Blog Article Tags
We love building relationships. Subscribe to our blog to receive weekly encouragement in your email inbox.
Search Blog Posts
- Details
Written by Nilaurys Garcia, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Canada
Imitating people and accents has been easy for me for as long as I can remember, and I don’t mean it by making fun or laughing at them, but by speaking like them after spending some time in a specific place or with certain people. Even though it was an involuntary response, and I was not aware of it, it was common to hear comments like, “You spent two weeks there, and you already think you’re from there,” or “You have no identity”. Add that to learning a new language, changing cities and later, countries, and you get a very interesting outcome.
When I first moved to Chile, adopting their accent was not a conscious decision but a defense mechanism. I am one of many people from Latin America who have decided to migrate to another country looking for better opportunities. The word “foreigner” can be used in various contexts, and one of them is a person that does not belong to the place where they are currently, and I felt this very definition when I moved to a new country where everything was different. I did not fit in because I did not relate to their food, culture, words, or traditions. It was a country I felt was too cold because of the four seasons, and it simply was not home.
I sometimes wondered if that’s how the Israelites felt every time they had to move from one place to another as a nation; maybe they also missed home. But one thing I can say, my story did not end at that homesick and sad stage; it was when I met my wonderful spiritual family. A father and mother that opened not only their hearts but the doors to their home, sisters that went through my closet as if it was their own and whose hugs were always there when I needed them the most. And that was how, through love, I started to feel part of the new place and acquired their traditions. The conversations after lunch were never too long, and there were never too many get-togethers for a barbecue, just because.
At this point, it was so easy to blend in, not only because of my accent, but because I understood their dynamics so well that unless somebody knew my story, they would have never guessed I had been born and raised in Venezuela. However, this was not enough to feel like I belonged. Years later, I understand why; I was looking for things in the wrong place. Neither people nor the church nor society could provide what only God can, an identity.
The song “This World is Not My Home” always felt like my motto; I am just passing through. Good thing this “I-don’t-belong” feeling took me straight to the arms of the One who is my everything, who gave me a new name and who does not worry where I came from or how I talked, for He knew me before I was born. You might relate to changing your traditions, your food or words, or maybe you had to leave your country and have already adapted to the new place, but sometimes miss what used to be home. You might also miss your old traditions, the music or even smells. All of these are part of who you are and makes you the wonderful person you are today. I want to remind you that neither your nationality nor where you physically are at, define you in God’s eyes or how precious as a person you are. Although you might feel like a stranger in your own home, please remember who you are in God; you are His daughter, you are loved, and you are His instrument wherever you are.
A couple of years after feeling like a foreigner and my identity crisis happened, I now live in a totally different country, speak Spanish like a Chilean and have Venezuelan arepas for breakfast, but the most important part is I remember that my identity comes from the One who gave me a new name, rescued me. I am His, and have decided to follow Him wherever He leads me… “Don’t be afraid. I saved you. I named you. You are mine.” (Is. 43:1 ERV). Every time people ask me where I am from, my answer is I am from Chile, but was born in Venezuela. Whatever your answer is, would you like to help me serve The Lord no matter where we are?
#IronRoseSister #HIStories #identityinChrist #foreigners #thisworldisnotmyhome #guestwriter #blog
- Details
Written by Corina Diaz, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Argentina
In the Bible we find many examples related to foreign women, and the case of the Samaritan woman was no exception. She was a woman who was confronted by Jesus even with the cultural implications: a woman who was evidence of a manipulated and reckless sexual life, in addition to belonging to the group of Samaritans, who were despised by the Jews, the woman had to hide in the middle of the day to look for her basic resources. It was at that moment that the encounter with Jesus arose. Has that ever happened to you—when you're at your worst, a ray of sunshine comes out of nowhere?
Here's a snippet of the story:
A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.) The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.) Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.” The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?” Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.” The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!” (John 4:7-15)
The text is not very clear about the current situation of the woman, but if you continue the story, you will find that she was in sin, and even so, Jesus approached her during that difficult time. We can recognize it was a tough moment when she was alone looking for water, in addition to the fact that she likely did not have emotional stability. The chapter describes that she had five husbands, which indicates that she was a wounded woman, probably with broken self-esteem. Some of us have gone through emotional breakups when our identity was at stake. But do you know what the most beautiful part is? Jesus came to her to restore her! Just as He comes to us today to offer us a new identity and to show us our purpose here on earth.
So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus. (2 Tim. 1:8-9)
If you find yourself alone or if you still feel alone in a crowd, in a place that is not your land, if you have been hurt or your identity has been at stake, I want to tell you that we will always have an opportunity to renew ourselves, to shine and to be new women in Jesus!
#IronRoseSister #HIStories #foreigners #light #restoredselfesteem #guestwriter #blog