Northwestern celebrates Global Vision Week

During the week of Nov. 12–16, Northwestern College students, faculty and staff will celebrate and redefine unity during Global Vision Week. Throughout the week, students, faculty and staff will be wearing buttons and telling stories of how they have experienced unity through cultural differences in their lives.

Various events throughout the week will help educate the Northwestern community about different cultures and how to unite across cultural differences. The International Club will lead chapel on Monday at 10:05 a.m. On Monday night at 7:30 the movie “Color of Fear” will be shown. The film is intended to initiate discussion concerning racial and cultural differences within the United States. Discussion will be led after the showing of the movie, which includes strong language and emotions.

In Tuesday’s chapel at 11:05 a.m. students who attended the National Christian Multicultural Student Leaders Conference at Anderson University in Indiana will share their experiences.

The Global Fair will be held Tuesday night from 5 to 7 in the Fern Smith Hall lobby. In a collaborative effort, the intercultural and summer study abroad offices will provide the campus with a unique showcase of students’ travel experiences. According to intercultural intern Jessica Regan, “In past years, the Global Fair has helped to display pictures and offer opportunities for Q&A with the students who traveled abroad. It is a great time for fellowship.”

The evening meal in the cafeteria on Wednesday will feature foods from a variety of cultures. Also on Wednesday night, a worship service will be held in Christ Chapel to celebrate the wide variety of worship experienced in the kingdom of God. Intercultural intern Kadie Becker says this worship service is an opportunity for students to join together and learn how brothers and sisters across the world see and worship Christ. She hopes the worship will help students see God from different perspectives. The worship will be led by former intercultural intern Abhishek Dutt.

A luncheon with a multicultural theme will be held on Thursday afternoon. A panel of multicultural households will share their experiences that redefine traditional views of family unity.

Friday will be celebrated as an ethnic dress-up day. Students, faculty and staff will be invited to dress in apparel from various ethnic backgrounds. The International Coffeehouse will be held in the Rowenhorst Student Center at 6:30 p.m. and will feature performances from many of Northwestern’s international students, from singing and dancing to telling stories and sharing jokes.

Becker says she hopes the week can show that true unity does not mean “you become like me” but instead that people can unite by embracing their unique cultural differences and remembering what binds them together as humans. “That’s the focus—true unity,” she says. “We’re more similar than we realize. If we’d listen to each other and learn from each other, we’d realize that.”