Baby Naming Ceremony in the Village part 2

After the men of the village had come to pray over the baby and the name was announced, breakfast was served and then lunch preparations were made. About this time, I realized I had left my bottle of water in the truck and the caffeine was beginning to give me a headache.

Lunch preparations began with the sacrifice of an animal. Depending on whom you ask, the sacrifice may be for sins, or it may just be to have meat for the lunch. I missed the sacrifice being made this day because were were still hanging out in our hut. After a while, my friend took me to greet some more of her family.

I went to greet a group of men ranging in age from older teen to my age or maybe a little older. They asked me who I was and where I was from. It was a polite conversation. I greeted a bit more before we returned to the hut.

Observation: anytime women are together for any length of time, griping and complaining will ensue. I trust my friends from Asia to correct me if it is not their experience, but so far as I see, women can be harsh toward one another. (Yes, I am speaking about my own gender. Yes, that is to some extent a confession, at least of my former self.)

Finally about 2:00, someone was serving water. I passed, since I have my own and explained that I am not used to the water here, which will make me sick.  Someone asked if I would rather have...rice.   I agreed, thinking they were kidding or maybe talking about lunch. No...they were not. A short while later, someone brought in a bowl of rice with a little sauce and a tiny chicken leg in it. I are politely, though I was way past my starch intake for the day.

After this meal, we sat around and talked some more. I was invited to lay down to nap, but I passed up the opportunity in hopes of getting to share the Good News with these women. However, it was hard to find a chance to begin a story between regular conversation and griping/ arguing. Eventually, I was successful in beginning to tell Creation and the Fall of Man. A strange heaviness settled into the room. I have shared this story many times in the past, but it was as if a wet blanket was placed over the hut. I share a bit more about the promise of the Savior and then the conversation drifted away from me. I felt a politeness in their listening but no hunger in their eyes to hear more.

After a while, I became so tired of sitting and being in that dark hut. I went out into the bright sunlight. It was glorious to feel the warmth on my skin and the brightness it gave to the colors all around. I greeted some people. I had the opportunity to share Who and why I had come to this country. It is through my company, but it was because God had brought us here. I can to tell stories because that is what Jesus commanded of His followers. To go into all the world.

As I headed back to the hut again, I got a call from my husband. He was asking if everything was good. I said it was fine, but that I was planning on leaving soon.  He requested me to leave at a certain time, so that I would have a good reason to leave at that time. I told my friend that I would need to be leaving soon. A few moments later, my friend asked to see me in the "outhouse", as my daddy would say.  She told me she was planning on staying the night as was her mother. I was confident of knowing my way home and insisted I could not stay another day.  She wanted to pressure me to stay, but I expressed confidence that my friend would not want to disrupt the peace between me and my husband.  Her mother tried to insist that I stay as well, until I expressed confidence that my friend nor her mother would want to disrupt peace between my husband and I.  I remembered all the stuff they had brought, and I went to unload it for them. I saw that they were beginning to late up another meal right at the time my husband had said to leave. I agreed to wait until after eating, forgetting how long it can take to actually plate it all.

I returned to the hut to wait to eat. The other women began to tease me about being in a hurry to    leave. I told them that I was not in a hurry to leave the conversation (although I was ready to be away from the griping) but rather that I was in a hurry to show respect to my husband. The room silenced quickly.  They had no argument for that.

Statements like honoring and respecting, dare I say it submitting to, my husband in the states would have increased the derision rather than silencing it, as it did here.

I was given some grain "bread" to take to my husband and I offered to take the portion for my friend's husband to drop at her house for her. What a glorious time of quiet I had as I drove back home! I was tired but in a good way.