Dorcas
a Saturday Story
{I set up the Daily Bible reading plan where there aren’t any scheduled readings on Saturday. This gives you a chance to play catch up if you need to. So, on Saturday’s I don’t publish the normal daily devotional. Instead, I write a story from life - thus the name, “Saturday Stories.” Have a great day and be blessed.}
Did you know there are some tribal people in South Asia who don’t name their children until they’re a few years old? Yeah… I didn’t either. But I learned the hard way.
The reasoning behind it actually makes sense. They wait to see how the child develops — what kind of personality he or she has, what gifts they seem to have — and once the parents get a feel for the kind of person the child is becoming, then they give them a name that fits. Logical enough.
There’s another way it can happen too. Sometimes, the parents will give the naming rights to someone they respect — maybe a government official or a religious leader. In that case, the child grows up with the bragging rights of saying, “Hey, I was named by so-and-so.”
Now, these are the kinds of cultural tidbits you’d like to have before, not after, someone unexpectedly hands you a baby and asks you to name them — which is exactly what happened to me.
We were in a tribal village, visiting homes, praying for people, and sharing the gospel. I was with a tribal pastor, walking along a dirt path that wound its way through clusters of grass and concrete homes, when a young couple approached us. They were thin, dark-skinned, and holding an infant girl.
They held the baby out to me. And never being one to pass up holding a baby, I gladly took her into my arms and told her parents how beautiful she was. They said something in their language, which I didn’t understand.
The pastor translated, casually, like it was no big deal: “They want you to name their daughter.”
I blinked. “What?”
“They want you to name her. It’s a tradition here. They want to honor her by letting you give her a name.”
“Doesn’t she already have a name?”
“No, not yet. She has a pet name, but not an official one. They’ve been waiting — and now they want you to do it.”
For context, my wife and I never had a daughter. Probably for the best, because we could never agree on a name. I was dead set on “Elizabeth Ann” — Elizabeth for my mom’s middle name, Ann for my mother-in-law’s. Monica wasn’t sold on it. I told her that would be our daughter’s name because she’d be under anesthesia while I was filling out the birth certificate. She wasn’t thrilled with my plan.
As it turned out, we had four sons instead — and no arguments over their names.
So here I was, handed my golden opportunity to name a little girl — carte blanche, no debate, no anesthesia loophole required. Should’ve been a no-brainer.
But I froze. Mentally locked up. I panicked, honestly. It felt like a monumental responsibility had been handed to me with no warning. Had I known this was coming, I would’ve been ready.
I knew I had to give her a biblical name — I was representing the church, the gospel, and Jesus Himself. It had to be from the Bible.
Okay, think…
Plenty of great options:
Eve.
Ruth.
Naomi.
Deborah.
Mary.
Martha.
Lydia.
But the only name my mind could land on… the only name stuck in my brain…
Dorcas.
Yeah… not my proudest moment. But somewhere in South Asia, there’s a young girl walking around with the name Dorcas — and I’m the reason.
Now, to be fair, Dorcas probably only sounds bad in the West — mainly because it’s a little too close to our slang insult, “dork.” But they don’t have that word in that village. So… maybe it wasn’t as bad as I think. At least, I hope not.
But here’s my advice: if you ever find yourself wandering through a tribal village in South Asia, and you see a young couple headed your way with an infant girl… start thinking of names. Good ones. Quick.
