It only takes ‘Hello’!

I have been carrying out research in Ireland about the different nationalities arriving and settling in Ireland (North and South) and in particular in the local churches or setting up their own.

A few weeks ago, I carried out a research field trip to Donegal. After a meeting with a church leader I went for a walk in the town. I noticed two ladies who were obviously Muslim because of their dress walking with two young children. I decided to speak to them and said ‘Hello’ and then asked them if they spoke English. One lady did and so we started a conversation. Within a few minutes the lady invited me to her home for a drink of tea as she lived close by.   I was a little surprised but accepted. She welcomed me into her home and immediately prepared a cup of tea for me. Then she offered me food. Her husband is a chef and had made ‘Biryani’ earlier in the day for some guests. She told me it is a very special dish made for friends and guests and she insisted I tried some. I spent time playing with the children and then she told me about her life. They were from Bangladesh and were living and working in Donegal. Her husband runs a restaurant. She didn’t have family near-by as many were living in Dublin. After a while talking and giving me hospitality, it was the children’s bed time and I left.

I was surprised how quickly and easily I welcomed into this lady’s home and family and offered incredible hospitality. It all started because I decided to say ‘Hello’ to a stranger and take interest in her.

I have witnessed the awful scenes on the streets on my home city Belfast with shock and disgust.  It reminds me of the scenes I witnessed as a young girl growing up in Belfast; people wearing balaclavas, vehicles burning and stones and other objects being thrown in riots. I remember how it made me feel and how scared I was of it all.

Now I think of people like the lovely lady who welcomed me in Donegal. We were both strangers in that town but both made an effort to connect and we were introduced to different worlds and cultures but what an incredible experience that was. I will never forget it.

I wonder what would happen if those who carried out those terrible acts of violence these past nights were to meet some of these people they were seeking to attack and in calmer situations said just said ‘Hello’! It would introduce them to new worlds, new cultures that they know nothing about and probably only presume to know something about them.

If they listened to their stories they may hear why these people attempted to come here. Maybe they were escaping situations of violence like those there were faced with this week. Maybe they are seeking to start a better life for their families because their home countries offer them no future and no hope. Maybe they would discover some of them have come here to invest in our country working in all areas including education, engineering, health care or starting their own businesses like some that were destroyed this week.

Maybe one day those who carried out the violence or some of their loved ones will need some of these people to nurse them, care for them in hospital or in a care home or receive them into their own homes as carers because our health care system needs them. 

I have travelled and witnessed the situations of people in many parts of our world who face great need. I have talked to young people living in the slums of Nairobi who face hunger practically every day of their lives. I have witnessed people trying to climb the high fences on the border of Morocco to try and get into Spanish territory because of the lack of work in their country. I have seen people sleeping on the streets in India. When I see the circumstances of their lives I can understand why they risk everything to find a better life for themselves and their families. I would do the same. I can imagine those carrying out the violence and riots would do the same, faced with those circumstances. Maybe we could all value and appreciate more the lives of privilege we have compared to others.

I know there are big issues to tackle as our leaders seek to help and accommodate many of these people who have arrived in our country. I understand the housing difficulties. I have also applied for housing and was awarded zero points and have not been helped. There are many other issues but violence won’t solve these problems, as it didn’t when I was growing up.

What a difference it would make  if we all took time to say ‘Hello’ to the new people around us! Our lives would become richer by learning about them, their lives, their cultures and their challenges. As we welcome them by simply greeting them, I am sure many will respond like the lady in Donegal and surprise us by welcoming us into their lives and homes.

It is wonderful to see how so many of the churches throughout all of Ireland (North and South) are welcoming the new nations. They offer help, food, English classes to those who need that help. But there are many who are now settling and serving in our churches. They are helping to build the churches and strengthen them and at the same time bring diversity in worship, service and the lives of our churches and the lives of the other ‘local’ people in the churches.

People will have heard of Job from the Bible who is famous for all the suffering he experienced in his life. In one of his discourses he says:

“I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.” Job 29:16

Even thousands of years ago when Job lived, there was a need to help the strangers!

Years later, Jesus Christ taught us how to love our neighbours in Luke 10 when he said “Love your neighbour as yourself.” To explain what he said he told the well know story of the ‘Good Samaritan’ who went out of his way to help someone who was not from his religious background, culture or race, when others who you would expect to help, just walked by.

Jesus asked:

 “Which …do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:36-37

We can start to show mercy to our new neighbours by just saying ‘Hello’. It would be amazing and would transform our society if we all just started to say ‘Hello’ to our new neighbours!

What has happened this week has challenged me and encouraged me to say “Hello’ more often when I see our new neighbours.

Laura Sanlon is from Belfast, Northern .Ireland. She served in Spain as a missionary for 27 years. She served in a local church for 12 years before moving to serve nationally with the Federation of Independent Evangelical Churches in Spain (FIEIDE). She developed the FIEIDE National Youth Work, pioneered mission trips for Spaniards to many different countries and served on the founding team of the Bi-annual Mission’s Congress called ‘Misión Posible’, eventually becoming Director.

Laura sensed the call of God to serve in ‘Reverse Mission’ with Nairobi Chapel, Kenya in 2018

training young Kenyans to serve overseas. She was serving there when Covid hit and the impact of Covid meant that ministry closed up in 2021. 

Laura has a MA in Practical Pastoral Leadership and a Masters Cert in Missional Leadership. She is now carrying out a Guided Research Project through the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies into the diaspora groups in Ireland. She serves as a researcher with Latin Link and Lausanne  Europe and on the Lausanne Global Listening Team. Laura is now based in Belfast and also serves as a volunteer chaplain in a local hospital and a hospice.