It’s good when our world gets smaller

Posted on 25. Sep, 2008 by kchristieh in international, politics, quotes

Meet Oleksiy (Alex) Palchykov and Andrii Chakov. They stayed with us the other night when the Kiev Symphony Orchestra played at La Canada Presbyterian Church. Both are singers, and Alex is one of the lead soloists. The whole group was extraordinarily talented.

Alex and Andrii only spent one night at our house, but we all enjoyed getting to know each other and learning a little about each other’s worlds. We exchanged email addresses, and hopefully we’ll keep in touch.

This is the second time this year we’ve had international visitors. Several months ago, we hosted an amazing Pakistani family at our house, and I plan on keeping in touch with them forever.

I think it’s great when we meet people from other countries.

• It reminds us that our way isn’t always the “right” way. Andrei wanted his milk heated up before he put it on his cereal. Nothing wrong with that!
• We have a chance to appreciate our blessings. We get a distorted view comparing ourselves to other Americans.
• It gives us a human face behind the stereotypes. I have a much different view now of Pakistan’s people than I had a year ago.
• When we know people from a place, we’re more likely to want to learn more about that place. Just as I keep up with the RedBankGreen blog because I used to live in that area, I also read articles that mention Kiev or Pakistan much more closely now.

The other day I saw a CNN segment where a group of young, first-time voter Mennonites in Goshen, IN were asked whether they thought it was naive for Barack Obama to want to meet with leaders such as Hugh Chavez and groups such as Hamas. Here’s a sampling of what they said:

• “How else do you fix the issues that are important to us if the leaders won’t talk to each other?”
• “I think diplomacy and trying to find alternative solutions is something that involves a leap of faith. But if you’re willing to take that risk and to have that faith, you find hope in something greater than yourself.”
• “I think that part of being patriotic is being a good neighbor to those actually in our country and to those far away.”
• “You can’t just think about what you want, but about what others want also. Maybe their choices aren’t always the greatest, but they’re human beings, and they deserve respect.”
• “When you go to another culture, you learn that the way that you were raised isn’t the only way, and maybe not even the correct way…and you learn to respect other peoples’ views and other peoples’ ways of thinking.”
• One young woman talked about how she was shocked at how her stereotypes were shattered when she traveled to Iran and was welcomed with incredible warmth into peoples’ homes.

Amen to all of that! Note to self: must find out more about this Goshen College that these articulate young people attend…too bad Indiana’s so far away!

Tags: lcpc