I was two years old when my family uprooted from Dayton and moved into the rich farm country near Germantown, Ohio. My parents were impressed, after studying the Spirit of Prophecy, to raise their children in a rural setting away from the big city. Ours was a little 20-acre farm which taught me many precious lessons.

At first, a large African American family was not welcome in the area occupied by transplanted German farmers. A small contingent of them arrived one day to “run us off the land.” Well, my mom, being a transplanted Kentuckian, was to have none of that. She convinced them quite forcefully that we belonged.

Some years later, I transferred from the Adventist church school in Dayton to the Germantown public school. There were many challenges for me there, but slowly the Christian commitment of these hardy people began to open their hearts to me. My school days at Germantown remain for me some of the very best days of growing up.

I am a joiner, and so I joined the Boys Glee Club, the choir, the marching band, and the orchestra. I became chief justice of the Germantown High School Supreme Court, and vice president of my senior class.

My very best friend in the entire world at that time was Bob. We did everything together. We stayed in each other’s homes. He even helped me dig a septic tank system for our old farmhouse when we put in running water and flush toilets. I reunited with Bob a few years ago down in Orlando, Florida. It had been 40 years!

My alma mater invited me back on two different occasions to deliver the baccalaureate and commencement addresses. I have preached in every church in Germantown except one. That would include the Methodist, United Methodist, Church of Christ, United Brethren, Reformed, and Baptist churches.

In a community so diverse, what commonality brought us together? Well, it was Jesus, of course. True Christians cannot blindly accommodate racial prejudice. The love of Christ compels us to take a closer look—to seek a deeper understanding of our fellow man. And when we do, we are likely to discover someone very similar to ourselves, with all the attendant fears, hopes, and dreams.

My old buddy, Bob, told me that he and his wife, Dolly, are looking seriously at joining the Seventh-day Adventist Church! Now won’t that just be the icing on the cake? It may have taken more than 50 years for the testimony of a little Black boy in a German community to bear fruit, but can’t you just hear Heaven rejoicing?

Put away your foolish pride and prejudice. We are Christians. This is a good month to start the journey that will culminate in Heaven.