Melting pots may be under our roofs or in the world at large. They will be found at work, church and the marketplace. They are found in hospitals and back alleys. They are on the sports field and the grain field. The world is rich in cultures and sub-cultures, exotic and ordinary, fun and boring. But beautiful and opportunity-filled. As a Christ-follower, what does it mean for me to be an ambassador in this world? I am still learning. I have been around, but not as much as some, so I have a lot to learn. But here’s what I have learned so far…

We needn’t always have a clash of cultures if we give ourselves grace, get some education and find some commonality with those in our new culture.

I was born in the US, raised in Brazil. My outside had USA stamped on it, but my insides were formed by the love and nurture of the Brazilian culture; the best of it. My folks were among giants in their world when they lived there; regardless of the person’s income or status, we had connections with kind and gentle people.

We then returned to the US when I was in High School, as my folks were told it would be good to return before I got into High School. Beyond that there was no information given or known about re-entry. But God helped me work through it with loving family, teachers and friends.

I lived in Abilene for two years afterwards taking human communications classes to help me find out into what direction I wanted to go.

After two years in Abilene and getting my confidence up, I returned home for one year to help my mother with her business. When that year was up, wanderlust set in and I took off for the Boston area to be a nanny for a family for one year. I stayed longer when I met my husband. We married four years later, and I loved my work as an admin at a global headquarters, dealing with people all over the nation and world.

But I began missing my family.

So after 6 years of marriage, like the Clampets, we loaded up the truck and moved west. It was good to be around my family having been away from them for thirteen years. Another culture change. But all of that experience was begging to be noticed and memorialized.

Since a child, I enjoyed books and stories. I wrote plays and performed all parts as an only child until I was about 7 when my brother could join in the fun. I loved my short story class in college and had a wonderful tutor who encouraged me to write. I wrote for church bulletins, blogged and got published in a couple of anthologies. But I longed to write in more breadth and depth. So I tried my hand at a few things, but it seems stories and devo pieces connected more with my audiences. Stories and devos are also cross-cultural, demanding a type of diplomacy I am still learning by watching those who are light years ahead of me.

I also learned a type of ordinary diplomacy from my parents early on; it was the diplomacy of love. When your knowledge fails you, love never does. Do the loving thing. I’ve sought to grow in that gift. Though I have failed at times, God has been gracious, picked me up, dusted the dirt off of me, held me close, looked me in the eye and said, “For you know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

God is a benevolent King, color and culture blind. His territory is that of Heaven, and His son was the perfect ambassador-savior, carving the path for us to follow as ambassadors of Good News. God needs more ambassadors than ever these days, preachers, teachers, writers, artists, businesspeople, athletes and volunteers. He has promised to never leave nor forsake His ambassadors no matter the mantle they are given and chose to carry.

Amazing!