As we are in the midst of the 83rd annual Missions Conference, in a posture of expectancy, I notice several layers of sentiment that make up our expectation as a Biola community. We have an excitement for spiritual revival, and for temporary relief from the demands of academia. We have an earnestness to open our hearts to be filled with compassion for people groups with seemingly enormous needs, and even an anticipation to receive a call from the Lord to go minister to said people groups. But in all of the emotions and the flurry of preparation, I wonder if we’ve even noticed that the nations are here in our midst.
They are here at Biola as international students. In the city of Los Angeles, virtually every ethnicity and every language spoken in the world has representatives — immigrants. And I am sure that most, if not all, of us can agree that local and urban missions are equally as important as missions abroad. Both are interdependent, and, more importantly, both are a part of the Great Commission. One needs to understand the culture and the people of the destination country while still at home before going out to minister to them abroad.
Ministering to the local community
If the ends of the earth, the nations, have come to our “Judea” and our “Samaria” why is our fervor consistently for the people outside the borders of America? We get so excited to go to another country to share Jesus. But somehow our excitement disappears if we accidentally drive through South Los Angeles.
Have we become enamored with “going”? In other words, have we become so in love with the idea of leaving America that we’ve reduced international missions to tourism? How invested in the Thai culture do we become in the months leading up to our departure for Thailand? Do we immerse ourselves in a local Thai community, asking them to share their stories, their pain and their hope for their homeland?
I’m not so sure a couple of “ethnic” meals with our fellow mission team members will truly prepare us for spending a couple of weeks outside the comforts of America. We have so much to learn from our brothers and sisters who have emigrated to us from the very countries we are so set on going out to minister to. Maybe if we spent quality time in predominantly Spanish-speaking areas, such as Boyle Heights, truly engaging with the people and the environment, we just might sift through our initial feelings of excitement in going to Mexico. We just might feel a discomfort we would inevitably feel in Mexico, and learn to be comfortable with that discomfort in our own country, before experiencing major culture shock upon arriving there.
Our mission field is here
Being from an Ethiopian family, I appreciate those who have a burden for people who are suffering in overseas countries. What I am cautioning is this: Don’t fool yourself into thinking that the indigenous people of Kenya or Indonesia are thousands of dollars and two plane rides away. They are here. They are among us. They need Christ also. And they will end up taking Christ back to their home countries and become effective workers in and for the kingdom.
Let us not allow distance to romanticize our vision of what it will be like to “go to them.” If we will not be stretched and challenged and made uncomfortable in our home — America — by the people who will stretch and challenge and make us uncomfortable in the country we are going to, then good luck when we get there. Whether we are attending to the needs of the homeless on Skid Row or in the slums of Mumbai, we need to make sure our hearts are in a posture of learning, bent toward forming relationships, not of attempting to “fix their problems” in the limited time that we are there.
