Mother Teresa once said, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” A couple weeks ago, the First Steps Community Cookout in Wichita, Kansas, was an important act of remembering.
It was a hot Midwest evening but that didn’t stop hundreds of people from gathering at the event planned by the local Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters and the Wichita Police Department in the wake of the most recent officer-civilian tragedies. Instead of the planned protest, leaders from BLM, local churches, and the Wichita Police Chief decided to break bread together and begin an open conversation.
Many of our World Impact Wichita missionary staff and ministry partners joined the event. Children ran through the crowd with bubble wands and bounced in the bounce houses. Men and women in uniform, volunteers cooking hundreds of burgers and hot dogs, and a diverse cross-section of the local community filled the event with laughter, conversation, shared meals, and even some real and challenging dialogue.
The Open Mic Q&A was an important part of the evening when community members were able to share their grievances and ask Police Chief Ramsay the tough questions. Chief Ramsay introduced “The God Squad,” a panel of local pastors recently appointed to counsel and mediate when community issues arise. Then people were offered the opportunity to step up to the mic and ask about the treatment of African-Americans in their community and about holding police officers accountable.
Hard questions were asked. Humble answers were given. By no means were national issues of prejudice and social injustice resolved that night, but an important and respectful dialogue was opened and a spirit of collaboration was fostered. When you have hard conversations in the context of commitment to one another and you share food and laughter it is so much harder to think in terms of “us” and “them”—gradually it becomes “we.”
There is certainly a long road to walk in the pursuit of reconciliation, but the First Steps Cookout was just that—a small first step in the big, important task of remembering that we belong to each other. It was a first step in remembering that we must take a stand against prejudice and social injustice but we must be for one another. And, as one pastor of “The God Squad” reminded us all that evening, this is only truly accomplished through the saving grace of Jesus Christ, which renders those in Him one body and one spirit, a people who belong to each other because they belong to the Prince of Peace.
The First Steps Community Cookout received national attention from NPR and USA Today.
