Caught in the Middle

Over the last few months, a bit of an awkwardness has arisen between some of the expat ladies I work with. We are all friends with the same set of local ladies, but one group of foreigners likes to chat with them in U and the other in Russian. Its hard spending the evening together ping ponging back and forth in different languages, especially when half the time, half the group doesn’t have any idea what is going on, and those of us caught in the middle spend the evening translating back and forth. To avoid the stress of a multilingual evening some people were not being invited to join certain events. This intentional excluding of others can be hurtful, and our local friends just didn’t understand the stress. They kept calling to ask why so and so hadn’t come, doesn’t she want to spend time with us. This tension has been building for months, and I felt very much caught in the middle, but not sure how to help improve the situation.

So, I was over the moon with joy when I heard these groups had come up with a compromise and we were all going to spend the evening together. One lady was hosting, cooking my favourite curry dish. Suddenly after the meal they all pulled out presents and started to sing to me. This reunification dinner was organised to celebrate my birthday early before I took oƯ down south. I was so glad my turning a year older could help bring reconciliation to our community in conflict. Please continue to pray that we as His body would love and serve each other in a way that communicates unity instead of discord.