Editorial: Behold
January was quite busy for me. The dawning of 2025 brought with it the dawning of my graduation year. I rang in the new year with my family in New York state, then drove back to Kentucky to fly out for Nairobi. I’m so grateful for that time. Despite the snow storms in the States, our whole team made it safely to East Africa. We spent two wonderful weeks receiving hospitality, teaching, preaching, learning, and enjoying the creational beauty in Kenya and Tanzania. Then, by the time we returned to our respective places, the new/old administration had taken office in D.C. Altogether, these events produced a rather strange month.
Some people religiously choose a word to focus on at the beginning of each year. I’m not usually one of those people, but the beauty, strangeness, and undertones of dread that defined my January moved me to join the trend. Based on the title of this piece, you may have figured out that this word is “behold.” I know it seems random, but it suits most of the things I mentioned above and, I believe, will be a good point of reflection going forward.
A Google search of “behold” will give you a host of definitions that generally point to observing something or someone visually. However, it is much more than just looking: to behold is to be deeply affected by that person or thing. You behold when the sight before you is awe-inspiring, something that demands to be looked at not only with the eyes in your head, but with the eyes of your heart.
This Christmas, the song “Behold Him” by Paul Baloche and Michael Wong kept coming to mind, especially the refrain:
Jesus, Son of God, Messiah
The Lamb, the roaring Lion
Oh, be still and behold Him
Our culture has a hard time being awed enough to behold anything, God included, mostly because we fail to be still. I’m grateful to have had such stillness – reminders to behold Him – thrust upon me recently.
While in Tanzania, we had the opportunity to spend a couple of days on safari. In Serengeti National Park, we witnessed a group of elephants crossing the road right next to our vehicle. I majorly underestimated the enormity and majesty of these quiet giants until that moment. Everything we saw was amazing, but the magnitude of the Great Migration was unparalleled: thousands of wildebeest and zebras dotting the horizon as far as the eye could see and beyond. What other God would move so many creatures to band together and migrate? Behold Him.
The next day, we moved into Ngorongoro National Reserve. I had never heard of this before, and I had no idea what to expect. I was moved into jaw-dropping awe. Ngorongoro is a massive crater, about 12 miles in diameter. It’s lush and vast – so vast that from the top, you can’t see the herds of animals that populate the bottom. What kind of God allows extreme beauty to emerge where a volcano once spewed forth death? Behold Him.
I share uncertainty with some of my brothers and sisters about the trajectory of the U.S. Many people are fearful of what the future holds. I imagine my own future hangs in the balance: how can I minister well in an age of such vitriol and divisiveness? I wish I did not have to graduate into such a climate. In the end, I know we need committed pastors more than ever, but I also know I cannot do it alone. Be still, and know that He is God. Be still and behold Him.
This article is by Julia Hotchkiss, Alumni Office Student Worker.
Dr. Willis Hotchkiss was a missionary to Kenya around 1900. He is by extension the founder of Africa Gospel Church Kenya. Is Julia Hotchkiss related to him in any way?
Interesting question! My dad has done quite a bit of work with our family history, and I don’t remember hearing about a Willis. However, I’ve asked him about it and will see what he says.