The Immigrant Looking Out for Me!

When I was an immigrant living in Uruguay, Gabo was one of my Uruguayan friends who looked out for me and made sure I understood the way things work there. When I needed something fixed on the house where I was staying, he knew who could do the job so that I wouldn't get taken advantage of. I was grateful! There is no way I could have navigated that with great confidence.

This past week I found help in an unexpected way from one of my immigrant friends when Megan and I were getting some siding on our house replaced. As the crew tore off the siding on the south side of our house it revealed a hole in the wood covering. I don't know a lot about construction but I do understand that you shouldn't have a hole outside your house. I wish I could say I knew how to replace the hole. Let's just say that home projects can intimidate me and I tend not to get much finished on my own. Not knowing whether the crew would be willing to fix the hole for me, I called my immigrant friend, Jose, to come look at it. I knew he could fix the hole and I was willing to pay him. When he arrived, I was not there but he talked with Megan and he began to tell her..."make sure they fix this hole; it is the crew's responsibility; don't let them take advantage of you." He offered to come back later if we still needed help. Did you see what happened? I was the ignorant North American who might have been taken advantage of by one of my own countryman and an immigrant was looking out for me! I was hit! I normally am the one looking out for my immigrant friends who come to Mission Adelante who are strangers in this land. Now, they were looking out for me. Words cannot describe how protected you feel when this happens. Thank you, Jose and thank you God for showing me how big this really is!