This was a much quieter day than the earlier days this week. Only three trips to the Jungle. And just a few observations.
The police have been targeting the “shops” on main street. A few weeks ago, the business owner from each shop was arrested and all the equipment confiscated. One shop a favorite of some of the Baptists visiting is owned by Hasheem, an Afghan who ran an Afghan food restaurant. Yesterday, his food, cooked and uncooked, was confiscated again. Today, when I entered the shop looking for our group members, I saw several of them, with the Baptists and some of the refugees playing a variety of games at the tables in the shop. Dominoes, and Uno were being played when I walked in. Jenny, a retired pastor’s wife had come with sewing machines to repair clothes and make alterations. She reported that the greatest demand was to turn baggy jeans into skinny jeans…which she was happy to do. The plan is to leave the machines in the hopes that some others would eventually take up the work when Jenny leaves tomorrow morning.
Mid-afternoon, Hasheem, who was not onsite appeared with stacks of Afghan bread still warm from the oven. He followed that up with plates of Afghan eggs…no charge. “Please to share”, he said.
After we left his shop a few doors down another Afghan stopped us to inquire of Brother Johannes, who wears a light blue habit, if he dressed like Jesus because he loved Jesus. Johannes agreed and the inquisitor suggested that the Afghans in traditional dress looked more like Jesus than did most Christians. Our new friend thought celibacy was unnatural and was insistent on engaging us in finding out what we knew about Islam, while sharing how they respected Jesus as a prophet and Mary as well. He went on to say we should believe in the last of the prophets, Mohammed. This was a discussion that could have gotten very heated but his questions and challenges were met with sincere listening and gentle responses. This was clearly a discussion that had no end in sight so we were thankful when it became necessary for us to move our minivan. Care for Calais, a non-profit had cleaned up a sandy soccer field and installed goals to have some serious play. Our van was where spectators would stand.
A final example of how this house is different. After dinner, Sheena and I were scheduled to clean the kitchen. It was hard to move in there because five others insisted on joining us. Neither of us ever got near the sink. As a dish was washed it barely touched the drying rack before someone grabbed it to dry it. Cleanup was done quickly and evening prayer was completed a little before 9. After a brief skype call with my lovely bride, we called it an early night.