Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Romans 15:7

The importance of community came alive when my family accepted a call to teach at Hong Kong International School in the early 1980s. Answers were few to the multitude of questions asked when we told our families that we were moving there. However, while my parents were taking the family’s only grandchild to the other side of the world, my grandparents assured us of their ongoing love and prayers.

We did experience the importance of relying on our faithful God and His ambassadors — those faculty members and international staff who also had no extended family members in the vicinity and lovingly welcomed us. We shared meals, shopped, and even traveled together, cementing the bonds of forever-friendships. What a blessing it still is as we continually keep in touch with many of our overseas “family!”

Louise Schini Weber
Fort Myers, FL

Good Father, thanks for blessing us through the years with so many friends who have become family. Amen.

Reflect: Consider how relational bonds flourish when others are included in your everyday sphere.

Read: Matthew 5:13-16 and 1 Peter 4:8-11