Whirlwind Weekend

This past weekend, several very special events took place. Our whirlwind weekend began Friday evening with the screening of the film Neither Here Nor There in honor of World Refugee Day on June 20th. The film follows a Bosnian family our agency resettled a few years ago as they adjust to life in the United States and begin to build a new home in Missouri. This film debuted last fall at the Missouri Theatre, but the filmmakers wanted to do something special for World Refugee Day. After the film, there was a panel discussion with Kerri (who used to work for our office and co-directed the film), two of our wonderful refugees (one from Burma and one from Iraq), and myself. Shaw and Sar did a wonderful job answering questions during the panel discussion; I felt their comments truly allowed the community members at the screening to more fully understand the concepts of refugees, war, and starting over in a strange land. There was a brief newspaper article in the Tribune about the screening, as well as a snippet on KOMU. When the stress and frustration of my office is removed, and I get to spend time with refugees in a different setting, I realize just how much I'm going to miss talking to them every day, hearing their stories, and learning about their cultures. One event later in the weekend reminded me of this realization once again.

On Sunday, we attended the celebration of the Karenni National Day at the home of some of our Burmese refugees. Back in February, we attended the Chin National Day celebration and enjoyed ourselves immensely (I just now realized I never posted about that experience- a round of apologies, my friends). The Chin and Karenni are different ethnic minorities within the country of Burma, and both are very much persecuted by the ruling Burmese military junta. When S. invited us to celebrate their holiday with them, we were very excited! Indeed, we felt like the guests of honor, as they rearranged the start time so we could attend. We heard many songs, some speeches, and even tried a special drink the Karenni enjoy. Many of the Chin also joined the party, and it was beautiful to see the sense of solidarity among all the Burmese refugees. Lots of pictures below:

The awesome sign they made to commemorate the day.

Balloons welcoming us- in both English and Burmese!

Precious.

Singing Karenni songs- they are amazing!

Thumbs up for the rice drink the Karenni prepared for all of us.

He hates this picture, but I love it...

I am so white! P. and I enjoying the party.

I love this girl and will miss her so much- she is such a joy!

All smiles for S. and Isaac.

All the Karenni (plus two very white people)!

After celebrating with our Burmese friends, we made our way to our friends' going away party. I am very sad our beloved friends are moving to Virgina, but I know the Lord has wonderful things in store for them as they set forth on their next adventure in life. Truly, James and Clemma have been our dearest friends for the past few years, and Zach (our precious godson) is such a joy in our lives. We will miss them greatly, but we know that the Lord will bring us together again someday...

The girls (minus Claycie, who somehow got away)

My future son-in-law! Just kidding...well, it could happen...

Just because I love Jimmy.

We love you guys so much!