On my recent trip to Southern Highlands I was struck by a
lot of things. The beauty of God’s
creation, the fun I can have with the students outside of the classroom, love
for the people of PNG, how God is working all over the place, and then the ever
present phrase, “Wait Meri.” Yes, that
last one is a bit different than the others on my list. We were in quite a remote place, and not many
of the people see white women on a frequent basis and some of the kids had
never seen white people before. So
driving (or while we walked for a bit) you go by groups of people on the road
side, and I hear that phrase, “Wait Meri, Wait Meri.” Often it is said excitedly, with waves and
lots of children jumping around.
Sometimes you see tears, or looks of confusion. You never know what reaction you will get,
but the first one is easier to take! The
kids in church are great too, for mixed reactions come all the time. Luckily, I only made one little guy cry just
by looking. Lots more
smiles from the rest of the kids.
While we were driving back, I got to thinking about these
reactions, as I waved for the twenty-fifth or fiftieth time to a group of small
kids. For some reason Martin Luther King
Jr. came to mind and his statement about his children, that he wanted them to, “not
be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their
character.” (Forgive me everyone for
taking this slightly out of context, I in no way desire to downplay his “I have
a dream” speech.) I wish the world was
color blind like this, that skin color didn’t cause a reaction but that
character did.
I thought about three
of the young boys in the church, probably between 9-12 years old, who sat up
front and couldn’t seem to take their eyes off of the three college boys who
were leading worship. I thought of the
teenage girl, Ruth, who seemed to become fast friends with Robina, one of the 2nd
year college students. We had sat next
to her while waiting for the first service to start and she had that same look
of admiration that the boys did. Robina
talked with her the whole way down to the baptism service, a half hour
walk. I remembered being a little kid
and looking up to the college age singing groups or camp counselors that would
come to church or be at summer camp. The college of nursing students got to be
those ones that were being looked up to.
The numerous kids and many adults were able to see their hearts for
Christ, and hearts that worship! I was
excited for them, and for those kids that were able to spend even a little bit
of time with some wonderful Christian examples.
The students showed what Christ is doing in their lives, and what hard
work and studying can lead to. Education
is not a given here, and it was especially evident in this area.
I pray that those children would be impacted by that short
trip and that they would have other role models of Christ and what He can do in
our lives.
I pray that I can make an impact here that isn’t based on my
skin color, but on the character of the one who lives in me, Jesus Christ.
I pray that we can all get eyes like the Lord, that go
deeper than skin deep, that we can learn the lesson Samuel did in 1 Samuel 16:7
when God said, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at, people
look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”