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On being allies…

On being allies…

Tonight, we sat down to try to explain to the girls what is happening in America right now – about George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery – about the hurt and the pain and the fear and uncertainty that our African American friends live with every day. 

Belle looked at me wide eyed. . . “Mom, I don’t understand. . . how could that happen?”

We talked about the protests. . . about anger and being allies and standing together. I don’t know exactly what to say to my girls. I don’t know how to describe well something that is so hard and so complex and so deeply seated in suffering and power struggles, in the worst manifestations of sin.

What is not complex though, is this has never, ever, been what God intended.

I want them to know this. When something is wrong, I need them to stand up with strength and with conviction, to act counter-culturally when they see something that doesn’t make sense, to search and read and ask and learn. I want them to love with curiosity and depth that asks hard questions and listen and then react with courage and vulnerability . . . 

Tuko pamoja is a Swahili phrase that has some political connotations here, but the original sentiment is what I want them to think . . . their entire lives may they think and know, in this – we are together. 

We have read so many posts and stories this week as we have watched from this side of the world. Below are several that have resonated the most.

From one of my wisest and best friends in Kenya
– Brian Erickson, Pastor in Birmingham Alabama
From our friend and area director for Serge

1 thought on “On being allies…

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      Thank you for sharing these comments. They go a long way in helping to communicate the mindset of so many, and to help others consider a different perspective. Thank you.

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