I woke up this morning at four a.m. I was literally sobbing as I awoke from a dream I had. It was powerful and sobering. Where did this reaction come from? I could blame the Missions Conference that is happening in my church right now but, while the Global Missions concert the other night was amazing, it was not a direct result of anything that happened there. And I could blame the
workshop I attended yesterday on Social Injustice depicted in the arts. But that was not the catalyst either.
One of my students said some words to me which made a place on the other side of the world come crashing through time and space and stand right in front of me. I realized in the moment that God was opening a window. But I did not recognize the profound effect it would have.
We had just finished reading the passage in Genesis 1 where we hear the story of all the different things that God created. The purpose of the passage was for the students to recognize that God saw His creation and said that it was “good” and to talk about what we appreciate about the diversity of nature and the things He created. This was a lead-in for a photography class where I was going to teach them that they each have a different perspective on the world. So, knowing that my three students were from different nations but not knowing which ones, I asked them to share where they lived before they came
to the United States. In an effort at anonymity, I will not share here what those countries were, but one of them said “I moved here from a refugee camp.”
In that moment, my worldview changed. It was like a scene from a movie where they use the lens to take you see the room spinning and the object become larger than life. I was speechless. I know that many of our students at the school probably came from horrific situations that I could not even begin to understand. But this one – this one has shared with me his dreams for the future. This one has already created a place for himself in my heart. This one just made me see the world differently.
In my dream I saw how much he loves God. In my dream I saw him loving his family as he does so well. In my dream I saw him caring for the people around him. And in my dream I began to see the “monsters”
of war that have oppressed him. And in my dream I began to see him fighting a battle with the world that would try to oppress him here. And then he came to me and said“they are sending me back there.” This is the moment when I was awakened with tears running down my face. I realized that I didn’t even know where “there”was. And I didn’t have a clue what “there” even looked like. I didn’t know his story – not his full story.
I prayed and asked God to forgive for being blind to the rest of the world. I prayed and asked God to forgive me for being deaf to their cries. I prayed and asked God to protect this one and the many others I am coming to know. And then I came downstairs and opened the internet and found where “there” was. I found out what “there” looked like. I painted the picture on this page, not because I am an artist. I painted the picture on this page because I had to. It is what I saw in the pictures of his refugee camp. It is what I saw in him. And I emailed him and asked if he would sit with me and share his story.
I don’t believe this dream was a premonition of things to come. I believe this dream was a wake-up call to my comfortably numb soul. I have no idea what God is doing in my heart and life. I am on the
journey of a lifetime. And sometimes I’m taken to the next stop in the middle of the night.
***I decided to add a post-script to this post to explain the painting a bit (since my artistry leaves a little to be desired. The pictures that I found of these refugee camps seemed to all be on a hillside. Going up the side of the hill were these gray-looking houses. They were set on this brown soil which turned to mud in the flooding. There was a bamboo fence around the perimeter. I presume it was to "cover" the barbed wire I saw in some of the camps. While there was little vegetation prevalent in most of the pictures, the green is my depiction of the hope that was in the hearts of those living there. The other colors were chosen to represent the flag that this nation of people proudly flies. The blue in their culture stands for peace. That represents the new land to which they came. Red speaks of perseverance. So the red bird is my friend preparing for flight to his new home. And the white stands for purity - hence the white at his heart.
workshop I attended yesterday on Social Injustice depicted in the arts. But that was not the catalyst either.
One of my students said some words to me which made a place on the other side of the world come crashing through time and space and stand right in front of me. I realized in the moment that God was opening a window. But I did not recognize the profound effect it would have.
We had just finished reading the passage in Genesis 1 where we hear the story of all the different things that God created. The purpose of the passage was for the students to recognize that God saw His creation and said that it was “good” and to talk about what we appreciate about the diversity of nature and the things He created. This was a lead-in for a photography class where I was going to teach them that they each have a different perspective on the world. So, knowing that my three students were from different nations but not knowing which ones, I asked them to share where they lived before they came
to the United States. In an effort at anonymity, I will not share here what those countries were, but one of them said “I moved here from a refugee camp.”
In that moment, my worldview changed. It was like a scene from a movie where they use the lens to take you see the room spinning and the object become larger than life. I was speechless. I know that many of our students at the school probably came from horrific situations that I could not even begin to understand. But this one – this one has shared with me his dreams for the future. This one has already created a place for himself in my heart. This one just made me see the world differently.
In my dream I saw how much he loves God. In my dream I saw him loving his family as he does so well. In my dream I saw him caring for the people around him. And in my dream I began to see the “monsters”
of war that have oppressed him. And in my dream I began to see him fighting a battle with the world that would try to oppress him here. And then he came to me and said“they are sending me back there.” This is the moment when I was awakened with tears running down my face. I realized that I didn’t even know where “there”was. And I didn’t have a clue what “there” even looked like. I didn’t know his story – not his full story.
I prayed and asked God to forgive for being blind to the rest of the world. I prayed and asked God to forgive me for being deaf to their cries. I prayed and asked God to protect this one and the many others I am coming to know. And then I came downstairs and opened the internet and found where “there” was. I found out what “there” looked like. I painted the picture on this page, not because I am an artist. I painted the picture on this page because I had to. It is what I saw in the pictures of his refugee camp. It is what I saw in him. And I emailed him and asked if he would sit with me and share his story.
I don’t believe this dream was a premonition of things to come. I believe this dream was a wake-up call to my comfortably numb soul. I have no idea what God is doing in my heart and life. I am on the
journey of a lifetime. And sometimes I’m taken to the next stop in the middle of the night.
***I decided to add a post-script to this post to explain the painting a bit (since my artistry leaves a little to be desired. The pictures that I found of these refugee camps seemed to all be on a hillside. Going up the side of the hill were these gray-looking houses. They were set on this brown soil which turned to mud in the flooding. There was a bamboo fence around the perimeter. I presume it was to "cover" the barbed wire I saw in some of the camps. While there was little vegetation prevalent in most of the pictures, the green is my depiction of the hope that was in the hearts of those living there. The other colors were chosen to represent the flag that this nation of people proudly flies. The blue in their culture stands for peace. That represents the new land to which they came. Red speaks of perseverance. So the red bird is my friend preparing for flight to his new home. And the white stands for purity - hence the white at his heart.
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