When acting as a friend’s wingman, I always use the cheesy line from How I Met Your Mother, and I am going to use it here with you as well. Haaaaaave you met Abdullah?

Let me give you the quick briefing on my friend and coworker Abdullah:

-He is 24.

-He works with me at an NGO providing education to 54 different low-income villages across Malaysia.

-He has a loving family and communicates often with them even when halfway across the globe to stay in touch.

-He is one of the best rappers I know.

-He has high-level computer certification and tutors local Malaysian students on IT to help them prepare for their exams.

-He is one of the funniest guys in our company consisting of over 70 international employees, and he gets along with everyone.

-He took 1st place in college for swimming the 200 meter freestyle.

-He has 4 brothers and 2 sisters.

-He is Syrian.

I love meeting people like Abdullah while traveling. Why specifically him? Because meeting Abdullah breaks all stereotypes set by the media around the world. Do this, dear reader, type “Syria” into the search bar of your favorite news station’s website. What do you see? When I searched several websites, I never found a single positive opinion or story. This is where stereotypes form, prejudices begin, and racism is born.

I would rather go online to hear stories and opinions about guys like Abdullah, the citizens that are doing great things to benefit other countries and continents. I wish that these articles were easier to find, because I know there are others like him. I write this not to offend anyone, but rather to encourage everyone to look beyond stereotypes when meeting someone new. I am waiting for the day where the material we watch on television and read online makes us want to love others instead of discriminate. This is the 21st century and I feel like racism should no longer reside in our minds or on our tongues.

1 John 4:7 “Dear friends, let us love one another…”