After living in Ecuador for 3 months and now having been in India for almost a month, I have come to realize something: North America, in a way, raises its people to fear other countries. When we visit another country, we are so filled with warnings and stories of people who want to rob, scam, and harm us that we enter the country wary of everyone around us. I do believe we should be cautious when travelling, but I think that if we’re not careful, we can be closing ourselves off to wonderful interactions with wonderful people – all in the name of caution.
While I know there are precautions we need to take when travelling to another country due to tourists being most frequently targeted by ill-intentioned individuals, I also know that not everyone out there has the intention of causing harm. Take a look at India, for example. I am currently without wifi so I can’t produce an exact number, but there are over a billion people in this country. Considering this, it is quite ridiculous to assume that everyone has malicious intent. In fact, I can confidently say that it is only a small percentage of the population that does.
As I stated above, I have been in India for nearly a month, and the kindness and hospitality of the people here has completely blown me away. Each time my team and I have gone to a new place, we are, without fail, met with enthusiastic handshakes and greetings, as well as copious amounts of tea and cookies. While walking around the compound we live in, there are constantly enthusiastic voices yelling “hello!” and “how are you?” from the children who live around us. Even individuals who seem hard or standoffish light up and exhibit great kindness as soon as I greet them.
When I look at these people – the people who truly populate India – I do not see people who want to harm me. Instead, I see people with hopes, dreams, and life stories who are just like me; they simply reside in a different country.
It breaks my heart, but I have come to realize that when we visit other countries, we assume the worst.
When I first got to India and men would stare at me as I walked down the street, I became quite angry. The other girls on my squad and I hated feeling objectified and like we were being undressed with their eyes. As I payed closer attention, however, I noticed that oftentimes, their eyes weren’t moving hungrily over my body as I was used to in North America, but were simply filled with curiosity. Considering we’re in a part of India that sees around 1,000 tourists per year and I am a tall white girl walking down the street of a rural village, it’s really no wonder that they stare. Some of them may have never even seen a white person before, so it’s probably quite a sight to see.
I certainly realize that there are men who look at me lustfully as I walk down the streets here. It is something I have experienced for much of my life, so I’m not so naive to think that it doesn’t happen in India. I am fully aware of the glaring issue of the oppression of women here in India, as well as the large amount of sexual assault and abuse. I also realize, however, that not every man is looking at me in a lustful way, and it is quite absurd to think that is the case.
It is impossible to know the hearts of those around us, and we should not make generalizations and assumptions about large groups of people without knowing them personally.
When travelling, we can miss out on opportunities to meet awesome people simply because there could be a chance of danger – which, especially if you are a Christian, is not the way to live. When we look at the Bible, there is never a time when Jesus looked at someone and denied him his love simply because he was unsure of them. In fact, he spent much of his time with those who were deemed the worst of the worst by those around them.
Don’t rob someone of the chance to experience the love of Christ and have that beauty in their life simply because you want to be cautious. I’m not encouraging careless behaviour, and I certainly believe that precautions should be taken in life, but oftentimes, the best experiences are worth a bit of risk.
Sometimes, allowing a stranger to buy you food so you can chat with them and hear their story is worth throwing up for the rest of the day because your weak American stomach can’t handle the food.
Sometimes a drug addict that people tell you to stay away from has the most beautiful heart of anyone you have ever met.
As long as you use common sense, logic, and trust your intuition, God can do amazing things through situations that, from an outsider’s perspective, may be deemed dangerous or reckless. People too often pass up wonderful moments because they are living in fear.
A life lived in fear is hardly a life at all, so as you walk through life, take a few risks and see what amazing things God will do.
