catapult magazine

Read this issue’s Bible study verses: ../issues/backIssue.cfm?issueid=27#study

What is our responsibility as Christians spreading the Word in foreign countries? What is the best way to evangelize in a culture different from our own? How can we respect another’s culture while sharing the God who transcends political boundaries?

i wanted to add a question to this already-loaded study. as i was searching for the word “foreign,” i noticed a distinct shift in the way the word was used from the OT to the NT. foreigners in the OT were generally regarded as enemies, invaders, rarely associated with and never to be married. in the NT, there’s a disctinct emphasis on embracing foreigners and on the idea that we are all foreigners/aliens as followers of God here on earth.

why this shift? how does this shift help us better understand our responsibility as Christians in the era of “now but not yet” that is being discussed on in the Seventh Day study?

So I think built into this question is an understanding of “foreign countries” as foreign to North Americans. Or just foreign to whatever nation we are from, or foreign to Christianity?

Our responsibility is to evangelize people foreign to Christianity. Where do we find these people? Deep jungles in Africa and across the street from our house.

Why are western Christians needed to evangelize in foreign countries? How many countries are there that don’t have Christians who could be witnessing to one another. My limited experience in Latin America has been that it is much like our own culture – people have a rough familiarity with the Bible, but really don’t understand the gospel; what Christianity is all about.

Sometimes I am amazed at the amounts of money that are spent mobilizing foreign missionaries when the situation around us is much the same – people have heard about Christ but don’t want to follow Him.

It just doesn’t seem very natural to go to a place for mission work when there are already Christians there who should be witnessing to those around them. Sometimes, it seems like it’s just about the adventure.

I know this post is all over the board and not coherent, but anybody got any thoughts?

Whenever I think missions I think about a group native Nigerians who came on a missions program to the United States. It was sadly ironic for my little Sheboygan CRC community, but one heck of a lesson.

I kind of agree with Dave, even though (or maybe because) I kind of was one of those people who went overseas to do “missions.” I wouldn’t have (and still try not to) called myself a missionary—I was a teacher. When I’m honest, I went because of the adventure—I wanted to teach overseas, and I wanted to go somewhere completely new.

The only real need I can see for “foreign” missionaries, as dave has defined it, is for people with specialized skills. I can see where organizations like Doctors without Borders, or agricultural specialists, or engineers or teacher trainers would be very useful in a “mission field.” That seems to be more of a true “mission.” I’m not sure it’s any less intrusive though.

I’m really conflicted on this yet…

I was actually hoping someone could take up the other side on this one – I spent half of last year in Peru teaching and plan to spend December in Argentina working with a missionary there. It’s one of the most enjoyable things for me to go to Latin America but I question whether I’m being effective and usefull or just thrilled with the adventure and making myself feel good. Somebody feel free to jump in with the other side here.

“Go ye into all the world, making disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
Anytime we go, we risk the danger of bringing western culture and our mores, prejudices, ways with us, yet to not go is to refute the command.
I think we still need to go and that God calls some of us to do just that…yes, to different countries, yes, to our neighborhoods and churches even.
How we go and how we be there are the issues…I think missions as a whole have come a long way since my grandparents were missionaries in India. Much of what I read and hear about now regarding missions in other countries is that we join with and/or disciple native Christians to disciple/teach/preach/reach their own people with the Gospel. And yet, we musn’t become lackadaisical in sharing the Gospel!
Dave, it’s good to ask those questions of yourself and good for us always to look hard at why we’re where we are and how we may be impacting others. But can we ever go wrong with experiencing another culture and letting it impact us? Is being thrilled with the adventure wrong? Doesn’t this experience make you a richer person? Doesn’t having relationships with others in a foreign country give us a bigger view of God’s world…God’s grace…our small place in it all?
I think to go is good. I think to go is to obey a command. I think to go humbly is imperative. I think to go with servant heart, love, and the Gospel in our words and actions and teaching is key.
Dave, I think that being thrilled with the adventure and feeling good would be positives…I don’t know many missionaries that aren’t passionate about being where they are…and I can’t imagine a more ineffective missionary than one who would be there out of a sense of duty…don’t you think God gives us not only the calling but the passionate and enthusiastic heart and gift for going and doing?
I find hospitals and preschool classrooms and middle schoolers and churches to be an adventure…I love going into all of these places and feel God calls me there..they make me feel good too.

This thread touches on some unresolved questions I’ve had about missions. It seems that people learn more in teaching than in being taught. Is the same true for missions? Do missionaries gain more than those who are receiving the ministry of missionaries?

There’s no doubt that mission trips can be effective in the process of discipleship. But what happens when the “missionaries” gain more than the people being helped? What if missionaries find that they are only perpetuating the need for mission aid? I guess I’m thinking here more in terms of missions that build (and as we did one year, re-build/repair) houses, work on projects, and do a vacation Bible school—in other words, temporary mission trips.