The Gift of Not Being First

“Did you really just get back from Israel? Those pictures you posted looked recent.”

I’ve been asked this question multiple times in conversation with classmates this week. My answer usually consists of some sort of affirmation about traveling to Israel in the middle of my last semester of school, plus a good deal of bragging on my wonderful professors who allowed me to take off classes the entirety of last week.

I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of flying into this country. The cobalt blue of the Mediterranean, bookended by the skyscrapers in Tel Aviv, is my welcome sign. This was my third time in Israel just this year, and before the year is over, I will go back yet again. I have Passages to thank for these opportunities. My first time there was as a participant on one of their educational trips, which included programming to deepen my Christian faith and my understanding of the modern-day miracle of Israel, of the current geopolitical realities of the region that often aren’t portrayed holistically in the media. As a journalism major, the latter was of special interest to me.

My second time in Israel (May of this year), I went as a fellow (peer leader) for this educational trip with my school, helping facilitate the kind of transformative experience I had when I went two years before. Again, I returned (somewhat unexpectedly) this past July to serve as the media coordinator for the Aramaic camp in Jish, Israel, with Shadi Khalloul and Neveen Elias, leaders of the Israeli Christian Aramaic Association and of the Aramean youth movement.

A Christian leader, a Jewish rabbi, and a Druze sheikh sign an agreement to live together peacefully in their community in the Golan Heights.

And now, recently: I was invited by the prime minister’s press office to attend the 3rd annual Christian Media Summit in Jerusalem, November 3-6. Over 100 Christian media professionals from across the globe met to learn more about Israel and how to tell her story in a holistic way. The delegation of students, of which I was a part, had the opportunity to meet those talented, admirable leaders and influencers in media who have paved highways and interstates for the next generation of Christian media professionals. 

I’m reminded of the way Jesus took in a delegation of 12 inexperienced individuals with raw potential. He loved them, mentored them, challenged them, and eventually entrusted to them what belonged to Him. If there’s any way to have a primary takeaway from a trip like this (there’s really not), it would be the gratitude I feel for the privilege of not being first. 

Today, there’s such importance placed on originality, on individuality, on being the trendsetter, the leader and not the follower. But I’ve realized that to be handed something valuable and taught by the inventor how to best use it is a gift in and of itself; that I don’t have to be the inventor; that being a trailblazer—in any industry—isn’t always as glamorous as it sounds. I’m grateful for the sacrifice of those who have gone before me in my faith and in my professional pursuits.

The attendees of the summit last week have experiences and successes that in my current season of life seem out of reach. But interacting with them and listening to the wisdom they’ve acquired from the years and years they’ve spent earning those experiences and successes reminds me that it’s a beautiful thing to learn from those who in some ways were first, and that one day we students and young media professionals will be in the position to share the wisdom we’ve gained in the years of experience we have yet to earn. And that will be such a gift too.

Student delegation, Christian Media Summit