One of my biggest fears being a white person going into the mission field in other cultures is that I will be viewed as yet another “white savior.” In light of recent events, I’ve been thinking a lot about an experience I had when I was in Uganda two years ago. While in Uganda, I was able to have many conversations with one of the local women I was working with in the medical clinic. It was in one of these conversations that she told me how badly she longed to come to America, and how she wished her skin could be just like mine. This, of course, broke my heart. And what I came to realize was that this was not an uncommon way of thinking. The majority of the people in her culture felt the exact same way. They all longed to come to America because they thought it would be the answer to all of their problems. And they all wished they were white.
The truth of the matter is that I am at an advantage because of the color of my skin. Because of my skin color, I have influence. I’m about to enter into cultures where people will listen to me simply because of where I come from, and because I am white. I’ve had the privilege of being raised in such a way that I don’t even give a second thought to the color of someone’s skin. I don’t understand why this is even something that happens, and i hate that this is what has come of God’s beautiful creation.
But I can either sit here and sulk about how unfair that is and what a fallen world we live in, or I can use that influence to speak TRUTH into them!
I can tell them that they are highly valued and full of worth because they are God’s creation—fearfully and wonderfully made.
I can tell them that they are capable of being vessels of change in their own communities; that they don’t need to wait around for another “white savior,” because they themselves are CAPABLE.
I can tell them that rather than fixing their eyes on America, they need to fix their eyes on the KINGDOM. Because America’s got it’s own problems to work out.
I can tell them that they are children of God who have been set apart, and that they too have the responsibility to make disciples of all nations.
These are just a few of the many truths I will soon have the opportunity to speak into these people’s lives. Up until this point, I’ve spent the majority of my life just blending in (and I’ve been perfectly fine with that to be honest). But now God is calling me to stand out. Because of the color of my skin, I will stand out. Because of the color of my skin, people will listen to what I have to say. It may not be fair–and it certainly isn’t the way that God intended it to be–but it’s the way it is. And as frightening as it is for me to stand out, I’m choosing to see it as an opportunity to speak truth and to empower those I meet along the way. I’m choosing to make light of it, because as unjust as it is, God always has a way of turning darkness into something beautiful.
