(for those of you hoping for a funny post, sorry, this one isn’t it. Tune in next time!)

            I grew up in a virtually monocultural setting. Not only did I see very few people who didn’t look like me, but I was also fed so many lies . . . lies about those people who didn’t look like me, lies about our country’s history, lies about who matters and who doesn’t, about why “those kids” do poorly in school, about the system we’re a part of. You could almost say that my whole adult life has been spent unlearning these lies. 

          I am blessed in that I am surrounded by a number of loving people of color who are ever-patient, and ever-willing to help me through this tedious process of re-learning and un-learning.  This week, I met another new sister who is teaching me and blessing me in so many ways. I am not unaware of what it costs her to be here with us, of the risks she needs to take and the cost in emotional energy and  in the ways that she needs to make herself vulnerable to people she has no reason to trust. And yet, I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that God means for her to be here.

            The other night, we watched a video of Oscar Muriu’s amazing message from Urbana ’06 together . . . and I felt God’s presence in her pain, and in the always-staggering realization that God’s kingdom is so much greater than what our blatant Westernization can conceive of.

I am too tired to work much harder tonight on having this make sense . . . I’ll try to edit myself tomorrow . . . but I thank God for sisters and brothers in Christ who are willing to put up with the likes of folks like me, and I ask that you all join me in praying for her, and for her teammates and co-laborers for the Gospel this summer . . .

more later . . .