the Glocal Trekker Blog

Ti has two families--one here not far from the Red River in Texas and one not far from the Red River in Hanoi! Five and a half years ago, our families were blessed with a bundle of hyper-active Vietnamese energy with the arrival of Ti Luu who was 17 and came as a high school exchange student. Ti has brought massive joy and a lot of cultural understanding to our family. We love him and he is part of our family. We also love his family in Hanoi. I have no doubt if we lived in Hanoi his Dad and I would be best friends. Ti graduated with a degree in engineering Saturday, December 16, from Texas Christian University (TCU). Several exchange students who have lived with NorthWood members attend TCU. Many of them were there for his graduation. Right before he graduated, we called his Mom and Dad in Hanoi and he spoke to them. We took pictures and emailed them to his Mom and Dad immediately. Ti heads back home to Hanoi in January to find a job or start a company. We will miss him deeply but will get to see him as we travel to Hanoi. Ti Luu may well be the Asian Bill Gates. Rock and roll my Vietnamese son. We're incredibly proud of you. Ti has taught the Roberts’ family many lessons. Here are just a few:

1. When people come and live in your home, they become a part of your family if they stay long enough! Seeing one another day-in and day-out--in good moods and bad--you really find out who each person is.

2. Every culture and family has remarkable things about which you can learn and bring into your own culture and family. The family loyalty that Vietnamese have is so far beyond anything Anglo-western culture gets today. When you live with people of different cultures, even in your own culture, their culture rubs off on you. Both of my biological kids would like to live in Asia. They love it there. Ti’s a big reason.

3. What do you really believe about God and why? It’s easy to develop your positions from books. It’s an entirely different thing to develop them from life. It’s one thing to accept the assumptions of your ancestors. It’s another thing to think deeply about truth and what really matters and what is really truth and what is culture.

4. I love Ti’s desire to make a difference in the world--his belief that he will be successful, but his simplistic lifestyle. You should see his car, or lack thereof!

What do I hope Ti is taking back home?

1. Knowledge that he is loved from a family in America that will be there for him.

2. An understanding who Jesus is and how He is there for him and loves him deeply.

3. An alternative framework of how to view life.

4. An edge on dealing with globalization.