Pollen Profanities.

                                                                                                                               March 24th, 2012

Oh the variety of one week.

It's not everyday you wake up to the words "F*&% You" written across your car in pollen, but such is the standard of conflicted children, of the broken, and I am learning to take it in stride...
      
 to ask my Father for help in reaching into their wounds with healing life.

Do I know the culprit? Yes... I am sure I do. He is likely the same little boy I have been writing to you about, the same one who as a form of an I'm sorry for his erratic behavior drew hearts with his name in it on the same hood at 11 pm just the day prior, caught him through my bedroom window. ( :

I just wanted to help you see what life is really like, beyond the beauty and valor of a "missionary" calling.

There's so much else I should be doing right now, preparing for my Teach For America interview most notably, but I've just got to catch you up or I may never.

 I'll start with today and give myself a bit of time to recall the bizarre events of the other days!

Today a missionary friend, Rosie, and I took 3 beautiful little refugee girls from Eritrea and Thailand out to IHOP for Saturday morning breakfast. They were so happy with their Dr. Seuss truffula seeds, thank you IHOP, and their hamburgers and icecream cone pancake breakfasts. Ordering for refugee children is an event all its own. Senayit wanted Strawberry juice, she got strawberry lemonade which she confidently referred to as "lemahlar." Little Roma wanted ham, only ham, that's it. We talked her into the ice cream cone pancake, mostly because I wanted to see it! Thanks mom for the gift card! The little girls from Eritrea were 2 of my discipleship girls from when I was living in the other complex, and it was so AWESOME to love on them again.

Burgers for Breakfast

I explained this to the Thai 10 year old across from me, meek and so caring, and decided to ask her if she went to church or if the girls had told her about Jesus yet? She happily told me that she does, and then Senayit and Roma shouted out, "DO YOU KNOW GENESIS 1:1?" Shyly she said no. I asked if they did, and there they went, repeating back their memory verse in proud synchrony! I asked where they learned it, they said, "from discipleship with you!" I was blown away that they had remembered and so blessed to hear the word of God still in them! The best part? Getting to explain to Sar Pa, Roma, and Senayit that the reason I loved spending my gift card on them was that they were incredibly valuable, that if they believed in Jesus and that He is the king, then they are children of God, and if they are daughters, then that makes them princesses of the king! "PRINCESSES?!!" Well, they seemed to like that a whole lot. Especially Sar Pa who was new to me, and she decided she would like to start joining the discipleship group that another wonderful lady is now leading in that complex.

Thank you Lord!

A Picture of Heaven,
maybe they will even have Ice Cream Cone
Pancakes at the Banquesting Table ( :

After that we went to the dollar store where the girls each picked out a bible story book with a sing along cd and happily read them as they walked through the aisles not watching where they were going. Softspoken Sar Pa stood next to me ecstatic to show me the one she had picked, and to my shock began boldly telling me the story of Noah. I've never loved the dollar store so much.  After making them promise to always walk in 3's between complexes, and getting their parents permission at the door, they have all been invited back to have a pizza making and bible story reading sleepover party next Friday with me and my friend Rosie!



I'm afraid I will have to skip a few days for your eyes sake.

Thursday was an incredibly eventful day, which leads me to the pollen profanities.

Needing to go for a run and having a stoop full of Nepali little boys is a conflicting idea. So, in an effort to get the best of both worlds, I just brough them along as body guards. Yep, there goes the white girl in her neon tennis shoes with 7 hollering little boys tagging behind and tugging alongside her on her only two wrists, so how many boys kept up? Just only two, but the others sure did try! I've never seen so many shortcuts taken in my life, they were proudly popping out of buildings everywhere!

Almost back home, one of the troubled boys starts going nuts. I ask what's wrong. "Sag" tells me that some girls were yelling some TERRIBLY inappropriate remarks about he and I. I knew eventually this would come as a direct result of jealousy between the children, as it always has. I march over to deal with it and put an end to the obscene remarks. It was a mess. I end up having to break up a near brawl between the children, black muslim teenage girl attitude against frantically shouting Nepali testosterone. As a crowd of people begin to squat at the top of the hill, I do my best to keep my voice as low as possible and control the situation for the sake of my reputation in my new community. After explaining what I expect, that I am friends with everyone regardless of their problems, that anybody can come to my apartment and we will work on it and be friends as long as there is respect between us, I walk away from the situation with a bunch of angry boys huffing along in tow.


Then the best part came, the part God used for good. We sat on the stoop (others stretched themselves across the hand rail) as I demanded their silence and explained that their ability to do so would determine the rest of the evening. Frowns and stink eyes.

 After explaining the situation, why what happened was not okay and how we are to treat oneanother, what I demand as respect, why I love them, how Jesus is the only way I can love my enemies, the person who stole my iPod in college, the people who broke my heart, how He feels about them, their value, how He sees the girl who said the terrible things about us that night, what I know they are capable of, asking them questions and getting good answers, and  "Sag's" violent answers, I had almost entirely lost their attention; which they let me know through fake yawns.

 So now what? Lord help me, now what? "Sag" is still going crazy and has lost all privileges for the night, how do I break through to them?! God thank you..... "Okay, everybody up!!!" We are going to act this out! I am the first volunteer to be hurled slanderous remarks toward, no profanities please. And one by one, we acted out what we are to do as we approach someone who is saying untrue things about us, because they always will. "YHEW ARE A PEICE OF PAY-PEHR! BoOOY!" "YOU SMELL LIKE YOUR MAMA'S POO!" The laughter broke out in roars. The next door neighbors came out. They could hardly bring themselves to say an insult against me through the laughter. The best part?! THEY GOT IT!

They approached the one wronging them, ASKED if they were speaking to them, ASKED if they had said what they heard, TOLD them it isn't true, that they didn't appreciate them speaking to them that way, and WALKED AWAY, because "you know who you are, and you can be CONFIDENT in it. You don't have to convince someone else. You be responsible for YOUR actions and walk away.

Exhausted, I showered, sat on my floor against the wall, ate left over sweet potato homefries out of a glass in my new room and just stared for a while. It was good, God is good, and these broken children want to be good, Even if they hate the discipline, and I hate the follow through, even if they don't have the tools in their tool box to handle it better than writing pollen profanities. I know It will come because I saw it in Senayit today, a beautiful, thriving, loving friend and witness for Jesus who just a year ago was yelling obscenities on the playground. I disciple because it's worth it, because it's the way of Jesus, and because I know He heals the wounded.

I love you all. Thanks for reading. Please pray for Willow Branch, for men to come inhabit this place and be a mentor to these boys.

Gotta go, it's 3 more little ones at the back door attacking the living room like monkeys and I am being summoned to draw a "plower."


Sincerely with love!
Jenna in Clarkston.

Other fun praises:

• speaking French with a Congolese trauma victim while taking her home from free bread distribution, knowing it's only the beginning of our friendship
• Crashing a little boys soccer pick up game on my run through the complexes and teaching them some moves
• My incredible housemate God has given me for community
• Seeing Senayit just show up at my door after hearing my apartment number from someone
• tri-weekly complex prayer walking dates with my friend Rosie soon to come
• Being well enough to look for a job, even though it's not going so well.