One of our board members likes to use the analogy that Water for Ishmael is the “handshake” between worlds. Often, internationals feel isolated from the community around them and they don’t know how to join in. The church wants to help, but doesn’t know how.
The last day of February, the American School for Women and Children hosted our third annual International Dinner. Students at the school cooked their hearts out and treated us with homemade dishes from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Korea, and Nigeria to name a few. It’s always one of my favorite evenings, and this year was even more special as the school was celebrating our tenth anniversary. Students and alumni along with spouses, kids, parents and siblings joined our American guests who came to taste the dishes from around the world. By the end of the evening, phone numbers had been exchanged as friendships were born that will continue beyond the event.
How beautiful to see Christians taking the risk to meet people very different from them while our international friends overcame shyness and limited language to reach back.
Thank you for your part in helping WFI be the “handshake.”
“When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am GOD, your God.”
-Leviticus 19:33-34; The Message