Dear Child, Yet Within the Womb

Derrick Charles and Rebekah Good Charles are the representatives for MCC Nicaragua. They are from the United States and are expecting the birth of their third child, in Nicaragua. Derrick wrote this song for their unborn baby. In his words:

Over these last few months there have been some movements that have fanned the flames of xenophobic nationalism, in the US and abroad: the Trump campaign, responses to refugees, and the Brexit vote, for example.

With this swimming in my head, it dawned on me that the baby we are expecting will be born beyond his/her parents’ nation’s borders, and it will likely be some time before he/she becomes fully acquainted with the settings that are most familiar to the rest of his/her family. So this song comes out of a sense that, as with any baby’s birth, there is a new opportunity to understand Family and Community and how we belong to one another around the globe.

Dear child, yet within the womb
Derrick Charles

Dear child, yet within the womb
Let me tell you a story just a year old
of you mother, father, sister, and brother
who held onto the wings of a great bird
came to live in another land
struggled to understand
but sitting and listening would hear God’s heart
beating in our new neighbors’ hearts

And now you’re to join us
You’ll have a place with us
and a place with brothers and sisters near and far
For God’s kingdom knows no borders
God’s kingdom is a union of hearts

Dear child, yet within the womb
Let me tell you a story 500 years old
when citizen meant Christian, and infant baptism meant citizen
and believers gathered to read and understand the word
breaking ties with the state
joining a community of faith
water over Blaurock on his knees
choosing to follow the Prince of Peace

Dear child, yet within the womb
Let me tell you a story 2000 years old
of Jesus, child refugee, and rejected in his home town in Galilee
said the Kingdom of heaven is coming
welcomed the helpless and the poor
said that’s who God’s kingdom is for
Drinking from the Samaritan woman’s well,
said our holy mountains are too small, God’s love is for all