Sow, Reap, Repeat: Recent Episodes
Brenna Brown
Life. It’s the universal story that everyone experiences, regardless of where they come from or who they are. It's born from the fruits of our labors, which often go unnoticed, and written from the very seeds we forgot have been planted. Hosted by cross-cultural journalist Brenna Brown, you'll listen to real-life accounts of individuals who've engaged in local/international ministry and experience the harvest of their life-changing stories.
Miracles. Revelations. Divine appointments. Some might even go so far as to call them "AHA moments." We've all witnessed them, know someone who has experienced them, or have at least heard these terms mentioned at some point in our everyday lives.
Whether you have or haven't, a common occurrence that surfaces after these events take place is as follows: The impact these moments have is forgotten shortly after they come to end....in most cases.
In the case of Michael Griffin, his son Luke, and the Yemeni community they engaged with, their cross-cultural engagement on the stairs of Arafat initiated the impossible: It served as the ultimate catalyst for the disability-awareness movement slowly taking root in the heart of Yemen.
At first glance, one might not notice an old, beaten-down staircase and assume there to be anything innately special or unique about it. If anything, it might be useful to take a quick break or serve a building's basic architectural framework.
After all, they are just a set of dusty, weathered steps...aren't they?
In the case of Michael Griffin and his youngest son, Luke, however, this was simply not the case. For an American family traveling abroad to the Middle-east and bringing a child with Down syndrome along for the ride, a set of steps located in the heart of an enormous plaza are most likely the last thing their eyes were drawn to.
Yet, these steps serve as the very thing that gave them the ability to immerse themselves with the culture and families of their established host culture.
Have you ever visited someplace for a short period of time and, up until that point, felt as though you'd been living life in slow motion? Or stepped into an entirely new and unpredictable experience and simply stood in awe as your sensation of wandering was replaced with the sense of belonging?
With a reputation tainted by domestic violence and recognized worldwide as a country running rampant with human trafficking, one wouldn't expect Guyana to be at the top of the list for two young college students to feel drawn to.
And yet, it serves as the very place Natalie Brendle and I believe our hearts have chosen to settle in.
She grew up reading the renowned stories of men and women who’d traveled far and wide to share the Gospel message, hoping and praying she’d be able to do the same...even if it meant staying single her whole life.
He was raised with a heart for God’s earthly ministry, but never really imagined just how far that passion would take him...or who it would lead him to.
A couple of chance encounters at college, a wedding ceremony, and a spontaneous call to Croatia later, and these two individuals were in for the commission of a lifetime.
Gerald Wright has learned many lessons over the course of his life. He's experienced the open-hearted hospitality of Bedouin culture, been embraced with open arms by the vibrant families of New Orleans, and worked hands-on with the Fulani cattle-herders of Nigeria.
As different as each of these experiences have been, they have all instilled in him a single, core belief:
"You cannot have a community without culture; to have community, you must commune. And to commune, you must be willing to communicate."
Take a moment and imagine being in someone else’s shoes. You didn’t grow up in America, waking to the sound of cars flying on the freeway or the hustle of men and women rushing to work.
Instead, you were woken each morning by the sounds of soft rain, the sureness of warm soil between your toes, and the day’s first Muslim call to prayer.
This is the life of a girl from Guinea. This is Josey's story.