Our Daily Bread: This Far By FaithExemplo

Welcoming the Stranger

Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. was born in 1865, not long after the Civil War. His mother was a former slave, as was his stepfather, who raised Adam and challenged him to read the Bible.

Adam became a Christian believer, attended Yale Divinity School, and in 1908, became pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York. This church, started by so-called Negroes, welcomed those who were unwelcome in First Baptist Church, New York, where segregated seating was the rule. 

Though largely attended by African Americans, Abyssinian was a welcoming place for all people. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the now-famous theologian and pastor, began frequenting Abyssinian after hearing Powell preach. And under Powell’s leadership during the Depression in the 1930s, those who were poor also found warm acceptance at Abyssinian—and a hot meal. 

Moses was a stranger in the land of Midian. All that was known about him was that he had come from Egypt (Exodus 2:19). But the leader Jethro, of the land of Midian, welcomed Moses, inviting him into the family (vv. 20–21). Perhaps that welcome inspired Moses many years later to invite Hobab, his Midianite brother-in-law, to join Israel: “Come with us and we will treat you well” (Numbers 10:29). Just as he’d been invited into Jethro’s family, Moses invited Hobab to join God’s people to freely enjoy “whatever good things the Lord gives us” (10:32).

Welcoming strangers is part of the Christian’s life. Who might we welcome in? -Linda Washington

God’s love can turn strangers into family.