Elaine and Alice go to church.

So, my family and I are hosting two 7th grade students from China for two weeks. This has been a great experience for my family. Alice and Elaine(American names of our exchange students...their choice) have limited English skills. Our family has learned a lot about communicating with limited English speakers but the biggest barriers has been culture.


Everything from the extravagance of the "American lifestyle", to sitting at a dinner table with 8 people and having to pass food(not a necessary skill with a nuclear family of three) and wondering why we talk so loud. Part of becoming a member of our family, we had them go to church with us. Well, not really church as most generations Baby Boomers and older know it but my daughter Jr. High group. Not quite Little House on the Prairie. We are pretty sure that they have never attended a church/temple of any kind, so we didn't know what to expect.

As we walked up to the building the girls first impression was a couple students sitting in a modified 55 gallon drum turned into a push cart with a 13 yr. old with a catcher's helmet and mask on....hey, you got to have protection. When the girls walked into the building, they were greeted by some leaders and my daughter's friends coming over and introducing themselves. They were overwhelmed but quickly recovered when ten minutes later they were being pushed around the courtyard in the push carts by  some of the other students in the relay race.

After the races they went into the gathering room, where they were introduced to over 70 students. I am not going to lie, I was nervous. The Jr. High group has a high energy way of introducing visitors. So after the drum roll and guitar roll from the band and the hostess asked “what is your name?” while putting the microphone in thier face .........."Alice"/"Elaine". The crowd went wild. I couldn't believe they answered. After all of the other guests were recognized, it was time for worship.

I was watching them the whole time. They stood there awkwardly....like everyone else. They obviously didn’t understand the context of the songs but they were clapping with the other students and when the band wrapped up with Undignified...they were jumping, fist pumping and laughing with the other students. After the last song, they returned to thier seats.  The students and Alice bowed thier heads as the pastor prayed. Alice noticed Elaine was looking around and she promptly pushed Elaine's head down. They both giggled.

It was strange; I spent the whole time trying to interpret what they saw through their eyes. They don't have much of a reference of God, let alone religion. They experienced love, community, friends and acceptance. They experienced the thing that put the Gospel into context. Why would you want a ticket to Heaven if you don't feel loved and accepted on Earth? They will know us by our love.

Elaine and Alice have very little perspective of what they experienced due to language barriers but God's love is universal and I pray that we reflect that in all of our lives and churches.

Remember, if we want everyone to visit our church then we need to create a place where we will be known by our love. I am looking at my church differently.