Last night we had what we fondly dubbed 'staff hunt' - we decided to do a scavenger hunt in which the staff hid downtown in costume and our students had to go find us and collect our autographs. A bit unusual, but it was super fun! My roommate is also going to a Middle Eastern country and so we accidentally both had the idea of dressing in Muslim garb and ended up hanging out together, therefore looking like two Muslim women walking down the street. It was pretty fun, though extremely hot underneath that head-wrap and it gave me a whole new appreciation for Muslim women. Though it had simply been an idea for a costume, the two of us found that it turned into quite the social experiment! At first, we laughed at the fact that nearly every person that passed us didn't seem to know how to react. Even our students, whose goal it was to find us, would stand back a few yards for quite some time debating whether or not to approach us on the off chance that we were actually Muslim women. (We covered our faces) Our friend Isaac dressed up pretty Muslim as well, but people could obviously tell he was a white guy, so he didn't get the same reactions as we did. We would be walking down the main street and the conversations of those passing us would inevitably pause as everyone pretended they weren't shocked to see us. Some didn't even bother trying to hide it - as if we couldn't see their slack jaws and confused expressions. Interestingly enough, though, when I went into the drug store to buy something and took my face cover off, everyone thought it was great fun. The woman behind the counter was as friendly as always and the man in line behind me struck up a conversation with me about it, as friendly as could be. As long as people could see my face and the fact that I was a white woman, they loved me. The scarf went back up and the looks continued. All night, something was bothering me about it and I couldn't put my finger on it till then. When people could tell I was one of them in a costume, they thought it was great. But when people thought the two of us were actually Arabic women together in Hawaii, they treated us like we didn't belong. While there is a degree to which that reaction is understandable - after all, it isn't every day you see two full clad Muslims walking around in Hawaii - they are still people and they deserve better than that. Had I actually been an Arabic woman on vacation, I would have felt so ostracized and completely unwelcome. Is that the impression we want to give people from other cultures? I know probably very few of the people we passed were Christians, but even so, should we not have a higher standard? Especially as Christians, we are called to love everyone with the love of Jesus. It really made me look at myself - how would I react if I saw the two of us walking down the street? Would my first reaction have been one of love? While I'd like to say yes, it's more likely it would be a reaction of confusion and therefore less likely to reach out in love. I feel like this innocent experience really helped prepare me. On outreach, I will see such women everywhere and will not be surprised at all by it because I will be ready for it and looking for ways to reach out in love. But outreach isn't just a 3 month trip, it's a lifestyle. Not only did I come away from last night with a bit more of an understanding of what people from other cultures experience when they come to the States, but I came away with a conviction not to be that gawker from across the street. I can't explain how nice it was to receive that warm smile from the teller - the first in a long night of odd stares - and would much rather be that person who shows kindness regardless of outward appearance than the one who unintentionally communicates not belonging. There will always be people different than me everywhere I go and they will probably have very different beliefs than me. But different or not, Jesus loves them and therefore so do I. He died for them too, regardless of their nationality, gender, or anything else. So why should anything like that affect how I treat them?
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