Family in the faith

A woman recently said to Derek, "You're a different sort of white man." I can't help but smile at that comment.

For those of you not from South Africa, in the hearts of many our sir name is synonymous with words like white, racist, angry, oppressive, abusive, old, man, Afrikaans, etc… I've had countless experiences where I'm treated harshly with either a bit of trepidation or downright hostility, only for me to open my mouth and the sound of Texas comes out. Suddenly, I'm the most interesting person in the room. The question, "why are you living in South Africa?" inevitably follows and I get a great opportunity to speak the name of Jesus! Time and time again I've thanked God for my sir name.

And for Derek who is not fortunate enough to speak 'Texan', the reactions are even more moving. Like this lady. She and Derek had a meeting to discuss possible partnership on a project we are interested in. She was connected to Derek by a government official who recommended the meeting, but she didn't know much else about Derek other than his sir name. They had a great discussion and at the end of the meeting, she made her comment to Derek about him being a different sort of white man. She told him she was expecting to meet someone she could never work with and was walking away feeling like she met a kindred spirit. As a white Afrikaans man, Derek could have grown up to be all those horrible things: racist, angry, oppressive, abusive and so much worse, but the love of Jesus is truly overwhelming when you let it take root. Don't hear what I'm not saying. There are many, many amazing white Afrikaans men and women of God who just like Derek, feel incredible remorse for the history of South Africa, who feel great burden for social justice for all its citizens, and who want more than anything for black South Africans to experience freedom in every way imaginable. But, the ugliness of the past allows for all those men and women with our sir name to reveal the love of Jesus and make a profound statement of His heart for reconciliation in a way others cannot. Love is a powerful thing!