Before we began reading, we discussed greetings in our country of origin. We represented the US, China, Mauritius, Kenya, Canada, Senegal (various ethnic groups), and somewhere in Central Africa that wasn't specified. There was a lot of laughter as we expressed and tried out some greetings from each other's homelands. I shared the head bob and "what's up?" from the US, but also mentioned hugging (even though that's not personally my thing). My favorite was from Central Africa - it's this handshake where, when you pull apart, you snap your fingers off the other person's hand. It's pretty tricky if you ask me.
We then read from Colossians 4:7-18 round-robin, and did so in our most comfortable language. More than one person got a little bit confused as to what verse they were actually supposed to be reading. I surprised a few people by reading in French; I've been using just my French Bible since I've been here in Senegal. We discussed how to greet one another in the love and peace of Christ, and how it can be edifying and encouraging to receive a note or letter from a brother or sister in Christ.
After we'd prayed together for our coworkers, family and friends and churches back home, and for peace in Senegal, we said our goodbyes. Since the woman who had led was from China, I decided to use my one Chinese expression and said "shei-shei". She said, "What?! You know English, French, Wolof and Chinese?!" I told her that was it for my Chinese, and that she had heard a rare solid Wolof exchange.
It was absolutely incredible to sit around the table with this group of God's people and know that though we all come from different places, we share the Lord as our eternal dwelling place.
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