Denver Seminary

This last weekend I was in Quincy, MA, at Eastern Nazarene College (ENC). On Friday I spoke in a class, gave the special Martin Luther King, Jr. annual chapel, and then spoke to a group of students that evening. A busy, but fulfilling day.

After the chapel several students came up to talk to me – among them were a Guatemalan gal from Jutiapa, a few Haitians, a gal from the Dominican Republic, and a Brazilian young man. The Brazilian was in tears. My message, he said, was the story of his life. He had arrived in the U.S. when he was five. The day he and his brother had gotten their green card they joined the Marines. Then, as he choked back the tears, he asked: We were willing to die for this country. Why do they treat us like they do?!?

Some of the students appreciated the biblical passages I shared, some laughed at and identified with my stories, but this young man’s pain hit me the most……

ENC is trying hard to make the campus more multi-ethnic and racially diverse. They are making great strides. May those efforts be multiplied all over this land!

On Sunday I preached at Second Church Dorchester. Its name comes from its being truly the second church built in that town. It is about two hundred years old. They are making a great effort to renovate this historical building. They have produced a book with the tales of the men from the church that fought in the Civil War, and they have preserved a banner that hung over the street – urging the townspeople to vote for Abraham Lincoln! Today two of the congregations that meet in the building are Caribbean, and a third is made up of people from Cape Verde. What would those people who lived so long ago say about the demographics of the church in 2012?!? In a wonderful way, the values for which they fought and died are alive and well in these congregations of color.

Pictures from ENC and the church are now posted on my Facebook page. Check them out!