Americans rarely think in terms of “tribes” or “casts.” However, global workers in other nations and cultures often work with people who are accustomed to a lifestyle that revolves around these classifications. My friend, Linda, recently served in one such African country. Her story shines new meaning onto verses such as Revelation 5:9 and 7:9 where John describes the “great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and people and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands” worshipping Christ together. 

The school was holding its first-ever Traditional Day. The morning’s celebration would honor the country’s 72 tribes through dance and drama. Professional drummers had arrived, and students wore traditional tribal attire for the event. 

A 6th-grade girl dressed in her beautiful tribal costume approached one of the short-term global workers serving at her school. Amidst the excitement mingled with chaos in the schoolyard, as desks were hauled outside for visiting family and friends who would attend, she stopped momentarily to ask what she had probably wanted to ask all week. “What tribe are you?”  

Known as a Mzungu (white person) with white hair, pale skin, and blue eyes, it was evident that she was not African! The question, bravely asked by a shy student, surprised my American friend. 

“What tribe are you?” Should the visiting global worker describe her mother’s German heritage and answer that she was from the German tribe? Should she mention that her father’s side of the family had immigrated to the United States from Ireland and Sweden? Could a student from this poor, isolated village grasp an explanation of the American “melting pot”? Not knowing any dances or traditions to share from her “home country,” she looked at the girl and responded. “I don’t have a tribe.”  

Pondering the student’s question and her own response after the event ended, she wished she had replied, “I am a child of God. I represent the High King of Heaven.” Serving cross-culturally far from home, the team was an extension of the identity of the One True God they chose to serve. And so are we!