Breaking Bread with a Stranger

I broke bread today with a complete stranger.  Literally.

In the past 6 months, I've noticed a lot of cars parked outside our house and on our street.  They park for about 20 minutes and leave... but the traffic has certainly gone up.  Turns out, that 6 months ago, a Persian bread shop opened up at the little mall down the street.  It's so busy there, that there isn't enough parking in the lot.  Day in and day out, I see people walking with sheets of bread in their hands.

Today... I couldn't help it.  I saw a man park outside my house while I was playing in the front yard.  20 minutes later, he returned with 2 sheets of bread (about 2' x 4') and I asked him what he bought.  And what do I say if I want to try it.

First of all, he said, "You're so lucky... you live so close here."  We got to talking about the bread and as it turns out, the Sangak bread is a delicatessen of the Persian culture.  He describes it as "divine" and "heavenly."  He broke a piece off of both types of bread for me to try.  It's good... .but it's not great.

One thing led to another... one topic led to another.  Then he introduced himself as an Iranian, with an Assyrian background (yes, the Assyrians that conquered Israel), and is a devout Christian.  He went on and on about how the Assyrians were the first missionaries to China.  In fact, he reads the Aramaic bible (the original text) and says there are monuments in China that are inscribed with Aramaic words from the missionaries.  His goal is to trace his roots back to his ancestors, who for many generations, were missionaries.

I didn't get a word in there... didnt get to say that the apostle Paul was directed away from Asia and off towards Rome.  Didn't get to share that I'm also a Christian.  Didn't get to say anything about Robert Morrison or the Ching Dynasty or Falun Kung.  That'll be for another day -- when I see another stranger that walks by and breaks bread with me.