The face of joy

Today, I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker‘s Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

This week's prompt: Joy. 

In the dead of winter, teens from my youth ministry delivered a Welcome to America pack to a refugee family from Ethiopia.

A few weeks later, as part of the 30 Hour Famine, my teens hosted an event for the refugees in our neighborhood. As part of this, we revisited this family's apartment and specifically invited them to join us for an afternoon of fun.

This family – who arrived in the United States with nothing – welcomed my teens into their apartment with open arms. They served my teens tea before then bundling up and braving the cold in order to walk with them back to our church, where the event was being held.

Once there, one of my teens sat down and began interacting with the two little girls from this family, neither of whom spoke any English.

They sat at a table and made Valentine's together. As they did, my teen tried valiantly to explain what Valentine's Day was to these two girls. Little did she know, not only did her new friends not know what Valentine's Day was, but they also didn't know what glue sticks were. For kids born and raised in a refugee camp, these items were completely foreign. 

Throughout the day, the fact that these little girls were overwhelmed by a place wherein everything was new was evident on their faces.So, too, was the look of joy that came from discovering new things – things we so often take for granted.