"There are two great moments in a persons life: the moment you were born and the moment you realize why you were born."

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Meet the Soro's Part II

Today we are going to be getting to know the kid’s in the Soro family…I hope you have all had a wonderful week and have enjoyed getting to know my host parents and big sisters. As of now, we have 5 kid’s under the age of 10 living in my house. And we shall start with the oldest…

SORO Ferelah
Ferelah is ten years old and is my little sister. She is the third child of my host parents and is going to school right now. Like any normal ten year old girl, she is now going through the stage of “I am independent and don’t have to listen to anyone” so we definitely have our hands full with her. She is the first person who is called upon to take care of the kids with feeding and distributing things to them and is also a huge help around the house.
(Benjamin, Yellie, Ferelah)
Yellie
So one of the really cool things I am finding out about Africa is the way they view family is SO different than how we normally view family in the states. Yellie is not related to the family at all. She is a friend of the family and in order to go to school she lives with the Soro’s so that she can walk to school. She works around the house quite a bit and is treated just like any of the other kids. She even calls my host parents, mom and dad. Yellie is one of the prettiest and most sincere girls I have ever met for her age.

SORO Azariah
He is one of my favorites! I know you’re not supposed to have favorites…but really he is awesome. This is the first of the boys in the Soro clan. Azariah is 7 years old and is also going to school. This kid is fearless!!! One time when I was cooking in my courtyard he made a bow and arrow (out of sticks…how…I have not a clue) and killed a frog with it. He put the creature over the fire and then ate it. and yesterday when someone found a rat he killed that, skinned and gutted it and ate it also. I don’t understand what goes on in his mind to think it would be good, but he seems to enjoy these things. Aza likes to teach me very difficult Senoufo words and then laugh at me when I don’t understand. He also likes to think he is my older brother instead of younger, until he is tired and wants to snuggle up to me. Haha LOVE HIM!

SORO Benjamin
Benjo is the youngest of the Soro children and the biggest handful EVER!! Honestly, I have some difficulties trying to handle him. He is very much the baby of the family and knows it! Which means he thinks he can get away with anything. However, that is a different story with me and he doesn’t seem to like that. Well my favorite thing about Ben is when he is about to take his bucket bath. He does one of two things. He will either get SUPER excited and start stripping in the courtyard and bath himself right away or (my favorite) really hates it and runs down the street crying his head off. Everyone tries to come up with different ideas on how to capture this kid and then he fights with everyone to keep his clothes on. And it is the funniest thing to watch! I love it and I also love him as well. OH and he is 5 years old

Coronam
Coronam is the cutest little guy!! He is my three year old son. Everyone says that I am his mother and he will be coming home with me when I leave. But to be honest…I am totally ok with that!!! I would LOVE to adopt Coronam. His story is the same as Yellie’s, he is not a blood relative, but his parents are not able to take care of him so the Soro’s have taken him in as their own. Coronam likes to come and sit on my lap at night and run to me (and almost knock me & my motto over) whenever I come home. He is a pleasant surprise for me and a great kid. The only difficult part of this is, he doesn’t speak any French, only Tyembara so there is not a lot of communication. Usually it is just him talking to me or me asking questions and him repeating them back to me. Haha it is some good fun.

Scripture of the Week:

“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” -1 Corinthians 9:24-27

After reading this, the Holy Spirit convicted me of a sin I never really realized before. I so desperately want to be living a life of faith. However, I totally fail (and if I am honest I am terrified) of just outwardly asking people of their faith and boldly stepping up to proclaim mine. Along with Paul and his craziness in Corinthians, I am reading a book called “Daughter of China.” This young girl, named Mei Lin, is so bold in her faith, and she doesn’t care who see’s it! I was thinking about what I would do in her shoes, what if I was imprisoned for my beliefs, would I still be boldly look for ways to tell people about Jesus? Again, if I am honest, I would probably do what I was told and try to please the people around me. I try to get people to not only respect me, but more importantly to like me. Because I think if they like me or approve of me, they’ll do the same with my religion.
That’s not living by faith. That is living and trying to convince people about Jesus by my own means! It doesn’t work that way! How do I become more bold like Paul and Mei Lin, in preaching about the Good News? How do I get over my fear and my tongue being tied? How do I stop being so shy and timid? The answer: I need to allow the Holy Spirit to be transforming and renewing me and more importantly to be working through me. It’s not me and my message, it’s God’s and it belongs to everyone.


Prayer Requests:
*the Soro kids
*God would continue to mold, stretch and refine us
*friends and families in the states and the RCI
*the race that we run…that we would be bold in our actions and intentional with our words

2 comments:

  1. thank you for the encouragement to be bold! I love hearing the stories from you all. Your family sounds like a blast :). Praying for you.

    I am so encouraged by the lessons that God is teaching you there!

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  2. Alyssa, thanks for the reminder of our high calling. Love this passage and your great insights. Also, thanks for sharing your family with us. I love getting to know them through your eyes.

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