This past 4th of July, we went with our international friends from Syria and Iraq and our dear friends from Toledo to the Perrysburg Fireworks show. Though we invited many different families, these were the 2 that came from the Middle East.
Though I was unsure if these two families had met each other, I thought the connection would be easy since they were both Muslim.
I was wrong.
As we gathered together, I was struggling to even get the one gentleman (we will call Tom) to look at the other (we will call Jim). Had it been just me, Tom would have turned to me, smiled and talked. But now that Jim was next to me, he stayed looking in the opposite direction. I had to work hard to get them talking. Finally we were talking. Now, glad to get them talking, I thought why not talk about their countries…and then it led to political leaders and…finally Tom smiles and basically says, “Let’s not talk about this any more.” The conversation came to a halt. “Good job, Hunter.” I thought to myself, sarcastic and hopeful that the fireworks would start soon.
Though my wife had less difficulty, she also felt that same tension.
At first I felt bad, frustrated and confused.
But after praying quietly to God and further reflection after the night ended, it occurred to me that while we will sometimes need to meet different ethnic groups separately in order to have better and deeper conversations; we also need to model how the Gospel enables us to love others outside of one’s religious or ethnic group. Sometimes, when we awkwardly gather, we get to model how to bridge friendships through the love and truth of God.
While the initial bridging of these two families didn’t “go off with a bang,” we were able to till up the soil of their hearts a little more and weave threads of the Gospel into their lives.
It isn’t easy. But by God’s grace, we believe that because God can do the harder thing – change a sinners heart!, how much more can he bridge the ethnic and linguistic barriers too!
Turners at WFI 