Over the next couple weeks our dear friends Marian, Joe and Lucy are in our area visitings. They are from Togiak, AK. This is the town where our church has been pretty involved over the years and these are the three main leaders from that village. Marian is from Russell and has been a missionary to Alaska for the past 12 years or so and Joe and Lucy are a Yupik couple who are two of the most precious people I have ever met.
Last night we met as a leadership team with Joe and I sat there in awe of the amazing people He has placed in our midst. As Joe spoke to us I could see a man of God, full of wisdom. I just wanted to hear more and I wanted to learn everything I could from this man.
The Yupik culture places a high value on the "council of Elders". They often refer to wisdom in terms of the elders. You may be in conversation with someone and they will say, "the elders say..." and they share some great nugget of truth.
May we always honor those great men and women of God who are our elders. Not just in age, but also in wisdom.
Fact: "respect your elders" is the most abused Bible passage ever. It isn't referring to old people, it is referring to priests!
ReplyDelete