Editorial: Beyond the headlines, stories of resilience

We’re guessing that South Sudan didn’t make the front page of many newspapers this month.

Here in the U.S., we’re in the midst of an election season that bewilders both sides of the political spectrum. In the Northeast, acts of terror dominate headlines and immediately get tied into contentious debates about the direction our country is headed.

There just seems to be a lot of other stuff to worry about.

We think South Sudan is important. So are many other places that don’t always make headlines — North Dakota, for example. As part of The Christian Chronicle’s mission, we strive to bring you stories of faith from parts of the world other media aren’t talking about — and from places such as flood-devastated Louisiana, where the big work of recovery is just beginning, though TV crews have moved on.
‘We strive to bring you stories of faith from parts of the world other media aren’t talking about.’
In all of these places we see great stories of resilience, whether it’s dedicated Christians who drive 55 miles one way to church on Sunday or volunteers who spend a week pulling waterlogged drywall from the home of someone they just met — or believers forced from their homeland back into refugee camps to wait once again for a deadly conflict to end. As they wait, they seek, serve and save the lost with the Gospel.

We’re reminded of the words of Pablo Sanabria, a native of Nicaragua baptized in 1975 who spoke at the Pan American Lectureship in 2002. When the Sandinista regime controlled the country in the 1980s, Sanabria took turns with his wife getting in line at 4:30 a.m. twice a week for modest portions of government-issued meat.

“Things could not become worse in that time,” he said. “Nevertheless, the 1980s were the golden years for Churches of Christ. Cooperation was exemplary. The school of preaching was operating at full capacity.

“How do we explain the fact that the church stayed alive? The church grows in the midst of trials. Difficulties make the church stronger.

“Sometimes, I think we need to pray for trials.”