Do you have friends?

Some of you know that I'm writing "a fools proverbs" which is a compilation of proverbs written by yours truly about things I've observed, and experienced in life (here's an excerpt from page two: "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into Heaven. But it's even harder for a rich camel to enter into Heaven).

I've been known to say: "friends are my currency." Not only is this from page three of "a fools proverbs," it's also true to me in a way that the camel proverb will never be... well the second part of the camel proverb anyway, I'm actually afraid of the first part which can be found in Matt 19. The fact is: friends are more valuable to me than money. Some people rely on money to get by in life. I rely on friends, and I in turn am a friend that can be relied on. When a good friend and mentor "Dave the translator" was conversing with me in french, we got to talking about the fact that I didn't have much money. He asked me "Avez-vous des amis?" to which I responded: "Oui, j'ai beaucoup d'amis" (except I forgot to use a the proper definite article proceeding the noun at the time). He then switched to English and said: "then you are truly rich." We were on the same page, I already agreed with his statement years ago. Sometimes, I must admit. I want more money. I want more financial freedom. But deep down I know: friends are my currency, and I am truly rich.
About four years ago, much to the disgust of my non-christian currency (and some of my christian money), I went on a short term mission trip to Greece. I really had a great experience, and I learned a lot. We went to Greece to serve refugees, and one of these refugees became a currency, he was from Tehran, the capital of Iran. His name was Amyr ("prince" in Arabic). We spent lots of time together, he was a refugee and we talked a lot about freedom, and what freedom is, and the pros and cons of freedom. We talked about Christianity and Islam, and we played the guitar, and we played basketball, and then we talked about Iran and America. We didn't have enough time to talk about the weather. I took him to "Hard Rock Cafe" and "starbucks" (sort of an American tour) and he took me to a beach, and it was good. I promised to keep in touch with Amyr, and I did. In less than 6 months after I flew back to the states he made it to England. I promised him that I would visit him in England before I left, so I did. I booked tickets out and introduced him to Trina. Trina liked Amyr and his family as much as I did. Amyr got married a year later, and I flew out to his wedding because I said I would. It was a beautiful wedding.

Amyr works about 60-80 hours a week, he's still a refugee, and he's not treated well. Amyr goes to school in addition to work, and he also pays for his wife, Sogol to go to school. Before I came to Africa, I visited Amyr. He rented a car for Trina and I when we arrived in England, and he wouldn't let us pay for a thing. I was barely able to cover a few things and it was a fight with Amyr every time to pull out my credit card before him, but after all, our friendship isn't about the money, our friendship is more than money. Amyr and Sogol we're the last of our friends that we saw before we arrived in Afrique. The friend that I met 4 years ago in Athens, little did I know, would be the same friend that saw me off to my new adventure in Africa. Just a few weeks ago Amyr emailed me I'll put my email to Amyr first, then his response:

seth chase wrote:
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amyr,

I'm getting old... 30, I never thought about being this old. I'll have to come visit you again before I die of old age. I hope your "new years" was great. Send my love to sogol, we miss you both. love, seth

From: amýr salehi rad Sent: Thu 5/31/07 6:03 AM
To: seth chase

hey there,
long time since your last mail, i hope everything is going well 4 u both and you are working hard as always towards ur bright future, keep us updated about everything, by the way me and sogol have some money that we've left aside for charity and we were wondered if there is anything there that money can buy for kids, althogh it's not a big lump , but still we thought that this way at least it reach their hands directly! let me know what you think about that!
our love and prayers my old man,
amir & sogol

It's crazy, money... friends... grace. I could never pay Amyr back for all that he has been to me. Even if I could put a price on it, he wouldn't accept it. I will always be indebted to Amyr, though he would never see it that way. It's so Mark12:41-44, that it's almost too much for me at times.



Here's to friends and money!