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During spring break, I gathered with students from several other universities across the US to participate in Cru’s Becoming People of Welcome spring break trip right here in Louisville. Our theme for the week was Matthew 25:35 as we learned how to be effective in connecting with our refugee and immigrant neighbors. During the week, we listened to refugees and immigrants as they shared their stories with us. We had the opportunity to bless a community in Louisville with a vision clinic where we gave out 72 pairs of glasses.
The ladies on our team organized a women’s health clinic for some women in the community who came to America as refugees. We had the opportunity to provide an Arabic translator to ensure everyone was able to understand the content of the clinic. As we all learned how to care for our bodies better, it was such a cool moment to see how womanhood surpasses culture; no matter the circumstance or upbringing, there are universal experiences that allow us to understand each other as women, which was really special to embrace with the ladies who attended.
The trip culminated into a big cookout celebration that truly captured a glimpse of heaven that is described in Revelation 7:9. People from all over the world gathered alongside one another to dance, eat, and share the love of Jesus. It is impossible to sum up the entire trip in a blog post, but here are some of my biggest takeaways from the trip.
1. Don’t discredit a trip that is inside your own city; there is always more to explore.
I felt kind of silly calling this week a mission trip since for me, it was more of a mission
“commute”, but no matter what I call it, God revealed to me the ways in which I can
engage with the city differently. It is easy for me to get caught up in routines as I find
myself going to the same places and interacting with the same people. I like the comfort
of knowing where everything is in the grocery store or knowing where I will be able to
park when I get to my favorite coffee shop. But God has shown me that there is
excitement in the unknown and in seeking new experiences in your community. There
are so many new faces to be seen and hearts to get to know… and especially in
Louisville, more restaurants to try.
“commute”, but no matter what I call it, God revealed to me the ways in which I can
engage with the city differently. It is easy for me to get caught up in routines as I find
myself going to the same places and interacting with the same people. I like the comfort
of knowing where everything is in the grocery store or knowing where I will be able to
park when I get to my favorite coffee shop. But God has shown me that there is
excitement in the unknown and in seeking new experiences in your community. There
are so many new faces to be seen and hearts to get to know… and especially in
Louisville, more restaurants to try.
2. Make it a point to engage with others on the trip, both those you meet and the people on your team.
Don’t let a language barrier stop you from engaging with others; where words fail, a
smile prospers. I loathe silence… especially the kind of uncomfortable silence when
each person in the conversation has no idea what to say next. But this week, I realized
that an uncomfortable silence is okay. Simply being in each other's presence and
genuinely caring about the other person has the power to surpass any language barrier.
As humans, we have an inherent desire to connect with others. It is easy to let our fear
of awkward silence hold us back when meeting people who we may have a hard time
communicating with. Overcoming this fear, and allowing my brain to slowly become
more comfortable with silence opened the door to so many positive interactions. Each
person holds wisdom that is worth sharing.
3. The first step in becoming a person of welcome starts with softening your heart and embracing compassion.
Here is where I save the best for last. Becoming a person of welcome starts within your
own heart. Before you can adjust the sails of another person’s boat, you need to see
where you can adjust the sails of your own. Look inside yourself and confront the
prejudices you may have unknowingly picked up. If you find that you do have prejudice
or presumptions about any one person, don’t beat yourself up about it. As sinful people,
our life experiences have the power to sway our perceptions about each other. But it is
important that we can grow in kindness, embrace compassion for one another, and
change damaging mindsets our past selves may have carried.
This starts with empathy, putting yourself in another person’s shoes and thinking about
all they may have gone through to get to America. On the trip we did this through a
simulation of what it feels like to be displaced and it gave our team a glimpse into how it
felt to not have control over ourselves or our families. The pure anxiety I felt over a
simulation changed my perception of refugees and their journey. It is important that we
put others before ourselves and we soften our hearts to their experiences.
Short term trips are hard because usually after you leave, you may never get to go back and see the seeds you planted in a community. But God has blessed me this week with the opportunity to be able to follow up with those I met in my community and continue the charge of what I learned in becoming a person of welcome. I am so thankful for Cru and everyone that made this weekend possible for our team. I know it transformed my heart and the hearts of many others.
Mallory Slucher is a McConnell Scholar in the class of 2023. She is studying political science, Arabic, and Middle Eastern and Islamic studies.