RACIAL JUSTICE AND BELOVED COMMUNITY
Peace-seekers and agents of hope on a university campus
In his 1963 sermon “A Knock at Midnight,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lamented, “Millions of Africans have patiently knocked on the door of the Christian church seeking the bread of social justice. In almost every instance they have either been ignored altogether, or told to wait until later— later almost always meaning never.” In fresh ways, the pain of King’s generation lives on in ours.
The possibilities before us
King believed Christians are called to become a “beloved community”—a gathering of people who have come to the powerful realization that they all matter to God.
One community seeking to honour King’s vision this year is Trinity Western University, a Christian university in Langley, B.C.
“The world is in desperate need of a gathering of Christians moved to resist the powers and principalities of evil by loving their enemies with the agape love of God,” says president Mark Husbands.
In a recent message to begin the academic year, Husbands challenged student leaders on his campus. “In a broken world, peace, flourishing, and renewal call for leaders who understand the situation in which they find themselves,” he says. “Does your understanding and grasp of the gospel include both word and deed? And if so, have you figured out a way to carry out both of these with integrity?”
A new generation of leaders
Among those listening to Husband’s message that week was student leader Daniela Lombardo.
When Lombardo first considered coming from Mexico to Canada for university, she didn’t imagine that three years later she would be the school’s first Latina student to become student association president. Lombardo’s leadership journey has not been without challenges. She grew up in a single-parent home. In high school, she completed the challenging International Baccalaureate program before leaving home for postsecondary studies.
In her second year at university, Lombardo became a resident assistant. The following year, she became involved in student government, advocating for cultural groups and fostering greater connection among schools and faculties. One of her initiatives was the creation of an interdisciplinary newsletter.
The global community among us
At Trinity Western, one in four students come from outside of Canada. “As a global Christian university, hospitality and charity are central to our identity,” says Lombardo. “Living in one of the most diverse cities in the world with an increasingly international population requires constant learning.”
During her election speech this past spring, she expressed her vision to see the campus be a place of welcome. “Accessibility and community are tangible ways we can show hospitality,” she says, “The best change is the change that benefits all of us.”
Ideas for change
Several students have asked Lombardo and her student association team to advocate for increased cultural understanding from university staff and faculty. Building on work done in previous years by the university’s International Student Task Force, Lombardo and her team moved quickly to envision and plan a cultural intelligence training program for staff and faculty.
The preface to the training proposal cites Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
“In biblical terms, becoming a ‘glocal’ campus means helping our community become an accurate portrayal of the kingdom of God—where people from every tribe, language, and nation come together as brothers and sisters in the family of God,” says Johannah Wetzel, Trinity Western’s director of global engagement.
The International Student Task Force hopes to see the university become a place where community thrives. This involves an environment where everyone is willing to ask questions, admit ignorance, take responsibility for cultural mistakes, recognize biases, and grow collectively by learning from and accepting one another. Learning is a good first step. Husbands reminds this generation, “God has set us free, so let us use this freedom in order to advance His kingdom and to be agents of hope.”
Or as King put it in his sermon: “If the church will free itself from the shackles of a deadening status-quo, and, recovering its great historic mission, will proceed to speak and act fearlessly and insistently on the questions of justice and peace, it will enkindle the imagination of mankind. It will fire the souls of men and imbue them with a glowing and ardent love for truth, justice, and peace.”
Winnie Lui is the director of public relations at Trinity Western University.
Have you ever worked with someone so different from you it seems the relationship could never turn out okay? I have. One summer, I co-ran a teen leadership program at a Bible camp with another leader who had no experience at this particular camp and who I didn’t know that well. I’ll call him Lee.
At the start of the spring, we had two months to prepare for the summer. I was wholly optimistic that Lee and I could figure this out together. We seemed to get along well in the beginning weeks. I tried to bring him up to speed on the camp and the leadership program. We had fun together and laughed a lot.
But once the teens arrived and we started leading together, we quickly realized that we had very different leading and communication styles. I wanted us to share all information and make most decisions together. It appeared he had a more independent leadership style.
At the time, I took this personally. As someone who shoves down negative emotions for as long as possible, you can imagine that this did not go well. During one particular group development activity with our students, I was a little annoyed but tried to put on a happy façade. This all went swimmingly until Lee changed the rules to the activity without asking my opinion first. The audacity! (Just kidding, but you bet I overreacted.) I became an ice queen in two seconds flat and only answered in short, snippy sentences after that. I immediately decided I wasn’t going to try to work or communicate well with Lee anymore. I let bitterness and anger seep into my heart, but God saw those ugly things taking root and was too gracious to let me sit in those life-draining feelings.
The next day, our supervisor called us both into her office for a meeting and said something along the lines of, “This isn’t couples counselling, but I really think you two need to talk to each other.”
During that conversation, we both shared out perspectives. I needed more communication from him, and he needed more trust from me.
That doesn’t mean that it was super easy after that, but we had a better understanding of what the other person needed to lead well and work more effectively together.
That was a very hard and growing summer for me. I had to realize that my way of doing things doesn’t necessarily make sense to everyone. God revealed to me that I really like things done my way because I believe my way is the right way.
Realizing that felt like a punch in the face, but I began the process of repenting and asking God to shape me more into the image of Jesus.
I also learned that fighting against bitterness and striving to live in God’s grace and love is critically important for any relationship to last, whether that’s a relationship with a co-worker or a friend. Forgiveness not only brings freedom to the other person, but it also releases us.
Ephesians 4:23 says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” What relationships in your life do you need to bring in line with this verse? Conflict isn’t bad in itself, but how we deal with conflict can either be helpful or harmful. This is something that I teach the teens I lead, and I need to remind myself of it as well. Sometimes, choosing to be kind, tenderhearted, and free with our forgiveness is really hard, but it is always worth it.
Conflict isn’t bad in itself, but how we deal with conflict can either be helpful or harmful.