Written by: Gabriella Thurber Photos by Santi Kraft The comforting views of home look a little different from nine thousand miles away. Every year, hundreds of thousands of international students come to America to pursue higher education. It’s an investment that distances them from the culture and customs they find familiar, challenging them to accommodate new traditions and everyday ways of life. We’ve heard that there’s “no place like home,” so there’s nothing quite like being uprooted and transplanted into a culture an ocean away. Joceline Lie, a freshman at Biola University, encountered this inevitable disorientation when she started university in America last fall. Lie transitioned from Jakarta, the…
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Cross Cultural Stories
Writer: Hannah Larson Introduction These are the stories of nine Biolans from three continents — Asia, Africa and South America — who left their home countries to study here in La Mirada, CA. The international students I interviewed explored a variety of themes, including culture shock, the struggle of a language barrier and the challenges of navigating cultural differences between their home countries and Biola. Some shared stories of arrogance, cultural insensitivity and racism they encountered at Biola. Many also discussed the beauty of their home cultures, described positive experiences at this university and reflected on God’s goodness throughout difficult seasons of adjustment. These stories are not representative of all…
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Connection to Israel
Writer and Photographer: Siosiana Taumoepeau For Christians, Israel is the bedrock of our faith. From the Sea of Galilee to the Jordan River, the land of Israel makes the Bible come to life.. Last summer, I was given the opportunity to visit Israel with several classmates with a program called the Bonhoeffer Fellowship through the club Christians United for Israel at Biola. Our group consisted of 25 students seeking this chance to strengthen their character, faith, and voice by studying the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a man of God who put his faith to action, the theme of the scholarship and fellowship program. I decided to join this…
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Diversity in Children’s Media
Writer: Kayla Cha | Photo courtesy of Unsplash Representing people of color in children’s realistic fiction, “Diversity means including real people throughout all levels of fiction (and nonfiction), representing real struggles and challenges—and the complete mundane ordinariness of life, too!” —Kate Sullivan There is something special about seeing ourselves represented in media. Through fiction, for a moment, we are able to step into a different world in which we can be a warrior, a princess, a lawyer, an artist, in love, a prodigy—we can be anything we want to be. As children, whether it be Hermione Granger or Peter Pan or Iron Man, we admire these characters, dress…
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COVID-19 and the Shifting of Missions Focus in the Church
When the world seemed void of promise, new opportunities for missions arose. For many churches during the pandemic, opportunities to serve across the world grew scarce and they began to recognize a greater need in their local community. Others worked around obstacles to continue serving other countries. Churches have seen a shift in missionary focus leaning in either direction in the wake of COVID-19. Local Missions Focus For sophomore music composition major Michael Fausett, the pandemic shifted his focus toward local outreach. His love for missions stems from his home church in Texas church, Coronado Baptist, which often emphasizes the importance of Acts 1:8. “With missions specifically, we are called…
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The Role of Media: The International Student’s Journey of Adapting in the U.S.
Writer: Aspen Haw Photographer: Jalin Cerrillo Given its global spotlight, the United States claims a unique position of influence. Movies and news coverage can stir up positive or negative excitement, especially for international students with their sights set on an American education. But is this country’s self-portrayal accurate to their experience? While media is informative, it can create discrepancies between perceived reality and actual life in the U.S. For international students, these gaps lead to culture shock, resulting in a rocky start to their life in America. FILM: DISTORTION OF SOCIETY Sophomore business administration major Dena Rahel was born and raised in Indonesia. Her family had high praise for the…
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Systemic Racism in Human Trafficking in the United States
Written by Karly Pridmore, photographed by Natalia Hernandez STATISTICS A recent study completed by Liberate Children estimated 550,000 people are trafficked into the United States each year. Of these 550,000 people, those targeted demographics are people within the welfare program as well as LGBTQ communities, and enslaved forms of labor. Another report states that black children make up 40.4% of the estimated 50,000 people who are trafficked each year. These statistics note the ways in which race causes higher susceptibility within the United States. Dressember notes the important signs of those who are vulnerable targets of trafficking are those who have instability in their family or community, as well as…
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Missions in a Locked Down World: Same Heart, Different Format
Written by Juliana Fujii, edited by Amanda Frese, photos by Corrie Myhr, designed by Tabby Bernardus Spreading the gospel in a locked down world. Social distancing and stay-at-home orders have changed everything about human interaction. With in-person gatherings cancelled and physical interaction minimized around the world, loneliness and screen fatigue are becoming the new normal. Coronavirus mandates create a particular dilemma for mission trips and spreading the gospel. World Magazine reports that missions organizations including Serge, SIM and the International Mission Board saw a little under half of their global missionaries come home. Many trips were curtailed or cancelled. However, the Great Commission still hasn’t changed. The Biolans behind the…
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Uyghur Muslims dehumanized in China
Written by Rebecca Mitchell A stop by the police. A questioning of documents. A constant watch on each movement throughout the day. A detaining at the airport. A removal from family members. Each of these have become a common occurrence over the past five years for ethnic and religious minorities in China as they are taken into political education camps, detention centers and prisons, according to the Human Rights Watch. POLITICAL REEDUCATION CAMPS The camps are a part of the Chinese government’s “Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Terrorism,” according to the Human Rights Watch. One of the groups within the camps are Uighurs, many of whom are Muslim, ethnically Turkish…
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Women Protest for Peace in Yemen
Written by Jana Eller The numerous uprisings during the Arab Spring of 2011 have continued to impact the daily lives of those living in the Middle-East and have also continued to capture the headlines in the West. Two years after the Syrian war began with a violent crackdown on peaceful protests — eventually causing the worst refugee crisis since World War II — another war broke out, which has escalated to become the worst humanitarian crisis in 100 years, according to the United Nations. HISTORY Resting on the edge of the Arabian Peninsula a few miles off the horn of Africa and bordered by Saudi Arabia, the relatively young nation…
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Ugandan Music As a Mirror
Written by Santa Victoria-Perez “I’m using my art to create human mirrors where my country can see themselves.” I believe there is no greater way of influencing a thinking and feeling species than by causing them to think and feel … we feel the need to understand who we are as well, and the things that make us who we areI would like for us as a country to talk more about our art as it currently exists in our culture, the role it plays, but also the role it could play is a Ugandan recording artist and songwriter. Through her music she aims to bring awareness to the…
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Fighting Fiercely: A Response to the Ebola Crisis
Written by Alissa Sandoval I returned to my desk unable to focus. My mind was still lingering in the chaos that I had just left. Busy yourself, my head said. So I tried. There was physical straining on my heart – it was distracting. Everyone speaking to me sounded distant even though they were only sitting two or three feet away from me. The exhaustion from unfulfilling sleep all caught up with me at once. Push it down, my mind ordered. You’re at work; you need to pull yourself together. There was an inner battle of heart vs. head ensuing – my heart was winning. My heart was breaking and…
