Well, I made it-- today was the last day of actual events for the 2005 Northwest World Tour. I'm sitting in my uncle's chilly basement after a long day of driving halfway across Washington to visit Eastern Washington University and Whitworth College. Along the way, I caught up with several old friends and family members. But I'll leave those tales for tomorrow.

Tonight I actually wanted to recap the previous day's visit to Campbell Farm in Wapato. Owned by Central Washington Presbytery, this is a conference retreat center and working farm that does outreach in the local community. One of the Young Adult Volunteers there, Kerrie Yarnell, is an alumna of the Network. Although I never got to meet the Native American women that I had come down to visit (none of them showed up to their regular Wednesday night Bible study), I did meet David and Sheri Noah, the farm directors. They were wonderful.

For me, the visit emphasized how completely clueless I was growing up about the myriad social issues in my own backyard. I grew up about two hours north of Wapato, which is on the Yakama Indian Reservation in central Washington. I even played fastpitch there in high school. Yet I never knew that Wapato, which is 70% Latino, also has a Buddhist temple and a Filipino community center for a once flourishing Asian-American community. Despite seeing them several times in my home area, I had never eaten at a truck taco stand before yesterday (my quesadilla was very good, by the way). My friend, Kerrie, lamented that this rich mix of cultures and people living in the area never gets highlighted-- all the rest of us know about include statistics on how Yakima County is the poorest county in the state, has problems with gang violence, etc. We don't know about things like the giant feast that Japanese-Americans throw for the entire community in the spring. We don't learn the rich native heritage of several bands brought together on one reservation.

The visit also brought up the issue of undocumented workers in the community, and particularly how it affects youth. Kerrie talked about how in her church youth group, the children themselves placed value judgments on their peers based on who was here legally and who was not-- "Sally can go to the doctor to get new glasses because she's documented." "Joey can't go to college because he's undocumented." One girl, she said, has dreams of going to college that will probably never be realized, primarily because of her illegal immigration status.

Now, there is a diversity of opinion out there about this particular issue, and I honestly can't tell you what to think. In some ways, I don't know exactly what I think. I do know, though, that it hurts me to think that some little girl will never have the opportunity for an education because she's caught in this empty space between cultures. Because essentially, these children are American in all but name-- many have never really lived in their home country, and so going back there long-term in order to go through the proper immigration channels is all but unthinkable to them. Yet they will never have the chance to live out the proverbial "American Dream" in their current state.

When we talk about all the issues out there, we forget that there are real people involved, real lives impacted. And no matter what you think about a topic, God calls us to love people-- whoever they are and wherever they're at. Because sometimes we're oblivious to the people who need us most; the ones sitting in our own backyards.

"But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him." --Luke 10:33

"'Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?' The expert in the law replied, 'The one who had mercy on him.' Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise.'" --Luke 10:36-37

Kelsey