A family grows across borders, cultures

I am calling him the “green man.” He is the proud new owner of a green card. Our daughter and her husband met in the most unlikely of settings. As a registered nurse, she had volunteered with Samaritan's Purse after the devastating 2023 Turkey earthquake. Murat — at the time a narcotics police officer — was also volunteering in his home country.

Severe abdominal pain landed him in Brenda's field tent—where he was her patient. They kept in touch. He visited the States. Friendship expanded to love — and a marriage proposal.

He knew little English to begin with, but gradually his vocabulary grew. Brenda kept the words short and simple. They used a translating app when necessary. Murat stood at a family picnic to ask for our daughter's hand. He said, “I love this woman. I will protect her.”

He left a good life in Turkey. He left family and friends and country and language. He is growing them anew here in the United States. Approaching 50, this is not without focus and effort.

His green card appointment was last week in Anchorage. It was a very big deal. He and Brenda had to gather a pile of documentation. We, her parents, signed an affidavit knowing them to be a family as did the pastor of their church. There were questionnaires they had to complete. Questions about his life; questions about her life.

Brenda — usually a calm and collected poster girl — was a bundle of nerves the night before the interview. A great deal was at stake. They had come up with a translator for the interview. An unusual encounter — a Turkish-born woman had been their server at an Anchorage airport restaurant — and in the table conversation it came about that her daughter was one of Brenda's students in a firearms training class. She was eager to aid them.

The interview was rigorous, lasting a couple of hours. Brenda and Murat had their paperwork in order — and answered all the questions satisfactorily. Before they left the office, they were informed he had been approved for the card. What relief and joy!

I was told by another daughter I need to call our son-in-law “yesil” (yay-sheel) — which translates to the word green in Turkish. She thinks it sounds better than green man. Any way you look at him, the thumb is green. He has plans for a big garden. In Turkey, he ate lots of vegetables.

I certainly never expected to have a family member from the Middle East. But the wonder of it is I have always loved global peoples. We brought the world to us when our children were in high school through exchange students from four different countries — Japan, Brazil, Germany, and Azerbaijan.

I learned then that each place on the planet has its unique personality and value. One of my favorite spots in the Bible speaks of God making a kingdom from “every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” Count me in!

Carol Shirk Knapp is the author of The Preacher’s Kid column.