{"id":170,"date":"2020-10-29T16:55:09","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T16:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=170"},"modified":"2020-12-01T13:43:19","modified_gmt":"2020-12-01T13:43:19","slug":"because-he-is-my-brother","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/","title":{"rendered":"Because he is my brother"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block block-core-html\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/925981264&amp;color=%23251f4f&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true\"><\/iframe><div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-122821398\" title=\"IFES\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">IFES<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-122821398\/because-he-is-my-brother\" title=\"Because he is my brother\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Because he is my brother<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>This was not what&nbsp;Arjun*&nbsp;had in mind when he dreamed of being a doctor. He stumbled backward as the man advanced. The man was shouting hateful words.&nbsp;<em>Go back to where you came from!<\/em>&nbsp; His eyes were wild. In his peripheral&nbsp;vision Arjun&nbsp;noticed someone else approaching, stalking their group of six students. His friend let out a cry \u2013 the shouting man had kicked him!&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;noticed more men emerging. They were everywhere \u2013&nbsp;he&nbsp;counted twenty of them. As they closed in with fists raised,&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;knew this would not end well. He lifted his eyes, and just before he felt the first blow, he noticed a police officer leaning against a wall,&nbsp;silently&nbsp;watching.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>Arjun&nbsp;remembered his little white coat. He loved to dress as a doctor when he was a child. His parents were so proud when he had told them that he wanted to study medicine.&nbsp;When&nbsp;he learned he could attend medical school in Central Asia for a fraction of the price in India, his mind was set. The admissions counselor made it sound easy. The city would be modern and exciting. Everyone would speak English. Six years abroad would be a breeze.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>But the admissions counselor had lied. It did&nbsp;not&nbsp;take long for&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;to realize that the situation was not as perfect as he thought. At the airport, the student coordinators forced&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;and his friend&nbsp;Veer*&nbsp;to hand over their diplomas. They and&nbsp;the&nbsp;other Indian students were crammed inside a taxi and sent eleven hours away to their study destination. Hungry and nervous, they were unable to communicate with the driver, who only spoke the local language. But that was the least of their worries. They soon realized that as Indians, they faced heavy discrimination from locals.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>They were warned not to stay out later than five o\u2019clock, as a minor encounter with the wrong people could quickly become dangerous. Wallets and bags were stolen from their friends in broad daylight. Their elementary skills in the local language rendered them helpless. But there was one word they understood well \u2013 \u201cblack.\u201d&nbsp; As they walked through markets children shouted it at them while their parents pointed fingers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>The discrimination&nbsp;continued on&nbsp;campus. Following their first exam,&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;and&nbsp;Veer&nbsp;stood in a long line, waiting for their results. After an hour, all 200 names of their peers had been called, yet the two students remained outside. They began to panic.&nbsp;<em>What happened to our tests?&nbsp;<\/em>The door opened and their group leader stepped through.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-quote\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201c<em>The professor is wondering when you are going to pay him.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>Unbeknownst to&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;and&nbsp;Veer, the professors routinely withheld marks from students who did not pay a bribe. Indian students paid a premium. While their local classmates paid&nbsp;the equivalent of&nbsp;15&nbsp;USD&nbsp;for a good mark,&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;and&nbsp;Veer&nbsp;were forced to pay&nbsp;the equivalent of&nbsp;200 or 300&nbsp;USD. But sometimes they did not have the chance to take the test at all. While students waited to enter the exam room, some professors would find small excuses to remove them. Once&nbsp;Veer&nbsp;was barred for wearing a hoodie. Another time,&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;was removed because he had a beard.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>Despite their best efforts to understand the local people,&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;and&nbsp;Veer&nbsp;were constantly shocked by their treatment. Six years stretched hopelessly before them as they considered a life without allies. Unable to find relief from the stresses of their coursework and the dangers of the city, the students felt emotionally homeless. This continued until their Indian classmate,&nbsp;Sai*, met a local peer named&nbsp;Adel*.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>Adel&nbsp;had&nbsp;never&nbsp;known any Indians before. But as she chatted with&nbsp;Sai&nbsp;after class, she realized he needed a friend. She invited him to her IFES group. Then&nbsp;Sai&nbsp;invited&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;and&nbsp;Veer. In a matter of weeks, 15 more Indian students attended regularly. There, the students met&nbsp;Omar* and&nbsp;Elina*, the local IFES staff, who welcomed them into their lives. Finally, they had&nbsp;local friends.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>Omar&nbsp;and&nbsp;Elina&nbsp;were the first people that&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;and&nbsp;Veer&nbsp;called after they were beaten up on their walk home from class. The two staff members rushed them to the police station \u2013 where the police advised the students not to file a report. Still,&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;and&nbsp;Veer&nbsp;took comfort in the fact that they had&nbsp;someone&nbsp;to call. These relationships completely changed their experience.