"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ,
don't show favoritism." James 2:1 (New International Version)
We enjoyed a lively, enlightening and convicting discussion in Tuesday morning women's Bible study class on James 2:1-7. Our ladies shared about ways they have been both the recipients and givers of discrimination. Some of us grew up in an era when many churches believed they were "the only ones" who would make it to heaven. We participated in a weird sort of evangelism that looked down its nose at anyone who wasn't "one of us". We had difficulty separating the "sin" from the "sinner" in those days.
Other women shared stories of racial discrimination--parents who did not want their children playing with little girls of different ethnic backgrounds.
We talked about the social isolation caused by poverty, when people are trapped in a certain neighborhood and don't have the means to get out. Even grocery shopping becomes impossible for a mother with little children and no car to carry the groceries home in. Artie Padilla of everyneighborhood.org had explained to us about "Food Deserts", places in the inner city where a grocery store that carries a healthy variety of fresh produce and dairy products is not within a 2-mile radius.
So, you ask, what are we doing about all this?
I'm glad you asked! We divided up job assignments for a Thanksgiving basket for a family on the Westside of the San Joaquin Valley, devastated by the economic downturn and left with no place else to go. We are sending the ingredients for making tamales for the holiday. Mae and Doug Pafford, who lived and worked in Dos Palos for years, will deliver the basket on Saturday, November 17.
And for those of you who want to study the book of James but can't come on Tuesday morning, join us on Wednesday nights, starting tonight, November 7, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Come at 5:30 p.m. for dinner. Men and women are both welcome in the Wednesday night study.
--Posted by Mama O.
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