Spy Kid

        

    

    Since our return to our home in Phnom Penh, we have been impressed to ask the Father for opportunities to be a witness to our community; since our return to our little street and our little neighborhood, the Father has opened a door—our back door, to be precise.

                In the house adjacent to ours (separated only by a couple of feet of wall space) is a family of four: the father, the mother, and two little girls. The youngest was born only days before our return in mid-August. The older girl, Sing, is a four year-old with a combination of shyness and spunk. Almost daily she comes to our back door and window, so that whenever we are working at the dinner table, or sitting in the living area, we can see our four-foot tall spy peeking in.

                Our back door opens to a small balcony/terrace that runs across the front side of our building (yes, our front door is on the back of the house and our back door is on the front). Typically complexes like ours will have walls or bars separating the individual units, but ours has none. This means anyone on our level (four separate units) can technically walk to our back door and peek in (or we could do the same!).

                For the longest time, Sing would only look, and when she saw that we had spotted her, she would dart back to her parents’ house without making a sound. Then, one day, we opened the back door to put the laundry outside, and Sing showed up. And for some reason, she plucked up the courage to come inside. Soon she was doodling with some crayons and construction paper on our coffee table.

                Since Sing’s first “real” visit, we have gotten to know a few of her family members. Our language is still limited, and our neighbors speak no English, but we are able to communicate a fair amount with them. And the great joy we have discovered is that we are able to communicate much more, it seems, through opening our living room to a wide-eyed little girl, and by extension, to our neighbors.

                Privacy is certainly a blessing, and there are times when it is necessary for us to “get away” and recharge, or simply spend some time together and with the Father. Those times are precious to us. But we are learning the great blessing of vulnerability in community. We love to ask the Father for doors to open; let’s not back away from the calling to open our own. There just might be a blessing peeking inside.  

-Ryan