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| Sojourner Truth Block Print + Kreg Yingst, Black Light: A Faith Forged Through Praise |
"I will not allow my life's light to be determined by the darkness around me." + Sojourner Truth, visionary and advocate for abolition, and civil and women's rights
Isabella Bomfree was born in 1797, a Dutch speaking slave in rural New York. Separated from her family at age nine, she was bought and sold several times. But the spark of the Divine was in her, and when she chose to follow the way of Christ in 1843, she changed her name to Sojourner Truth. From there she boldly up and "walked to freedom" as an itinerant preacher sharing the gospel, advocating for abolition, women's suffrage, and land grants for freed slaves.
Sojourner Truth was a true ezer-warrior. For her, being a woman included sweating in the fields alongside the men, exerting physical strength to plough, plant, and harvest; fighting fierce and terrible battles for her children, and taking up unpopular causes to win justice for slaves and women.
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| "Our Church Speaks featuring Sojourner Truth by Ben Lansing |
Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could heed me! And ain’t I a woman?... I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off into slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman? + Sojourner Truth, Ohio Women's Rights Convention, 1851 A.D.
Sojourner unflinchingly entered any battle Jesus summoned her to fight and did so with every ounce of womanly strength she possessed. She believed embracing the challenges God presents can never diminish womanhood or femininity, but reveals it.
(As a a follower of Jesus, Sojourner) understood that the world revolves around God. Her mission was to center herself on Him – to trust Him and to advance His Kingdom. All women get to do this as ezer-warriors, fighting battles God places in their path (whether it be abolition, civil rights, women's rights, etc.).
God has created women to be warriors, and He stations us on all sorts of battlefronts every day of our lives. There's a Kingdom to build, vast enemy territory to reclaim. With a task this size, God is not about to sign off on any ezer-warrior's retirement or leave of absence.
Whether we realize it or not at such dark moments in our lives like Sojourner losing 7 out of her 13 children to slavery and still fighting for abolition and civil rights her entire life, we like Sojourner Truth are mission-critical to God's purposes for the world.
+ Kreg Yingst + Carolyn Custis James
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| Grace Lynne Haynes with mural of "Sojourner Truth, Founding Mother" in Newark, NJ |
Previous Black History Month posts:
Next Black History Month post:
+ Identity & Hope in the Bold Story of God
+ Identity & Hope in the Bold Story of God
"This depiction is that you need to know
when (Jesus) is looking at you,
He is saying
‘hey, I died for you because I love you.
Anything you’re going through,
I’ve got your back’ ...
If you look at those eyes,
He’s looking at you,
letting you know,
‘I have your back’.”
+ Gerald Roulette
when (Jesus) is looking at you,
He is saying
‘hey, I died for you because I love you.
Anything you’re going through,
I’ve got your back’ ...
If you look at those eyes,
He’s looking at you,
letting you know,
‘I have your back’.”
+ Gerald Roulette
May God's Kingdom come, His will be done.
Que le Royaume de Dieu vienne,
que sa volonté soit faite.
愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。
Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên.
Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino!
🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
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