I love getting to tell my team about my small town. They are always so amazed at the stories of generosity and humbleness that I tell about the people back home. When I do get WiFi it is always fun to get on Facebook and see that nothing has changed. I get on and I see people asking and receiving prayer for relatives or donations for someone who has had a house fire or medical treatment. I am still amazed at how lucky I am to have the community that I have back home. I would not be here today if it wasn’t for them.
I have been living in the country of Oman for this entire month. During this time, I have been experiencing a new level of generosity I’ve never seen before. We came to a town that doesn’t get very many tourists. We are outsiders, but to the people here, we are their guests. They didn’t invite us here, they didn’t know we were coming, but yet they welcome us with open arms.
Aspen, John, and I like to go for runs most days. Almost every time we go for a run at least one person stops us and asks if we need anything. Aspen is currently holding the record for most water gifted to her. She has not gone for a run yet that someone didn’t buy her a water. Last time I went out, I ran to the beach, swam and decided to walk back. My feet were wet and sandy so I decided to just barefoot it home. A guy pulled up next to me and asked if something was wrong. His English was broken and I only know a few words in Arabic but I could tell he was motioning towards my bare feet. After trying to tell him in numerous ways that “I am ok”, he waved and drove away. About 5 minutes later I heard someone honking behind me and turned around and it was that same man. He had went to the store and bought me brand new socks because he was worried about my bare feet. As I walked up to him he said, “This is my country, you are my guest. These are gift”.
That is just one example of the generosity of the locals. Aspen and I were playing soccer with some of the local kids one night when one of the mothers came outside to watch. Aspen complimented her on her very beautiful, traditional dress. The lady was very flattered and thankful. Then she got up and went back into her home. Within a few minutes she came back outside holding a dress as a gift for Aspen. We have had neighbors rent vans so they could take us all together to a waterfall or beach. Almost every night someone is asking to buy us tea, coffee, ice cream, or dinner. This is something that has rocked my world because we are outsiders. We don’t even speak their language or believe the same things they believe. With all that being said, they still treat us like family.
I see similar generosity and treatment back home within the people of my community. When it comes to outsiders though, I don’t know if I carry that same level of generosity. If I saw someone walking down the road that wore very strange clothes, looked different than me, and didn’t even speak my language. I am not sure that my first thought would be to pick them up and give them a ride or buy them a water.
I came here to teach and love on these people but they have showed me that I have a lot to learn as well. I can now see that I can grow a lot in the capacity of hospitality and generosity. Growing in these areas is not something that will happen over night. With some practice and prayer, I have no doubt I’ll be able to change my mindset from, “What are they doing here?” To “How can I help them?”
