Fostering Friendship

When Aaron and I enrolled our children in the Chinese immersion program, it was with thoughts of using Mandarin someday in the faraway future. We had no idea God was planning to bring China to us in our central Minnesotan community. But he has, and we’ve loved it. 

One evening each August, we host a backyard picnic to welcome visiting Chinese interns, also inviting other families to come. Children perch in our climbing tree, dig in the sandbox, and dart between adults as they chase and play. Their parents chat with our new interns over burgers and brats, comparing cultural notes over the food, answering questions about the grocery store, the bus system, and other practicalities. Aaron and I mingle, making sure the interns leave with the seeds of friendship planted—though not necessarily with me.

As much as I treasure the individual friendships I’ve found with the interns, I’m also passionate about fostering friendships on a larger scale. Our interns need an entire community of families who invite them into their homes and into their lives; my family cannot do it all. Practically speaking, this means the more experienced families mentor other American families in connecting with our visitors. We help them set up WeChat accounts (the Chinese version of Facebook) ahead of time so we’re communicating via a platform familiar to the interns. We preplan an online calendar of fun events hosted by various families, encouraging others to add additional excursions throughout the year. After the picnic, we invite everyone on a road trip to Chicago’s Chinatown over a long weekend and then make sure there will be a mix of Americans and interns in the cars so they can chat on the way.

And then I ask God to do the rest. I pray for him to fan the flames of friendship, to put people with similar interests together, to knit hearts together as only he can, and to create lasting relationships even after our interns return home. Befriending people from other cultures has been so good for our family, and God tells us to do exactly that. When we show hospitality to strangers, God sends the most interesting, amazing new friends into our lives—perhaps for only a short period of time—and that is a blessing beyond measure.

Today’s Act of Friendship: How might you create a space for others to find friendship?