drew her to himself, and now she's 60 years old and lives for Him!  Very cool. 

      Christian was a very fun guest to have.  He has a fun sense of humor and we stayed up talking many nights about interesting things.  I loved that about having both guests- hearing their stories and learning what's going on around the world.  You will notice in this picture that there are Cheerios all around the table.  It buys me about 1.5 minutes if I spread them out a bit for Ike.  =)

          When Annala left, Anneka sobbed.  She asked if we would ever see her again, and Annala said we could see each other in our dreams.  And of course, if not in this lifetime, we will see each other in heaven!