First Day of our Cross Culture Conversation

The first day was filled with both fear and excitement. I was afraid no one would come yet at the same time I was excited to meet people with similar stories but different experiences. As the time approaches, all my fears turned into excitement and joy when I saw new people from other countries, from my country, too. We were all together, six in numbers, two from Egypt and three from India, including my wife and me, and one from America who is the Lead Pastor of the church who allowed us to use the space.

Through our introduction, we began knowing each other's interests and reasons for leaving our loved ones and close ones to come to the United States. Some of us left our parents, and others left our wives and children to have a better future or pursue our dreams for the family. The separation from our dearest was the hardest but it is a necessary act for our good.

The title we picked among the random topics on that day was “Hope.” What hope brought us here in the United States of America? We all had different stories, but all we had in common was that we must leave our country to achieve what we long for. Hope gives us the strength to endure our pain, and the energy wakes us up in the morning to go on another day.

At the end of our meeting, I told a story based on a movie called “Unsung Hero. “ It is a movie based on the true story of a family who immigrated to the United States from Australia to search for a brighter future after his successful music company collapsed. Struggling to make ends meet, the couple soon realizes the talents of their children, who go on to become two of the most successful acts in contemporary Christian music. Using this family story to inspire us so that we will have hope against hope in our most hopeless times.

Since each of us believes in the existence of God, I ended the conversation with a word of prayer and an invitation to come again for next week’s Cross-Culture Conversation.