MLK Event Speaker Delivers Message Of Diversity, Unity
January 21, 2020 at 2:43 a.m.
MLK Event Speaker Delivers Message Of Diversity, Unity
By David [email protected]
Simfukwe was the keynote speaker at the 32nd annual event held at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College. The theme this year was “togetherness.”
Simfukwe was born in London, raised in Zambia, lived his high school years in Australia and came to Grace College, according to Committee Vice President Dr. David Hoffert, who introduced Simfukwe. Simfukwe holds a bachelor of arts in Biblical studies and a Masters of Divinity with a counseling emphasis from Grace.
“One of the reasons I was so thrilled to be a part of this event is because I am an admitted lover of diversity. I love different kinds of people, different kinds of background and different kinds of perspectives,” Simfukwe said. “I blame – as you heard a moment ago – my upbringing for that.”
Growing up and living in a number of different places, Simfukwe said he was forced to interface with different kinds of people, but that made him a richer version of himself because of the different kinds of people he got to meet along the way.
“I love diversity because my upbringing was shaped by diversity,” he said.
In college at Grace, he met his wife, Melissa – a “very white girl from Seattle.” Together, they had two children and later adopted three sisters from Haiti.
“I love diversity because my family is diverse,” he said, adding that he also is the pastor at a predominantly white church. “But it’s made up of a diverse collection of people with different socio-economic backgrounds and different education levels and different abilities. We even – at our church – have New England Patriots fans. We accept all kinds of people.”
He said he loves diversity because his life has been marked and made richer because of it. To champion King’s legacy of diversity is a “personal privilege” to him.
“But, thank you in advance for the freedom to take it even a step further. I love diversity and I’m going to continue to love diversity more and more for a reason so much transcendent to my personal experiences, and frankly, even greater than the great legacy of Dr. King, who we celebrate today,” Simfukwe said. “I love diversity because the God of the universe loves diversity. The God who I believe deeply shaped the forefathers of this great nation, loves diversity. I don’t know if you knew that, but God is passionate about diversity.”
To support his statement, Simfukwe read a passage from the Book of Revelations in the Bible. In Revelations, God allows John to see a glimpse of the future.
The passage from Revelations Chapter 7 verses 9 and 10 read, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”
Simfukwe said what is unmistakingly clear about the passage to John was “it was a sea of people from every conceivable background. From every language and from every tribe and from every ethnicity and from every culture and from every color and people of every frappuccino color were gathered around the throne. Every kind of ability level and socio-economic status, and they were around the throne of God. It was a diverse sea, because I don’t know if you knew this, but God loves diversity.”
He said God is pushing human history toward a collection of people from every conceivable background, color, culture and ethnicity “gathered around the throne.”
“God loves diversity, and I’ve got to say, God doesn’t tolerate diversity. That’s not the same thing. God doesn’t endure diversity. God doesn’t put up with diversity. God insists on it,” Simfukwe said. “... And if you don’t like diversity, you’re going to hate heaven. It’s going to be a drag. It’s going to be this collection of people that you’re interacting with who don’t look like you and don’t think like you necessarily. People who don’t vote like you. People who don’t shop where you shop. Yet here they are, gathered around the throne. God loves diversity.”
The question is, he said, do you?
Simfuke said if you look at the passage a little further, you’ll see that God doesn’t just love diversity. More than that, God loves unity.
“God loves it when diverse people come together in unity,” he said.
He said the natural inclination of humanity is to let our differences divide us, and let our diversity diverge us from each other.
“God’s passion is the complete opposite of that. It is the bringing together of differences into oneness. Unity,” Simfukwe said.
In summer 1963, King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and gave voice to dream of unity and justice. That dream resonated and spread across the world, Simfukwe said.
“I can’t help but believe that one of the reasons Dr. King’s dream caught fire was because it happened to mirror the passionate dream of the King of Kings,” Simfukwe said.
Grace College junior and Black Student Association President Mariah Price also spoke at Monday’s event.
“For millions of African Americans, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as the mouthpiece for justice, racial equality and hope. Through peaceful protests and an emphasis on non-violence, Dr. King bridged the gap between races at a time when America was divided,” Price said.
She said King was a man of great influence and his legacy lives on today. “His steadfast efforts for change, such as boycotts giving the oppressed a voice, and speaking truth to powerful institutions when it took tremendous courage and personal sacrifice, inspired me to push past my own doubts and limitations,” Price said.
She said she is her ancestors’ wildest dream and King’s dream manifested.
“Dr. King dreamed that one day we would live in a nation where judgment would be based not by one’s skin color, but by the content of one’s character,” Price said.
One of King’s greatest influences in her life, she said, “is to honor those who fought for me, to have the amazing opportunities I’ve been afforded and, in addition, not to let the color of my skin be an excuse to settle.”
When she faces scorn and naysayers, Price said she is inspired to push forward.
“As we commemorate the life of Dr. King, may we be inspired to inspire others through our great work and stand for what is just. Because you never know how your work will influence generations to come,” she said.
Before Simfukwe’s speech, Hoffert said the Committee to Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King offers an annual scholarship “to local community students who are living the dream of Dr. King, who have overcome something inside of their life.” Scholarship applications are available and will be awarded this spring. The scholarship is made possible by individual and business donations.
