Written by Sabrina Nino de Campos, Portuguese Team Leader for Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Texas
God has given us, through the beauty of our cultures, the little things that make us who we are. The types of food we share with our family, the jokes we hear from our neighbors, the music, the traditions. Everything is a gift of God that was made to be shared.
When I was 17, I decided that I wanted to be a missionary. I moved from my city, out of my parents’ house and went into a program called AME (Adventurers in Evangelistic Missions, a Brazilian school inspired by AIM). My mission field was in Bolivia, where I served for a year and also where I met my husband. The year after, I moved to Argentina where I got married, and we lived and also served the church there. During our time in Argentina, we came in contact with people from all over Latin America and some other places. After our time there, we moved back to Brazil, leading us to where we are now in the U.S.
Through all the crazy changes in our lives, it is hard to define what culture our family belongs to. I am a Brazilian; my husband is an American. And what best defines us is: we’re from everywhere. Our culture was defined and redefined a bunch of times, to the point where we feel like we belong to a lot of cultures and none at the same time.
This is also what I think God’s plan is for His people, a redefined culture that doesn’t belong to any earthly place, but rather belongs to Him.
"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands." (Rev. 7:9, ESV)
I love this verse in Revelation, when we have a tiny vision of the beauty of God’s plan. People from all types of cultures and tongues, coming together and praising the One that makes us not only His people, but also family.
"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit." (1 Cor. 12:12-13, ESV)
As a family and one body, one in thought and one in Spirit, we should also strive to include the ones that feel alone in the world. God had a plan when He said to Abraham, “and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3, ESV). As His people, it is our duty to bless all families on Earth, redefine the barriers of this world, and use our differences and special qualities as a source of love on this planet. We need to redefine our culture and extend our hands to our brothers and sisters, or to anyone that needs Him.
We can start with small things. Just start by loving somebody that is different from you… learning a new language or just learning how to greet that person from work in his/her language… maybe just learning cool facts about the place where somebody comes from to start out a conversation… sharing more and more of the love and grace of God in this world through those beautiful things that make us who we are. Coming together. Redefining Culture.