Pass the Pie!

What’s the best part of Thanksgiving?  Pie!

Over Thanksgiving, we took a break from teaching English classes.  But we didn’t want to let the holiday pass without celebrating with our refugee friends and giving them a taste of what Thanksgiving means to us.  So we decided to throw a pie party!

Pumpkin pie and apple pie were the main course, but sweets and fruit graced the “table” as well.  Not actually a table– a cloth was spread on the floor and we all sat around on cushions, Afghan-style.  The drink of choice was tea, poured into china cups.  There were about an equal number of American teachers and Afghan women, happily passing slices of pie and bowls of nuts and fruit.

Tammy spoke briefly about the meaning of the holiday, and one of the intermediate students translated her words into Pashto.  Then she demonstrated expressing gratitude to God: “God, I thank you for…” and then we went around the “table,” each woman taking a turn filling in the blank and thanking God for what was significant in her life.  After each person’s turn, the whole group would respond together, “Thank you God!”  The Afghan women got the idea quickly, and after what had been, for some of them, a traumatic year, they enjoyed focusing together on gratitude.  There were lots of smiles and laughter.

Tammy finished by reading Psalm 103 and passing out a Pashto translation that the women could take home.  And then she prayed blessings and protection on the women and their families, especially those left behind in Afghanistan.  As we shared pie, smiles, love, and God’s Word, we prayed that 2022 would bring each of these precious women more reasons to thank Him.


Posted in Uncategorized by