a day to remember
Introduction
The world has been so severed from joy, hope and community the last several years. Chaos and division seem to have taken over every day. From polarizing politics to a global disease bringing the world to a standstill, communities ripped apart by differences of opinion, from masks, to race, to the Whitehouse. The most tragic of all, the rift created within Christian communities. Whether the rift was because of politics, social injustices or COVID, it happened, and it hurt. Friendships were ruined and the church “family” suddenly didn’t feel like a community of like-minded believers but a battle ground for “rightness”. The enemy had managed to trojan horse himself into our circle of faith and frankly, we just let him. I asked myself, is this all? Is this the hill the church is choosing to die on? Then I remembered that I, We, You and Me, we are the church, and we have the power of Heaven and the Blood of Christ on our side. This is our territory, and in Jesus Name we will take it back, but how?
The Idea
It all started with this verse.
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” -Revelation 7:9-10
We had discussed International Day for a year or two before we realized it needed to be done. We wanted to celebrate and acknowledge the beauty of every culture represented in our church body. Yet we wanted to remind everyone that we are collectively one race of redeemed people, the human race. “For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.” —Ephesians 4:4
Food has always been an important aspect of culture and identity. Sharing food fosters personal connection. From saris to soccer jerseys, we wanted our church family to don their attire or that of other cultures they own. We also wanted music in different languages because each of us worship in different styles and cultural contexts. This was our starting point, and with prayer and discussion, International Day went from a shapeless idea to a vibrant creation.
The Planning
We knew love needed to be reignited between the body. We did not know how much it would take to go from dream to full sabbath program. Even with work divided amongst three, we needed spiritual endurance to see this to completion.
Starting in December of 2022, we decided to meet in-person every 2nd Friday of the month. We created google drives teeming with files, spreadsheets, and sign-up forms. We tweaked graphics on Canva and fashioned the globe into 6 regions: the Caribbeans, Europe, Central and South America, North America, Africa, and Asia. As we prayed and assessed our plans, we made several changes to the program and activities along the way.
We needed representatives from each region to recruit cooks, musicians, and decorators for their group. We called them ambassadors to keep in theme with travel. Our first zoom meeting involved the three of us on two different laptops in the same room, excitedly sharing the vision with 6 willing volunteers.
The Struggle
How do you explain something to someone when they don’t understand what it is? And how do you get them to participate when they don’t understand the vision? These were prominent questions throughout the planning phase.
We needed cooks but people weren’t signing up. We planned for a parade of nations at the start of our 11:30AM service. Few members signed up.
We setup a lobby table every other month to recruit. Green tea, horchata, chai masala, and various other international drinks were served on a table featuring a Korean Bible and South African fabric.
We also didn’t have a large budget. In fact, our original budget got slashed by $300. That meant we had to be savvy with decor and food utensils.
Our ambassadors were awesome and worked so hard but none of us realized how much work would go into putting out proverbial fires. Our collective vision was not always as clear to others as we would have hoped.
Each of the three of us considered quitting at least once during the 9 months leading up to International Day. Being on the frontlines of planning tends to take a toll. Each of us also seemed to have lives outside of this dream: work, homes, children, and school all needed our attention. Our iPhone message thread remained alive and active in between monthly meetings.
The week before international day finally came. We set our sights on the day. Tired, nervous, yet excited, we hoped that this day would bring unity to our church members. They hungered for it, and we hungered for them to receive it. We realized how incompetent we were and how much we needed the Lord to pull this together. If you had seen our sign-up sheets, you would have seen a handful of participants for any given activity. As we stood atop a 12-foot ladder to hang flags on Thursday evening, we knew it was only the Lord who would be able to put this together.
Friday evening brought a beautiful chaos. We were still setting up the lobby and fellowship hall, but the global choir singers were practicing. As the first few chords rang out in the scarcity, we suddenly felt we were entering a sacred space. It felt like we were authentically doing church for the first time in a long time. Like in Acts where the people came together and lived life. That brought a much-needed refreshment to our tired forms.
The End Result
We arrived at church on September 23, 2023, just as the first rays were reflecting through the windows. The lobby looked inviting and beautiful. Volunteers started to sleepily file in. Church members started to enter the building around 9am and they came in their cultural wear. By 10:30, the lobby was packed with so many people. We had never seen them so engaged with one another. The love was literally filling up the whole church. In many cases, we didn’t know each other’s cultural origins until we showed up the day of. It was fun to witness church members switch from English to their shared dialect for the first time.
There was a wonderful panel of people from different walks explaining their life experiences with diversity. Though not many signed up for the parade, we had over 40 participants covering every continent! We don’t know where most of those people came from or whether we were entertaining angels. For the main 11:30AM service, each region sang or recited poetry. The global choir was the crowning moment of the service. The choir voices were loud and clear when they sang, “if you want to know what heaven looks like, it’s looking like me and you.” We chose this song because of that line. Later in the song the choir sang, “he’s coming, he’s coming!” People started to spring from their seats clapping and praising God. He will return one day for his one bride, and this was a foretaste of that moment.
Remember the food aspect? We called it a sampling because we didn’t know if a few fish and loaves would be ample. We forgot that our God can still feed the five thousand. We originally anticipated about 300 people coming to our food sampling and this is what we prepared for. However, our God literally multiplied the food because we had 12 food tables with over twenty different dishes with more than 600 people. Our problem became not enough seating. There may have not been twelve baskets full of leftovers but there were hearts just as full as bellies.
The Conclusion
At Arlington Seventh-day Adventist Church our mission statement is: “Through grace we are a church engaged with each other and our world” and looking back on this amazing day it sure was a fulfillment of this mission. It is such a thrill to imagine standing together under the umbrella of Christ, no man-made boxes or constructs, just a group of people from all walks of life worshipping our Savior, lifting Him up, sharing His love with the world and watching Him draw others to Him.
Our God undoubtedly showed up and showed off His majesty that day, and we were so humbled to be privy to it. The church felt united, and it was beautiful to behold, there was no division in sight. God doesn’t fit into our political stances, social views or injustices and he certainly doesn’t care about our sport affiliation.
He cares that His children spend eternity with Him, all His children, from all over the world. We are called to reach them and bring them into the warmth of our Lord’s love. Warmth they feel through how we love them. Division amongst us diminishes our ability to do this most important work. —Barbara Quaye, Danielle Quaye, and Hayley Proctor