Mission of Faith
By Samuel Ngala
Last year, as I was coming out of a Burmese refugee home in Lansing, Michigan, I met Mohammed1 who came a few years ago to the United States with his family. Fierce fighting in his native land of Iraq drove him out of his country. Then, I came across Fatima1, who had left her homeland of Somalia with her family due to ongoing civil-war, drought and starvation. Next, there was Ibrahim1 and his family who had escaped his homeland of Bosnia because of massacre committed by those who claimed to be Christians. I asked myself, “What would Christ want me to do to reach out to God’s children that are living around me?” Back then, I was enjoying my Sabbaths, fellowshipping and worshipping with youth, young adults and church members at the Seventh-day Adventist church in South Haven, Michigan.
I remember, two years back, sitting on a bus with foreign college students from Eastern Europe who were studying in South Bend, Indiana. Would not it be beautiful for our Adventist families to adopt foreign students or foreign exchange students while they are studying here in North America? This would be exciting mission work for our Adventist families! Then, I think of thousands of Cambodians, Hmongs, Laotians, and Vietnamese who had escaped the death, the reign of Pol Pot and wars in Southeast Asia. Imagine thousands of them embracing the loving, caring and glorious Christ as their Savior!
In cities and towns I come across Indians, Chinese, Pakistanis, Arabs, individuals and families from Central Asia, children of God from the deserts of Middle East, others from Central and South America and those from northern Africa. They live in large urban centers like New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Detroit, St. Paul, Fort Wayne and also in smaller cities like Utica, Holland, Fort Smith, and Anchorage. Who is going to reach out to them if you are not going to heed Christ’s call for laborers?
We have many missionaries that have risked their lives to cross oceans and jungles to reach out to people groups in foreign lands who have never yet heard of Christ. How ironic it is that many of us are stubbornly refusing to enter modern-day concrete jungles that are in our cities teeming with thousands of refugees and immigrants whose souls are perishing every day. Many of them live in such poor and tough neighborhoods that many of us do not feel comfortable and safe enough to serve. By Christ’s strength that He promised to us, do we dare to venture into these neighborhoods with Christ’s message of healing, love, grace and compassion?
We cannot preach freely and reach out openly to share about Christ in countries like Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Tibet, China, Bhutan, Nepal, Burma, Saudi Arabia, Laos, Vietnam and so forth. Because we cannot share the gospel openly, God has brought these very same people to our doorsteps so that we can reach out to them. They in turn can reach out to their people in their homeland in their language, culture and context.
If Christ is to come as a refugee or an immigrant to our church during our Sabbath worship program as one who cannot speak English, would He feel accepted, loved, and taken care of by us who declare to have the truth and the health message? Many of the refugees and immigrants around us will not step into our churches and evangelistic meetings due to cultural, language and worldview barriers. As Christ did, we will have to meet them and serve them where they are instead of waiting for them to come to our churches and evangelistic meeting tents.
As Christians, there are many things we can do. When you see refugees and immigrants in your work place, in your school, in your neighborhood, or when coming to your church, don’t just walk away—approach them. Introduce yourself. Ask them who they are, where they are from, and how they are doing. Show them through your thoughts, words, and actions how much you care for them in small things and great matters. Many of these refugees and immigrants are tired of how they have been ill treated by those around them. Many of them are hungry for Christ’s presence. Many of these refugees and immigrants have gone through horrible events that they do not even want to talk about. Many of them who are believers are about ready to give up their faith in Christ. You may be the very person God is calling to strengthen and encourage them.
By serving the refugees and immigrants, your faith will grow. You can serve them through a supper club, gardening club, health club, mothers’ club, sports club, kids club, Adventist Community Center, Pathfinder club and in any way the Lord guides you. By serving them, you will be blessed and your horizons will grow. Why don’t you bring the 10/40 Window2 into your home? You can take the initiative to reach out through your church or family—today.
1Names have been changed for safety.
2The 10/40 Window refers to a rectangular region of the world which contains 60 percent of the world’s population, largely untouched by the gospel. See www.adventistmission.org/article.php?id=2.
Excerpts taken from an article printed in the September 2011 issue of the Lake Union Herald.
See http://www.lakeunionherald.org/103/9/42643.html