The Language of Love

I came to Bulgaria with a couple from our church - Bob and Pat Bruton. They have been coming to Bulgaria for 9 years. One of the fruits of their ministry is an encounter with a couple who have created a ministry to gypsy orphans who are turning 18 and being thrown out of the orphanage to fend for themselves. This couple is providing technical training for some of these young adults.

The Brutons have "adopted" (not formally) two brothers. These brothers have a mother who had 12 children all by different fathers. We had dinner last night. These young men can barely speak english and we speak no Bulgarian. What a fun evening. We laughed constantly. And the expressions of love and connection were everywhere. These young men were so excited and eager to see Bob and Pat. I was blessed to be "adopted" by these young men. click here to see a couple more photos (note you will need to copy and paste the link) http://picasaweb.google.com/josephruizjr/LanguageOfLove?authkey=Gv1sRgCK3y4LfXlfzPHg#


I left our time together reflecting on 1 John 2:9 where John is reminding us to love our brothers. If we love our brothers we are walking in the light if we hate our brothers we stumble around in darkness. For me it is easy to think of this exhortation in black and white. I don't hate my brothers I just don't like this or that. I feel the Spirit convicting me to filter my thoughts, actions and conversations with the question.... Is this interaction moving in the direction of Light or darkness. It is way too easy for me to dismiss most behaviors because after all I don't "hate" but with this new conviction I feel the Spirit is calling me out to a new standard. Oh man.