Don’s Comments (group member since Apr 08, 2013)

Don’s comments from the Ruth Group group.

Week 1 asked what God is doing today and answered that he is doing what he always has done, calling people to be restored as his children and part of his family. Week 2 begins to ask how that happens and answers through people. The other groups talked about significant people in their lives that influenced their faith development. Did you have any of these people in your life?

To do this we have to have more and better ways to talk to one another about our individual faith and how that fits into the bigger picture of the church. I like his emphasis on prayer also as it is only as God works in people's hearts that things change.

Here's a place to start- what do you think of their distinction between trellis activity and vine work? Is there really a difference?

The group will run for six weeks starting 10/6.
Week 1- chapters 1-3
Week 2- 4-5
Week 3- 5-7
Week 4- 8-9
Week 5- 10-11
Week 6- 12 and appendix 1

Post your thoughts as they come to you!

Any final thoughts? I found Zoya's courage inspirational and it was challenging to remember that there are people who are living very different lives from mine. At the very least I need to pray more for those suffering throughout the world.

Zoya ends her book with the image of kite flying. Why do you think she does? What does it represent to her? What in your life is like her kite flying?

Chapter 18 talks about 9/11 from Zoya's perspective. She felt a solidarity with those in America who suffered for they had suffered under the hand of the same people. She describes how the innocent suffer as the powers fight for control. What might we do to help the plight of those civilians caught in warfare and violence.

In chapter 17 Zoya writes, "I am frightened of dying, but only for one reason. I am afraid that I could die without helping my people or leaving some kind of mark." Have you ever felt lie you want to leave "some kind of mark?" What kind of mark do you want to leave?

In chapter 16 Zoya and the RAWA workers are trying to get the girls to go to school but many of the fathers do not want their daughters to attend. Should parents have the final say in their children's lives- education. When does the state or church or another group have the right and/or responsibility to override a parent's wishes for their children?

In chapter 15 Zoya begins her work in the refugee camp and tells the story of a woman who lost her son in a massacre. What can we do to help people in such conditions?

In chapter 14 she writes regarding the popularity of the movie Titanic, "Nothing the Taliban did could quench the thirst of the people in a country where forced marriages were the rule for a story of undying love." I think the same is true in our relationship to god and our need for his undying love.

"The children around me laughed and clapped," so says Zoya in Chapter 13 as she viewed the "cutting of hands." As kids grow they assume what they experience is normal because they have no other frame of reference. Zoya goes on to talk about the challenge of educating children in the Afghan environment. they are only a few but they could determine the future. Makes me think that we have not done enough for kids and young adults in our churches.

In chapter 12 Zoya returns to Kabul on a mission from RAWA. She writes, "Kabul was a graveyard." Her description of the violence and waste is severe. How do we as Christians respond to the knowledge that people live in such conditions?

then in chapter 10 she describes how at 16 she leaves school and goes to work for RAWA noting the ways other members had been persecuted. What decisions were you making at 16? The one thing that resonates with me is that on one level I do think I was looking for something meaningful to do with my life.

In chapter 9 Zoya is offered the chance to flee to Canada and refuses. What do you think of her decision?

Interested on what the women out there think of her view of western sexuality.

Yes, Alaina, I too have difficulty crossing these cultural divides. I think that is one of the great things about this book, seeing how we are similar yet so different. In Chapter 7 Zoya leaves Kabul and goes to school in Pakistan even being separated from her Grandmother. Have you ever had an experience when you felt this alone?

In Chapter 6 Zoya confronts the death of her parents. She describes a lot of the things that people go through when they grieve. I guess grief is one of the common human experiences that bind all people together. She also has to deal with her Grandmother's explanation of heaven, hell and judgment, basically that if you are good enough you go to heaven and if not then hell. Is this what Christians believe too?

As I read Chapter 5 I was reminded of the things I heard about the Nazis in WWII. Have any of you read "The Diary of Ann Frank?" The hiding in the cellar and the stories of atrocities reminded me of that.

I like how frank and forthright she is about her experiences and observations. Also identify with her desire to make her life matter.