Recently I watched our high school boys soccer team take on a local men’s team made up of our employees, friends, and neighbors. It was a great game! The field was wet, muddy, and very slippery. The players slipped and slid, and missed kicks and blocks, and got in kicks and blocks all in valiant efforts and battle for a goal for their team.
The cheering section was divided between parents and family of the kids, and friends and family of the men. I chose to sit down with our national friends because it was just plain more comfortable where they were. We chatted in Tok Pisin as we watched and laughed.
As I looked around, I realized that there were at least 8-10 nationalities represented on and off the field. Both teams playing their hearts out in the mud, laughing at each other when a spectacular wipe out occurred, and shouting instructions to each other as they blocked the move of the other team. Battle was on! But then you could hear the coaching and cheering from both missionaries and nationals to their respective players! Pride shined on the faces of proud family. Laughter rang out from all sides with the many slips and slides on the field. Even jeering each other good naturedly about slip ups and mistakes, proud papas patting each other on the back, and laughing wives shouting instructions to their husbands.
So what was it I was seeing? Humanity. Simply…humanity. From all over the world people had come and were now sitting side-by-side enjoying a game of soccer. Simply us.