Dear friends,
Here is a short story from my heart.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who grew up in a remote part of the countryside in England, described by her friends as being “up a sheep track.” In her tiny hamlet that was “not even a village” as it was so small, she had a diverse group of friends. One was a lively girl whose mother was Czech and father was British. They held wonderful parties when the children’s birthdays came around, with clowns and other entertainers. Just in front of their home lived a missionary who married a man from the Asian nation to where she had taken the gospel. They had two boys and two girls and they befriended everyone in the neighborhood.
A little further up the street, there was a wealthy family with a large swimming pool. All the neighborhood children coveted an invitation from the Persian children in the hot summer months. On the main road, there was a single mother from Norway who had a beautiful daughter. In between all these, more exotic families, there was a spattering of more ordinary British families and their children. And somewhere in the mix was a family with diverse heritage. On the mother’s side, there was Jewish heritage from Russia, Poland and Lithuania that had been hidden for decades because of fear of anti-semitism. However, if you searched deep enough in the grandfather’s home, you would find clues. A large, dusty copy of the Tenakh, or Hebrew Bible, and a Tallit, the prayer shawl worn by Jewish men for the morning prayers. On the father’s side, there was some Irish blood, perhaps even Catholic, and some more “ordinary” British blood.
The little girl grew up, and aged 12, ventured out from her little hamlet to the nearby city where she went to a larger school. Here there were girls who had Greek, Sri Lanken, African, Jewish, Dutch, Zimbabwean, family backgrounds and more! It never occurred to the girl, or to her fellow students, to differentiate based on skin color. To her it was perfectly normal that we were all together and in her mind, they were all British. She did not once even hear the terms “black or white” until much later in life. At that moment, she was stunned. Shocked. Dismayed. What ridiculous labels? Who has white skin? Who has black skin? Certainly none of her friends, each of whom had their own beautiful, unique shade of skin tone, designed by their Creator.
When she looked at her own skin, she saw that it was neither, and decided that it was olive in colour. She wept at the pigeon holing of people into “convenient” boxes. She wept again in geography classes when she learned about the oppression of some people groups through British colonialism, and the exploitation of the resources of some countries for the benefit of others.
She rejoiced when she discovered that Father God created every nation in His image, and that all nations will come and worship before the throne of God (Revelation 15 v 4). It gladdens her heart that ישוע, Jesus, the Jewish Messiah of Israel and the Nations will not return until the good news has been preached “to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
Dear friends, that little girl is of course me. I grew up priding myself that I had no racial prejudice and it was “almost” true. However, later on when I was living in the Netherlands, God shone His spotlight on two dark places in my heart. One was fear towards the Germanic peoples, because of the pain of the Holocaust or Shoa. My family in their journey as they fled the pogroms of Russia passed through a village in Germany where not one Jewish person survived. So God needed to bring forgiveness towards those who had murdered, repentance for my fear and judgement towards to germanic peoples and healing for my heart. So He brought me a wonderful German lady who I became proud to call my sister and my best friend.
For my American friends, my second prejudice was more embarrassing. In England, at least 30 years ago, one was brainwashed by the media into thinking that all Americans are stupid and ignorant. God chose to confront and heal this lie and judgement, by bringing me incredible spiritual parents from Augusta Georgia. I love them so much and am so grateful that God did this work in my heart before bringing so many precious Americans into my life.
Dear friends, let us be consistent in our condemnation of racial prejudice and persecution. Let us not stand against one injustice, while ignoring others. Let us first allow God to shine His spot light in our own hearts, and then let us stand against all racism and all persecution of peoples who are different from us in some way. Let us ask Him to grant us true repentance for all the injustices committed by our nations, and may He bring His healing to Israel and the Nations. May we bring a truly Biblical perspective to those around us that will bring repentance and healing. His passion is for every tribe, every tongue and every nation. He shed His precious blood on the cross for each one and He created each one of us in His image. May we carry His eyes, His heart, His mind and His purposes to a hurting world and may He heal each one of us for any persecution or prejudice that we may have suffered. May we choose to say with ישוע, Jesus, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Let us not allow satan to put labels on us nor to divide us.
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