Editorial September 25, 1989 Issue

Church—where love embraces all

William E. Moody

As I was preparing to travel overseas recently, I was given a guidebook to read. It was mostly about the everyday customs and manners of the people living in Latin America, including the three countries we would be visiting—Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. The people of Argentina, the guidebook pointed out, will often greet you with a handshake and a kiss. In another chapter the book said that the people of Chile will also often greet you with a kiss. And the people of Uruguay? Yes, they too greet new friends with a kiss.

Needless to say, in the course of our short visit we weren't disappointed. We received plenty of kisses!

Because of the nature of the work we were doing, many of the people we met on our trip to South America were fellow church members. Obviously the native language was different from my own. Many customs were unfamiliar. The way that world events were viewed was often from a different perspective. And, of course, there were particular hardships and challenges that the people were contending with in their communities. The economic and political realities of their individual countries were different one from another and certainly different from my own.

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