Hello friends, I want to say THANK YOU for all of the prayers and support. The encouragement has been unreal since I made my first World Race announcement! Y’all are the best! I love being able to share this entire experience with you!
In case you missed it, I’m doing my first fundraiser: T-SHIRTS!!! Only $20 each. It has the word “love” written in some of the languages of the countries that I’m traveling to on the World Race. How fun!!! Help me reach my World Race goal ($18,200.) Please tell your family, friends, church, cheerleading squad, baseball team…. Just please tell someone. Haha!! Email me at [email protected] for more t-shirt information. Pre-order deadline is Feb. 14th.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
All of last week, I was in Disney World for work. Have you ever been? What do you initially think of? Personally, I think of Cinderella’s castle, fireworks, roller coasters but also the different cultures flooded into one area.
You probably couldn’t take 20 steps without hearing someone speak in a different language.
When I was younger, it would have made me nervous, not being able to understand what people were saying, why they dressed a certain way, acted a certain way, or even had a certain belief. Feeling like I couldn’t relate to them, and they couldn’t relate to me. So to be safe, I would just walk away. But why? Why did I have this fear of…different…
Let me tell you a little story about my cab ride to the MCO airport yesterday. Meet my cab driver: Mongi! He has lived in Orlando for 18 years, has 3 children and is originally from Tunisia, which is a country in Northern Africa. I thought he was saying Tanzania at first, but no. Tunisia is at the very top of Africa about an hour flight south of Italy.
Even though he lives in Orlando, Mongi and his family visit Tunisia for an entire month each year. His extended family who still live in Tunisia, own an olive farm and have horses… excuse me? They own an olive farm? With horses? In Africa?
With the 40 minute cab drive to the airport, we had some time to get to know each other. After he told me he was originally from Africa, I told him a few of the countries in Africa I would be going to on the World Race.
Let’s pause and think: how do you picture Africa? Most of you, including myself, have actually never been to Africa. So maybe I should ask, how does tv, books, and overall media have us to picture Africa?
Mongi and I discussed the stereotypes of different countries. He mentioned how media warps our view and how people associate countries in Africa with huts and starving children, Colombia with the drug cartel, Thailand with sex trafficking, so on and so on… Does all of that exist? Yes! But is it all the country has to offer? No.
Each country has their own struggle; however, each country is made up of the same: people. People who need hope. People who need protection. People who need love.
Mongi and I come from different backgrounds, native languages, and traditions; however, we view people the same. “People are just people. Most want to only provide and protect their families and live in peace.”
Looking back, “different” was a deep rooted fear. Had I ever been to Tunisia, Colombia, Thailand…? No. So how did this (what seemed like a clear) picture of their people, culture and ultimately danger form into my mind?
Why is it that the people who would have made me nervous when I was younger are the same people I am traveling across the world to meet? It’s perspective. It’s looking at people and seeing different backgrounds but ultimately seeing them AS PEOPLE. People who need the type of love only God can provide.
One topic of conversation really stood out to me. Mongi spoke about how today’s society is filled with greed. It’s more about me. me. me. What can you do for me? If the answer is nothing, you mean nothing to me.
So what does that mean for people who are different than you? Can they do anything for you? Do they mean anything to you? This isn’t just about people from different countries. This could be your neighbor. We are all different in some way—ways we may not agree or understand.
But we’re all just people. People who desire love, safety and comfort.
It’s easy to prejudge a person based on what you think you know… well stop. Don’t do it. Get to know the person. You probably have more in common than you realize.
It’s human nature to spot differences. But grow from those differences. Learn from other cultures. Don’t compare them to your own culture. Take their unique culture for what it is.
I made a new friend, Mongi, yesterday. A friendship that would have never happened if I hadn’t looked beyond the surface differences and saw him for who he is-a kind person.
Here’s a challenge for this week: Start a conversation with someone who seems different than you. You may soon realize that they’re not so different after all.
Verse of the week: “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:10
Song of the week: “Give Me Your Eyes” – Brandon Heath
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