The Somali family, plus others from Somalia. Farfun, the father, is in the middle in back, and his wife is to the left of him in the pink and black attire. Click photo for a larger view.

Click photo for larger view

Yesterday morning, Pam and I attended the dedication of a Habitat for Humanity house that Anchor helped build. We joined three Presbyterian churches in the project.

The recipients were a Somali family: a husband, wife, and about 7 kids. They’ve been in the States for about four years. Before that, they spent 13 years in refugee camps, and some time before that in the bush. I’m sure they have stories to tell. The father, who looks very young, works for a tool and die company in Fort Wayne. Two of his coworkers attended the dedication, and they testified to how hard Farfun works.

The family applied themselves to learning English, and I must say, the husband and wife speak English remarkably well. They worked hard on the home, as Habitat recipients must, as well as in a second-hand clothing store.

The dedication ceremony lasted about an hour. It was informal. We just gathered in the living room, with the family. There were introductions, recognitions. Several gifts were given–a nice coffeemaker from Starbucks (which supplied free coffee to workers), some gift cards, a Bible. A set of keys were given to Farfun. Anchor’s pastor, Tim Hallman, concluded with a prayer of blessing on the house. I’m not sure what Farfun’s family thought of it all, with the heavy Christian emphasis, since they are Muslim. But they got some glimpses of the best of Christianity.

It was neat hearing from two other African immigrants, both from Ethiopia. They expressed their gratitude to everyone for coming alongside to help these their “brothers and sisters.”

I learned that one day during the construction, Sarah, a young single gal from Anchor, very new to the church, brought two big plastic bags filled with donuts, juice, and fruit to the workers. Sarah doesn’t have a car, so she took the bus to the home site, located probably 20 minutes from where she lives. And not just one bus, but no doubt several–taking one to a certain place, getting off, waiting for another bus, until finally reaching the stop nearest the house. She walked a good distance from the bus stop, carrying those big bags, to the house. And then she repeated the whole process to get back home. That, too, is the best of Christianity.