Trillia Newbell
About the Author

Trillia Newbell (@trillianewbell) is a wife, mom, and writer who loves Jesus. She is the author of United: Captured by God’s Vision for Diversity (Moody, March 2014).

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things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
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  1. We have a very diverse group of friends because we are fortunate enough to live in a wonderfully diverse community. We embrace it by inviting many people into our home often!

    • That is great, Marci! I think having people in your home is one of the best ways to embrace diversity (and the community around you) as well as teach your kids about the joy and beauty of knowing people who aren’t exactly like you. Thanks for the comment.

    • That is great, Marci! I think having people in your home is one of the best ways to embrace diversity (and the community around you) as well as teach your kids about the joy and beauty of knowing people who aren’t exactly like you.

  2. I’m so glad that you’re addressing this issue!!! It is a subject dear to my heart. I try to appreciate my own racially diverse ancestry, It really helps to realize that I have Native American, African American, Jewish and white all within me–whatever the circumstances that brought that about. I have been a minority in a group situation, and I try to remember what it feels like and what encourages inclusion. Remember the command God gave the Israelites about treating the “strangers” well because they were once strangers in Egypt? I think of that a lot.

  3. Oh man! I’m so excited to read this book! We try our best to teach our kids that God made us all, and no one looks the same. Some of us have dark hair, blue eyes, brown skin, etc. And God made everything GOOD. It’s sin that created what people think is bad. We just try really hard to push the “we’re all created in his image, and that is beautiful.” We’re dealing with little kids right now, so I always love hearing how others teach their kids!

  4. Our children are young, the oldest is three right now. But one way we are trying to teach them about diversity is just by befriending our neighbors from other cultures. We live in a university town and our neighborhood really has a mix of people from other countries so that helps their awareness that not everyone looks the same, eats the same food, etc.

  5. I am probably not the most hospitable neighbor. But, one way I show hospitality is just to simply wave and say hello as we pass on the street. I am always walking my dog around the neighborhood and just being friendly as I pass is where I’m at. We’ve lived here a year now. So, I don’t actually know many of my neighbors.

  6. Before our family moved to a new neighborhood last summer, I prayed for neighbors that we could love and develop a good relationship with. In my mind, imagined a young family with kids. God answered my prayers when we meet our neighbors across the street who are in their 70s. Being their neighbors has provided our family with opportunities to care for them and serve them. What a blessing they have been to our family. (Proud of you, Trillia!)

  7. I just wrote a blog post about this in January – why color blindness is not the answer http://setapartwarriorprincess.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-inter-racial-sisterhood-why-being.html

    I have been incredibly burdened by this issue for a while and I just love that the Spirit is working. I don’t have kids yet, not even married but when I dream of my future home, I dream of kids in different skin colors. In this season I am in, I try to encourage diversity by not being limited to color in my relationships. No predominantly black or white churches, no group of friends without some kind of diversity. I even decided that I would not join the Black Law Students Association. We just have to be intentional about seeking diversity and really wanting to meet people halfway.

    I would so love to win a copy of this book!! <3

  8. we have 4 children, ages 15-27 and we’ve always had people in our home – It’s so important to model hospitality to our children. It can be as simple as popcorn or a cold glass of lemonade. Friends from another state for a couple of days or a chat with a neighbor who is out for a walk. We provided a home for a few weeks for a boy whose daddy was homeless. Kids have walked to our house after school just to hang out, because they were welcome. All kinds of conversations with all kinds of people have taken place around our table or fireplace on our patio, because we were trying to love like Jesus and they found it a safe place. We have been blessed by relationships with so many people.

  9. We’ve always encouraged our daughter to be friends with anyone – and she has. She did not start to “see” color until she hit the later grades of elementary school when we moved to a more rural area. Even though she “sees” it more, it doesn’t affect whether she likes that child – she could care less what ethnicity the child is – she just wants to know if you’re a kind and fun person to be around. Makes a mama’s heart happy 🙂

  10. Well we are a family that lives and breathes diversity! I am white, but my husband is part Irish, part Mexican. Our children are African American. I like to think that our family makeup helps break the ice, so to speak. It’s not that we don’t “see” color, as some claim. We EMBRACE color, every one.

  11. My family also lives diversity. I am Irish/French and my husband was black Hispanic. I must confess that has troubled me that my Evangelic church is “so white”. There is one black family and that’s it. I’ve wondered how to change that and I honestly don’t know how. My hope is that your book will give me insight and ideas.

  12. I pray your same prayer, that my children will also find this book obsolete when they are grown. Amen!

  13. I think we can encourage diversity by reaching out to others in our community and inviting them to special events such as cookouts, potluck suppers, and VBS. We also have regularly held after-school weekly Bible studies which have attracted children from throughout our small community.

    Mary

  14. 1. One of my goals in life is to adopt an orphan, and I truly believe it is a fabulous way to encourage diversity if we are to adopt or foster orphans of different races. It is a beautiful sight, a family interwoven with different races and all in love with each other. An interracial family can teach their community in many ways, especially the small children to recognize the truth that we all are human, we share the same human necessities in life.

  15. I show hospitality to a neighbor ( or anyone ) by always offering my help, leaving fresh eggs on their doorstep, waving when I see them, offering to pick something up for them when I head into town.

  16. I enjoy giving Mom’s and Women hospitality by cooking breakfast for a Mom’s club and Dinner for a Women’s Bunco night.

    I enjoy making these women something that would put a smile on their face after a long day or taking care of their children.

    It makes my heart smile.

  17. I have taught my chdren to treat people with respect not being concerned about their physical appearance. I believe you should judge a book by its cover and believe I have instilled that in them.

  18. I think teaching our kids about other countries and cultures and even about differences in each other, even in our family. And always highlighting that we love and value people because God made people and loves them!

  19. We show our neighbors hospitality by sharing food with them and inviting them over to play games and help them whenever we can.

  20. I think my children “get” diversity better than I … in fact, I think they’re somewhat colorblind. They’re had the privilege of growing up in an area where at least a few of their friends are racially diverse. As we continue to stress to them that it’s what on the inside that matters, they remind us that they often don’t see the color differences that I still see. O God, that I, too, may become colorblind!

  21. I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio. At the time the demographics were roughly half white half black, so I had friends of all shades! I loved it! I also knew that this was how it was supposed to be! My father is a pastor, and he taught all of us that there is no race but the human race. I taught it to my children, and now they teach it to theirs. I never understood prejudice, and I feel that it is better not to!

  22. Our church years ago was diverse. My daughter went to a camp and college that were diverse and now lives in NYC. Can’t get much more diverse than that 🙂

  23. How do you think we might encourage diversity in relationships?
    Take the burden of educating ourselves, in addition to pursuing cross -cultural relationships. As a white woman, I want to understand more of the cultures around me, but if I put all that burden on my friends, I can damage our relationship. I will enter in with huge blind spots and put my friends in the position of either challenging me, or putting up with my ignorance.

    Reading about the history of race relations, as well as important thinkers from other cultures is very important to even know what issues ar important. One starting point, reading this book–i’m hoping to soon! Another idea is to be read the blog post linked above, to understand why being ‘color blind’ might not be the best goal. There are many resources just a search engine away, or a visit to prominent bloggers or magazines to hear another perspective. And mostly, in every situation, practice listening with the goal of understanding!