Simfukwe was the keynote speaker at the 32nd annual event held at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College. The theme this year was “togetherness.”
Simfukwe was born in London, raised in Zambia, lived his high school years in Australia and came to Grace College, according to Committee Vice President Dr. David Hoffert, who introduced Simfukwe. Simfukwe holds a bachelor of arts in Biblical studies and a Masters of Divinity with a counseling emphasis from Grace.
“One of the reasons I was so thrilled to be a part of this event is because I am an admitted lover of diversity. I love different kinds of people, different kinds of background and different kinds of perspectives,” Simfukwe said. “I blame – as you heard a moment ago – my upbringing for that.”
Growing up and living in a number of different places, Simfukwe said he was forced to interface with different kinds of people, but that made him a richer version of himself because of the different kinds of people he got to meet along the way.
“I love diversity because my upbringing was shaped by diversity,” he said.
In college at Grace, he met his wife, Melissa – a “very white girl from Seattle.” Together, they had two children and later adopted three sisters from Haiti.
“I love diversity because my family is diverse,” he said, adding that he also is the pastor at a predominantly white church. “But it’s made up of a diverse collection of people with different socio-economic backgrounds and different education levels and different abilities. We even – at our church – have New England Patriots fans. We accept all kinds of people.”
He said he loves diversity because his life has been marked and made richer because of it. To champion King’s legacy of diversity is a “personal privilege” to him.
“But, thank you in advance for the freedom to take it even a step further. I love diversity and I’m going to continue to love diversity more and more for a reason so much transcendent to my personal experiences, and frankly, even greater than the great legacy of Dr. King, who we celebrate today,” Simfukwe said. “I love diversity because the God of the universe loves diversity. The God who I believe deeply shaped the forefathers of this great nation, loves diversity. I don’t know if you knew that, but God is passionate about diversity.”
To support his statement, Simfukwe read a passage from the Book of Revelations in the Bible. In Revelations, God allows John to see a glimpse of the future.
The passage from Revelations Chapter 7 verses 9 and 10 read, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”
Simfukwe said what is unmistakingly clear about the passage to John was “it was a sea of people from every conceivable background. From every language and from every tribe and from every ethnicity and from every culture and from every color and people of every frappuccino color were gathered around the throne. Every kind of ability level and socio-economic status, and they were around the throne of God. It was a diverse sea, because I don’t know if you knew this, but God loves diversity.”
He said God is pushing human history toward a collection of people from every conceivable background, color, culture and ethnicity “gathered around the throne.”
“God loves diversity, and I’ve got to say, God doesn’t tolerate diversity. That’s not the same thing. God doesn’t endure diversity. God doesn’t put up with diversity. God insists on it,” Simfukwe said. “... And if you don’t like diversity, you’re going to hate heaven. It’s going to be a drag. It’s going to be this collection of people that you’re interacting with who don’t look like you and don’t think like you necessarily. People who don’t vote like you. People who don’t shop where you shop. Yet here they are, gathered around the throne. God loves diversity.”
The question is, he said, do you?
Simfuke said if you look at the passage a little further, you’ll see that God doesn’t just love diversity. More than that, God loves unity.
“God loves it when diverse people come together in unity,” he said.
He said the natural inclination of humanity is to let our differences divide us, and let our diversity diverge us from each other.
“God’s passion is the complete opposite of that. It is the bringing together of differences into oneness. Unity,” Simfukwe said.
In summer 1963, King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and gave voice to dream of unity and justice. That dream resonated and spread across the world, Simfukwe said.
“I can’t help but believe that one of the reasons Dr. King’s dream caught fire was because it happened to mirror the passionate dream of the King of Kings,” Simfukwe said.
Grace College junior and Black Student Association President Mariah Price also spoke at Monday’s event.
“For millions of African Americans, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as the mouthpiece for justice, racial equality and hope. Through peaceful protests and an emphasis on non-violence, Dr. King bridged the gap between races at a time when America was divided,” Price said.
She said King was a man of great influence and his legacy lives on today. “His steadfast efforts for change, such as boycotts giving the oppressed a voice, and speaking truth to powerful institutions when it took tremendous courage and personal sacrifice, inspired me to push past my own doubts and limitations,” Price said.
She said she is her ancestors’ wildest dream and King’s dream manifested.
“Dr. King dreamed that one day we would live in a nation where judgment would be based not by one’s skin color, but by the content of one’s character,” Price said.
One of King’s greatest influences in her life, she said, “is to honor those who fought for me, to have the amazing opportunities I’ve been afforded and, in addition, not to let the color of my skin be an excuse to settle.”
When she faces scorn and naysayers, Price said she is inspired to push forward.
“As we commemorate the life of Dr. King, may we be inspired to inspire others through our great work and stand for what is just. Because you never know how your work will influence generations to come,” she said.
Before Simfukwe’s speech, Hoffert said the Committee to Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King offers an annual scholarship “to local community students who are living the dream of Dr. King, who have overcome something inside of their life.” Scholarship applications are available and will be awarded this spring. The scholarship is made possible by individual and business donations.
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