When Smiles Hurt

Most days the older Afghan men in our neighbourhood wear cold hard faces, each wrinkle hiding stories of trauma, loss and hopelessness.

But sometimes a smile breaks through as it did one day this fall at the playground behind our apartment building.

That evening a cane-wielding, elderly Afghan man, briskly walked across the complex eager to greet the kids and talk with me. He didn’t care what others in the community thought, he just wanted to come and see us.

Over the next 5 minutes or so I learned this Muslim man was a refugee from Afghanistan and spoke Pashto, but not more than 10 words of English. So we communicated in a different language: laughter and high-fives.

As I sat there looking at this incredibly friendly and open stranger, I prayed wondering what it was that led this man to chase us down. I also asked how on earth I could keep connecting with this cellphone-less new friend.

And then he left us waving and smiling.

But maybe a smile isn’t worth a thousand words. This man needed the Words of Life, and there was no way I could get it to him that day.

Pray for Afghans like this man, and for more Christians to join in bridging the gap between Jesus and the least-reached.