“Sadly enough, making friends with local Malaysian students in my university (I don’t know if it is true for others) has been a very difficult and frustrating effort to most of us, the blacks. During the first few months of our arrival, we were so excited at the thought of having new friends and thought that we could adapt easily. But unfortunately, making friends with Malaysians has not been very easy. Standing before our course-mates often times get them scared. Many a times they leave the road for us when they see us coming towards their direction. We would often ask ourselves, “Why? What have we done?” What makes the situation worse is the fact that some fellow Christian students, sorry to say, behave the same way towards us. This is the thing that pains me the most.”“Some of us got to find out that before our arrival, the local students that were supposed to study together with us went to the school authority and told them that they don’t want to learn together with us. They were so serious about it that the school just had to grant them this request and they never learnt with us. We were taught separately for the first two semesters of our foundation programme. They did everything possible to see that we didn’t have anything in common with them. When it came to group assignments, they would want only the Malaysians to be in their group and us, the non-Malaysians, to be on our own. There was no good interaction with local students. We were all alone and we feel so rejected.”
We, Malaysians, are often warned not to talk to strangers, and the media portrays the Blacks as being aggressive and dangerous. All these often shape the way we view and treat them. But Jesus calls us to live a counter-culture life, and He leaves us an example to follow – He reached out to those who were rejected by others. What did Jesus mean when He asked us to “Love your neighbours”? Have we forgotten that the international students are also our neighbours?
I was told by some international students that they would very much appreciate it if we could just acknowledge their presence by giving them a smile or just talking to them when we see them. However, the sad reality is that we often see the international students being segregated from the local students.
Come let us follow the example of our Lord Jesus, by reaching out to the international students in our midst and welcoming them. Let us share with them the love that we ourselves have experienced through our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 comments:
I agree. Fully agree. International students need you to be warm and friendly. I am a Malaysian who is currently an international student in New Zealand. Being in a foreign country can make you feel really lost, regardless of where you came from. The locals in NZ and other international students who are warm and friendly really make my day. Well, to anyone who feels insecure about making friends with Blacks, don't be quick to make judgments. And if you are really unsure, bring a friend along and make friends together. Don't go alone. Wouldn't that help?
I attended a church in KL that had a ministry for African students. The African students are really nice people. I got to know some of them. One African friend told me that in his family, they have a culture of saying encouraging things. So, every time I chatted with him, he would say something encouraging. I think that's very nice. It's something we can learn from.
Again, if you are really scared that you might come to harm, don't go alone. Bring along your friends when you get to know these friends. Studying in the same class as them will not be harmful at all to you. What is there to be afraid of? Treat them like you would a new friend. With new friends, we get to know them but we don't trust them immediately. We take our time to get to know them better and then decide if they can be trusted. Well, do the same with Africans. They are people, just like you and me. God created them too. Why the discriminating attitude? It's totally unjustified.
When I was in college, I befriended an African student. She really opened my eyes to see that under our different skin color, we're the same - we both have dreams and ambitions, likes and dislikes, frustrations n joy, a need to be loved, a desire for friendship. She makes fun of my Chinese ways, and I laugh at her Kenyan accent. She also opened many doors for me to get to know other international students (her friends). It's such an enriching experience - Yellow and Black laughing and crying, embracing and loving.
Try it! Let's really be color-blind.
Oh yea, if you do get the chance to meet some Africans, do make it a point to find out which country they're from. Africa is a large continent, not a country. :)
Yes, that's so true. Its time to be global for Jesus.
we need 2 teach our ppl that multiethnicity is an intentional trait of the NT church :)
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