Celebrating your passport country’s holidays can be challenging, especially when you live where certain ingredients are hard to find, and you are the new person in the group. This is where I found myself a while ago. We were invited to join a group of families for Thanksgiving. They all knew each other well. They had celebrated this holiday together, some in the group for years. And they were all from the southern part of the US, which means excellent cooks (or at least that was my assumption back then).  

I do not remember the food or the events that took place that day. Was there a craft for the kids? Did the guys watch a football game? I honestly do not remember, but what I do remember was very simple and yet profound.  

As I was wiping the tables down, I became quite aware how a group of ordinary women united for one purpose. We each had a “job” to do. We each had giftings. Some of us were really good cooks. Some were creative with decorations. Others were good at telling great stories while we worked together. Some encouraged. Others did the dishes and swept the floors. Our purpose was fellowship.  

In Romans, Paul’s original audience was the Christians in Rome. But, of course, as God’s Word is relevant today, there is something for us as well. As global workers, we are a member of our sending church, our organization, and even our church in our host countries. We may know of other workers from other organizations in cities of our host countries. But do we feel that we are members with them? Do we work together for the same purpose? Without pointing fingers, I think we tend to sometimes compare outreaches, strategies, focus groups, and do not get me started on financial status. And honestly, there have been times I have witnessed imaginary flags planted and raised claiming territories for organizations.  

No one wins in the Comparison Game. No. One. But how do we live in unity amongst other global workers? Paul lets us know - stay humble. Romans 12:3 says, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” And in that moment, we take ourselves out of the Comparison Game, and in unity we focus on God and His purpose. And that, my fellow sisters in Christ, is beautiful.