Today I visited Faraja and her family. Faraja’s family and my family go way back. We moved to the Lakes apartments in Clarkston at the same time that they moved there. They were practically our neighbors. Faraja was one of the first people to come to the Bible study that eventually became the Swahili-language church that my dad started in Clarkston. He actually gave her a Swahili Bible about six years ago.

Faraja started the women’s weekly prayer meeting that still meets every Saturday. But she and her family decided to move to Macon, Georgia (about two hours from Clarkston). They moved there because the houses and other things are not as expensive. But they didn’t have a Swahili church there. So, last year Faraja decided to move back to Clarkston because she really missed the Saturday prayer meeting and the Swahili church.

When I visited her, she was so happy! She was crying and laughing mixed together. We found out that her daughter, who is now 18 years old, didn’t have a Bible. So, Faraja gave her Bible to her daughter so that she could have the Word of God in Swahili. It was an exciting moment when we could present Faraja with a new Swahili Bible to replace the one that she passed on to her daughter.

As we were saying goodbye, Faraja asked if she could pray for us. In all the times I have brought Bibles to people, this was the first time someone asked to pray for us! Usually we pray for them, so this was very nice to be prayed for. I also thought it was really cool that Faraja passed her Bible on to someone else who didn’t have one. That could be a great way to multiply Bible-giving in our community!