“Where where you born?
It’s a question I ask international students frequently and sometimes I’m surprised at their answers. However, when I asked this question of a clerk, while shopping with my Nigerian friend in a large department store near Flint, the answer we received surprised both of us!
“I’m from Bethlehem,” the clerk replied!
We looked at each other and then looked at the clerk again. “Where Jesus was born?” we asked simultaneously.
She nodded her head yes. She explained she was a widow—who earlier with her husband migrated to the US and settled in the Flint area. She introduced us to her daughter who works with her and is a student at UM-Flint.
“I’ve never met anyone from Bethlehem,” my friend said shaking her hand and doing a little Nigerian dance. “Are you my sister in Christ?,” my friend asked.
The woman smiled and said, “Yes! I returned recently to my home country to show my daughter where Jesus was born—and where the empty tomb is,” she continued.
Her daughter smiled back at us and told us about the church where they worship Jesus here in the Flint area.
We talked about how great our God is, to bring together believers from Africa, the US and Bethlehem right in the middle of a shopping mall in Flint.
At Flint International Friends, it doesn’t matter where you are from. We serve students from China, India and Africa. We try to introduce all our friends to our Lord and Savior, Jesus, who was also born in Bethlehem!
