"I'm a Christian because missionary deaconesses left Germany to evangelize German immigrants (most of whom were already nominally Christian — including my grandparents) in the 'reached' city of Philadelphia in the 1930s."
The text from my friend punctuated a few weeks of mental gnawing about calling. I had been feeling a twinge of guilt that I was called to Spain, a so-called "reached" country. What about the unreached people groups? Does anyone care about them?
God does, of course. And I keep having to remind myself that he will call people to go to those unreached.
As for Spain, the same friend from the text previously told me, "don't feel guilty about being called to a reached country. Anywhere where there are people who haven't heard is unreached." Word. And in any case, Spain is becoming increasingly re-unreached, like most of Europe.
It's disheartening for me when people classify missionaries as "those [weird] people" who go overseas. If you truly believe the gospel, you can't help but share it very naturally through your life. "Leaking Jesus" was what my former campus minister called it. In many cases now, mere geography is the dividing line between missionary (if they're even permitted to be identified as such in their country) and regular old Christian.
What I'm not saying is that everyone should move across the world. Staying, praying, supporting, and reaching out in your own neighborhood is equally critical as moving overseas. The church needs both. But let's make sure we have both.
The text from my friend punctuated a few weeks of mental gnawing about calling. I had been feeling a twinge of guilt that I was called to Spain, a so-called "reached" country. What about the unreached people groups? Does anyone care about them?
God does, of course. And I keep having to remind myself that he will call people to go to those unreached.
As for Spain, the same friend from the text previously told me, "don't feel guilty about being called to a reached country. Anywhere where there are people who haven't heard is unreached." Word. And in any case, Spain is becoming increasingly re-unreached, like most of Europe.
It's disheartening for me when people classify missionaries as "those [weird] people" who go overseas. If you truly believe the gospel, you can't help but share it very naturally through your life. "Leaking Jesus" was what my former campus minister called it. In many cases now, mere geography is the dividing line between missionary (if they're even permitted to be identified as such in their country) and regular old Christian.
What I'm not saying is that everyone should move across the world. Staying, praying, supporting, and reaching out in your own neighborhood is equally critical as moving overseas. The church needs both. But let's make sure we have both.
