Growing up on missionary campuses felt like a miniature United Nations—with a religious framework thrown on top.
People were from everywhere. Some of my closest friends were from Cameroon, Korea, the U.S., the Philippines, and countries I couldn’t even place on a map at the time. Potlucks felt like international food fairs. You could walk a few steps and hear three accents, four languages, and five opinions about how things should be done.
And surprise, surprise—on campuses like that, there were regular conflicts.
People didn’t see the world the same way. Cultures clashed. Values differed. Even theology—while we were all Adventists—was interpreted very differently. We disagreed, sometimes vehemently, on a whole range of things.
But here’s the part that sticks with me.
We still went to the same church on Sabbath morning.
We still showed up to vespers and midweek prayer meeting.
We still said hi passing each other on campus.
We still played soccer together.
We kids still played hide-and-seek like nothing had happened.
That’s where I learned something quietly radical: community doesn’t require agreement.
Now, to be honest, painful breakups did happen. I won’t pretend they didn’t. People left. Relationships fractured. Sometimes the disagreements were sharp and costly.
But even so, learning early on that the body of Christ doesn’t require unanimity on every issue changed me. It trained my instincts. It shaped how I understand diversity—not as a threat, but as a reality of family life.
That lesson has followed me ever since. It’s why I can talk with Adventists who believe very differently than I do. It’s why I can sit with people of other faiths, or no faith at all, and still feel a sense of shared humanity—of belonging to something larger than agreement.
This isn’t about being morally superior or spiritually enlightened. It’s much simpler than that.
The bottom line is this:
We don’t have to agree to be family.
And we don’t have to agree to be a happy family.
That’s not weakness.
That’s maturity.
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