How do you function when you “land” in a new community? Does the thought of not knowing anyone intimidate you or get you excited?

What about “landing” in the tribal areas of Northern Pakistan where you have no idea what you’re going to see, what you’re going to experience nor who you’re going to meet? How do you prepare yourself for something like that?

When we arrived in Jabba we were surprised to find five Pakistani Army personel stationed there. We were told beforehand that Jabba, being a tribal area, had no military presence. Reason being, in the tribal areas, they are their own government and their own military. This meant that the villagers served as soldiers. However, due to the earthquake, the government deployed the military to help head the relief effort.

Shortly after the greeting of Mumtaz (more to come later) we were quickly introduced to the four other Army personel along with the three Americans that we were replacing. There was already a strong friendship between these three (all from Minnesota) and the military which was exciting yet caused a bit of anxiety as well. What was it going to be like when the three Minnesotans left the next morning? Is the friendship that I saw existing between them going to form between us–a new team–and them? Will they know our names like they knew the names of this first team?

Wait a second…I picked up on FRIENDSHIP existing between three random Americans and Pakistani Military personel. I watched laughter–I saw hugs. They KNEW each other’s names.

Why did something so simple catch me so off guard? What was I expecting to find? Perhaps I was hoping that relationships would form but was pessimistic about it actually happening. Can Muslims and Christians actually get along. Can FRIENDSHIP really exist between these two worlds?

What about your friends? Do you have FRIENDS that don’t believe the same thing you do? Do you have FRIENDS that look differently than you?

If you don’t–WHY NOT?