&nbsp;&nbsp;Adel&nbsp;began offering her help for anything they needed. She accompanied them to the markets and haggled over rent prices with landlords. By simply being present, she dramatically changed how locals reacted to the Indian students.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>But other locals did not understand why Omar,&nbsp;Elina, and&nbsp;Adel&nbsp;cared about the foreigners. When&nbsp;Adel&nbsp;walked with them, they called out to her, asking if the Indians were a bother. Sometimes they challenged her. Once she accompanied&nbsp;Veer&nbsp;to the clinic to make sure he was not overcharged. When she refused to accept the exorbitant price, the doctor became angry. He questioned why she would go to such lengths to protect an outsider.&nbsp;Adel\u2019s response was simple and salient.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-quote\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><em>\u201cHe is my brother,\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>she said.&nbsp;<em>\u201cThis is what you do for family. You protect them.\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>In truth,&nbsp;Arjun,&nbsp;Veer, and the other Indian students did find a family with the IFES movement in Central Asia. Worshipping and studying the Bible with Omar,&nbsp;Elina, and&nbsp;Adel&nbsp;carried them through the darkest hours of their studies. These friends were their allies in a culture that rejected them.&nbsp;Arjun&nbsp;describes his local Christian friends as people of integrity.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-quote\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><em>\u201cThey always stood for the right things,\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>he says.<em>&nbsp;\u201cThey backed us up.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>In many places, foreigners like international students, refugees, and immigrants navigate blatant discrimination in their new society. Christians like&nbsp;Omar,&nbsp;Elina, and Adel&nbsp;are taking the opportunity to welcome these people by demanding justice on their behalf.&nbsp;They have even risked their own social status to do so.&nbsp;Their actions honor God\u2019s command to treat the foreigner as \u201cyour native-born,\u201d (Leviticus 19:33-34) and bear witness to God\u2019s love for all nations and peoples.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>How can you be an ally to the foreigners around you? What can you do to pursue justice on their behalf?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block block-core-paragraph\">\n<p>&nbsp;<br>*name changed&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":171,"template":"","area":[19],"theme":[261,262],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Because he is my brother - IFES Sobremesa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Because he is my brother - IFES Sobremesa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IFES \u00b7 Because he is my brother This was not what&nbsp;Arjun*&nbsp;had in mind when he dreamed of being a doctor. He stumbled backward as the man advanced. The man was shouting hateful words.&nbsp;Go back to where you came from!&nbsp; His eyes were wild. In his peripheral&nbsp;vision Arjun&nbsp;noticed someone else approaching, stalking their group of six...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IFES Sobremesa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-01T13:43:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/omid-armin-YcjMPzF0PIk-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1738\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/\",\"name\":\"Because he is my brother - IFES Sobremesa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-29T16:55:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-01T13:43:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Because he is my brother\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/\",\"name\":\"IFES Sobremesa\",\"description\":\"Equipping for International Student Ministry\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"IFES Sobremesa\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/sobremesa-mark-v2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/sobremesa-mark-v2.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"IFES Sobremesa\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Because he is my brother - IFES Sobremesa","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Because he is my brother - IFES Sobremesa","og_description":"IFES \u00b7 Because he is my brother This was not what&nbsp;Arjun*&nbsp;had in mind when he dreamed of being a doctor. He stumbled backward as the man advanced. The man was shouting hateful words.&nbsp;Go back to where you came from!&nbsp; His eyes were wild. In his peripheral&nbsp;vision Arjun&nbsp;noticed someone else approaching, stalking their group of six...","og_url":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/","og_site_name":"IFES Sobremesa","article_modified_time":"2020-12-01T13:43:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1738,"height":2560,"url":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/omid-armin-YcjMPzF0PIk-unsplash-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/","url":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/","name":"Because he is my brother - IFES Sobremesa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-10-29T16:55:09+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-01T13:43:19+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/because-he-is-my-brother\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Because he is my brother"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/","name":"IFES Sobremesa","description":"Equipping for International Student Ministry","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/#organization","name":"IFES Sobremesa","url":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/sobremesa-mark-v2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/sobremesa-mark-v2.png","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"IFES Sobremesa"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/170"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/area?post=170"},{"taxonomy":"theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sobremesa.ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/theme?post=170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}