These past 10 countries I’ve been mistaken for many different ethnicities. I think it’s hilarious when I tell people I’m from the U.S. and their response is “NOOOO (insert foreign country here)”. For example, in Nepal EVERYONE told me multiple times A DAY that I was Nepalese. I told them no I was born in America and they said “NOOOOO, Nepali face…same same. You Nepali”
I’m kind of use to it now, but I honestly thought i was home free once we reached Europe. i thought for sure i wouldn’t be mistaken for a white person haha. I was wrong. Here in Romania they think I’m a gypsy….i guess technically Romanians are latinos since their language is latin based. 🙂
My response was the usual, “No, I’m not a gypsy “.
In India it was “No, not Indian….from Am-er-ic-a…no not Nepal, Am-er-ic-an…no, no Hindi.”
In Nepal my response was “No, not Nepali, from U.S.A”. That didn’t seem to work; they continued to insist I was Nepalese.
In Tanzania and Kenya people thought I was Chinese or Japanese or “half Swahili”. Afircans would normally point to me and yell out “China China” and /or “Mzungu!!” which has different meanings- white person, foreigner, traveler…
In Rwanda some people thought I was Rwandan. When they tried to speak to me in Kinyarwanda I just gave them a blank stare, shook my head and walked away.
I think it was the fake hair that threw them off LOL.
And of course in all the asian countries I blended right in without a doubt.
My response:
No I’m not, Thai
No, I’m not Malaysian.
Those are durian scented napkins. I don’t understand why anyone one would want durian scented napkins.
No, I’m not Cambodian
In the Philippines I was fortunate enough to say that I am half filipino and my other half is Salvadoran!
I think it’s so amazing how there are so many different cultures and ethnicities around the world. I love the diversity, but I also love knowing that we are all the same people. That’s how God made us. Yeah we are all unique. We have different skin color, eye color, hair color, etc, but we are all still people with the same general body structure, emotions, desires and the same creator.
What do we humans desire in this world? I’d say all of us seek after acceptance, whether it be from someone else or from ourselves. We desire purpose and meaning in our lives. Some believe they find that purpose/meaning in being successful- if you make a name for yourself then you’ve done well in this world. Their hope is based on how much they’ve achieved on their own. However, what happens once all the material things are eliminated? Then what is your purpose? Where do you put your identity in? If your career and all your possessions were taken away, would you know who you are? The things of this world will fade away, but yes we still live in it. So live in the world, but don’t make the world your identity; do not be “of” the world. We humans are inconsistent and always changing.
There’s always some new trendy religion or non profit emerging. We humans are searching for something more to this world whether we like to admit it or not. We want to do good because it makes us feel better. It makes us feel like we are doing our part to help the world, but, again, if we make “doing a good deed” our identity and purpose in life then what happens if it’s taken away? what happens when you are the one that is in need? Then what will feed your soul? What will bring you the joy and peace that you felt when helped others? Again, there is nothing in this world that can satisfy the desire for more other than Jesus Christ. He is the one that is consistent. To understand His love is a great thing. I suggest reading the book of John in the bible to learn more about Christ.
I loved going into each country and staying with pastors, missionaries or NGOs and knowing that these people are my brothers and sisters in Christ. We may live on opposite sides of the world but we still worship the same Jesus. We are still unified as the body of Christ. We are still seeking to learn more about our creator. And so we move as one unit encouraging each other and basing our love off of His love.
We have different body parts such as, ears, nose, hands, feet, but they all belong to the same body. We have different ethinicties/cultures of people but we are all equal in the eyes of God and we all make up one body- the body of Christ. We are all seeking, seeking after something more in this life. Join me in my search to better understand the love of Christ and to live it out.
Romans 12:3-5
3
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of
yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with
sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each
of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of
yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with
sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each
of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
