Jesusluvsall's Blog

It was another unique Saturday for me. It was unique because of the diverse people I was blessed to spend time with. Each Saturday I am blessed to experience the richness of the diverse population of my home city Lincoln.

As is the case with each Saturday my morning began with my Saturday morning ESL reading group with my friends from Haiti, Iraq and Japan. We discussed time and the different views of time in various cultures and then read about how concepts and measurements of time have changed over the years.

After my morning group, I had the privilege of meeting with a friend from Mexico to help her prepare for a test to become a translator. It was great to catch up on things with her and exciting to be a part of her journey to becoming a translator.

A highlight of my day was interacting with and catching up with some Sudanese friends.

Several years ago the Lord gave me an opportunity to introduce a Sudanese fellowship to my church. I will never forget that day when we went to the church office to meet pastors and staff. About 25 Sudanese came that day with many of them wearing traditional clothing. That was the day that launched my home church into a ministry for Sudanese living in Lincoln. Today was a special gathering, so some came from other cities and states.

I had a meaningful conversation with a girl named Pharma. Over the years when I would see her at church, we would chat a little and it would end with me telling her, “Remember Jesus loves you.” She would always smile. She will graduate high school in a few weeks and then in August she will be going to a university in Omaha and live in the dorms.

My home city Lincoln is very diverse. Our elementary, middle, and high schools have children from over 100 different languages. My church, however, is on the east side of the city, so it is far from the areas where refugees and immigrants normally live. My church did not have much experience with refugees, if any at all, when the Lord first led me to ministry among the refugees living here. To see how my church has embraced the Nuerr speaking Sudanese community encourages me a great deal.

I am writing this on Saturday night because, well mornings are not a good time for writing for me, but on Sunday mornings I look forward to seeing my friends from Nigeria, Haiti, Mexico, Korea, and other countries at church. My church may still be 95% white, but on Sunday mornings as I look over the people in the worship center and see my international friends, I am reminded of what is written in Revelation 7 about the great multitude before the throne from every tribe and nation.

I am grateful to have a very small part in people from every nation being ready for that day. Today Nuerr speaking Sudanese were a highlight, Next Saturday will probably be a different group. Each Saturday in my life is typically unique. No matter which group, I am thankful to reach out to them and experience their culture.