A DIFFERENT KIND OF THANKSGIVING

This Thanksgiving was unlike any Thanksgiving I have ever had. I spent most of the morning doing the typical cooking for Thanksgiving dinner but when the doorbell rang at 3:00 it was not family members that stood on my doorstep. I was unable to spend the holiday with my family but I was able to spend this Thanksgiving with five UTA students who are from Nepal.

I met three of these students a little over year ago when I attended UTA's International Night with a friend of mine. We had both spent time in Nepal and wanted to meet students from Nepal. This was much easier than I thought it would be and building a relationship has taken time but has also been easier than I thought. The same night we met these students, we were able to invite them to church with us at 121. The worship and the preaching that morning were very interesting to these students and when we left the church immediately they began asking questions like, "What is the Bible about?" Wow! As we drove to lunch my friend was able to share some of the major highlights of the Bible. We left that day after having shared the gospel, praying for our new friends, and even giving them a Bible. In their culture, spiritual things are very common and people are not shy about discussing beliefs. It was exciting to see a Buddhist and a Hindu ask questions about the Bible!

Since then, our Nepali friends have invited us to meet many of their other friends from Nepal that they go to school with. They have cooked for us, made us tea, invited us to birthday parties, and have even let us help them cook! Last year, before my friend and I went home for Christmas we decided that we would invite our Nepali friends over to our apartment for a traditional American Christmas. We cooked for them, sang Christmas songs, told them the true story of Christmas, and gave them some ornaments with the nativity scene painted on them. That was the first time they had been in an American home since they had come to America almost 2 years earlier.

This Thanksgiving, I was able to host the same three students, plus two of their new friends, for a meal. It was pretty simple -- about as elaborate as a single 26-year-old can make a Thanksgiving dinner. They have come to expect me to pray before we eat now. So I prayed, we ate, and then we played games. Catch Phrase was their favorite game. They have not accepted Christ. But how amazing it is that I have these opportunities to share holidays, everyday meals, and conversations with several very shy people from a country on the other side of the world where not everyone has had a chance to hear the truth about who Jesus is. I have been to South Asia and the hold that Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism have on that land and those people broke my heart. I may not be able to live in South Asia right now, but I can continue to build relationships with South Asians right here in our neighborhood. In fact, this fall I moved from Fort Worth to Lewisville and I have met several more Nepalis that live less than five minutes away. There are many more opportunities like this. I hope that many of you will have a chance to share American hospitality with some international students who are unable to travel home this holiday season.

::Donna Gleason

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