BABY NAMIN'

Saturday afternoon, I piled a bunch of my youth group kids into a World Relief Landcruiser and drove up into the hills above Bujumbura for a baby naming ceremony. My first one here. And I was charged with giving the English name to the newborn girl.

What incredible pressure! But what an honor, really. I LOVED being a part of it. The family is from our church and the seventeen-year-old daughter had a baby before being married... so because I am a friend of the family and have been able to help them some with an unexpected life event like this, they wanted to thank me the best way they knew how, by having me name the little one. They wrote me a beautiful letter of thanks (pictured here) and stated within it that I was charged with naming her.

Her name in Kirundi means, "He knows us,"- a beautiful name, I think. Because of cultural expectation to name her after myself (as I asked around... it feels a bit weird, honestly), I went with that and decided that her second name would be "Trina Joy." Trina, after me. Joy because it is the middle name of both my sister and her daughter.












I also chose "Joy" because, as I told the young mother before we prayed for the family, my hope and prayer is that... though her arrival caused great pain and there will be difficult times ahead- especially here in Burundi culture... this daughter will bring great joy.

Because that is the nature of God, isn't it? That life is tough. He allows us to make choices that bring us pain. But inevitably, because He is so good... he DOES bring great joy and blessing in the end. I deeply hope that for this family and for little Trina Joy.