What they really want is not more schools and clinics, or roads and irrigation ditches (although all of those would be welcome), but to know who will be in charge of their village or valley five months or five years from now.
"To me it would almost be a welcome blessing to know that I would die rather than to be old and have to live in poverty," she said.
This man offered to me something that even many other fellow Christians are unable to offer, and that is a recognition that we are on the same side, that we want God and faith to be a high priority in our city, that we want refugees to feel that they are welcomed and to know that they are valued, and that the things that divide us are nowhere near as important as the things that unite us.
They welcomed us, wanting to know more about how to best conserve their reef and associated resources.
"Where are the white South Africans to welcome Caster?" he demanded to know.
And for a theater like Playwrights Horizons, which does only new work, readings often provide a welcome opportunity to get to know a writer a little better.
"Within half an hour, a representative of the Carnegie Hill Neighbors came by to welcome us and wanted to know if the moving company would pay for the tree," said Dr. Burns, who is the rector at the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, at Fifth Avenue and 90th Street.
As Matt Marshall reports, the site is cloned right down to the welcome message: "Everyone wants to know: What are you doing?
"To my fellow immigrants listening tonight," he said, to roars of approval, "I want you to know how welcome you are in this party...We encourage your dreams.
And it's fun to welcome them home for holidays, to know the adults they have become, and are becoming.
