We have been hosting a young medical student from Uruguay for the last four weeks. She will be leaving later on this month. When she first arrived, we thought of all the great tourist attractions that we could show to her. And, we have gone to some of them, like Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake. We have shown her the Old Order churches and the seen many buggies along the road here in the Elmira area.
Alexandra is an engaging and outgoing person from another culture that has experienced the best that we have to offer, and that is us. She has volunteered at the local MCC Thrift Shop, and has met many people there. They greet her with smiles and hugs when they meet her at churches and in the community. All those volunteers at the Thrift Shop have made her stay memorable. She has attended a few youth group events at a local church, where the group has included her in their activities. She has come to church with us, as we explore a new church every week, and she has been welcomed by everyone that she has met.
In the New Testament, we have two main personalities, Jesus and Paul. Jesus, many times, talks about including people, and accepting people, when the society wants to shut them out. The stories about him include welcoming people with leprosy and other ailments. The local society wanted to ignore these people who were not normal. The religious people had formed laws and guidelines that did not include the “other” into their community. Jesus told two stories during his first sermon that nearly got him killed. He had two illustrations that said that Gentile widows had more faith than any inside the faith. Then he said Namaan the Syrian who had had leprosy was the only one cured because of his faith. He sees faith in other people.
Paul also includes people who are normally shut out from faith, and faith conversations. A story tells of his visit with a woman named Lydia. She is referred to as a worshipper of God. She is not really a woman “our” faith. In one of his letters, he says that the greatest thing that we have is love. In order to truly love each other, we must look beyond our differences.
Alexandra has met many people, and they have been so welcoming. She went to one of our small group meetings . She has visited a dairy and a sheep farm. She came along with me, and two other women, to meet the wife of an Old Order minister. All have welcomed her, and asked about why she has come to visit Canada, and the Elmira area. I am amazed how interested you have been in who she is, and you have also asked many questions about life Uruguay. You might say that Alexandra looks like us, but she speaks Spanish/German, and lives in a Mennonite colony in rural Uruguay. I believe her worldview is different from mine.
Thank you to everybody who has met her while she was staying here. People are our greatest asset in our community. For those of you who are Christian, and part of a faith community, people should also be the best advertisement for the church. Beliefs are important, programs are important, and worship is important, but people are what continues to bring you back to church, and to Woolwich Township.
Last fall, we had people from the Netherlands visiting us. They could not get money out of the Credit Union ATM. We went into the local branch, and the service rep helped them figure it out. She got on the phone with head office. She worked for two days trying to get these people some money. They were not members of the branch, but she made them feel as if they were the most important people in the world. Thank you Woolwich Township. You are amazing people.
Ponder Anew 