Orality Journal Volume 3, Number 1, 2014 | Page 30

28 Orality Journal, Volume 3, Number 1, 2014

However, I soon returned to the city
where I lived and received a phone
call from the U.S. My brother, who
had served as a soldier in Iraq,
had come home and died of a
brain aneurism. My joy of seeing
God move in Nonnie’s family was
changed to shock then sorrow. It was
painful, but I had peace. My time
with the Sweater People taught me
that I was not alone and that God is
faithful. Within a few hours’ time,
the word had spread throughout
the city and every Sweater woman
I knew was at my house weeping.
They came to wipe away my tears
and hold my hand. They came to
weep with me. Can you imagine—a
sister of a U.S. soldier in Iraq being
comforted by a group of Muslim
women? I realized that what I was
dealing with was not strange to
them. Living in a war zone, most
of them had lost loved ones due
to violence. Amazingly, however, I
was able to share stories from the
Bible of how God brought hope in
hopeless situations. I went back to
the U.S. for a month and then came
back to finish the story set.
After I returned, we made copies of
the Sweater Bible stories and songs
that Rubina and the storytelling
girls liked. Unfortunately, we didn’t

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