Elizabeth, BJU AlumnusI grew up on the mission field in Cameroon, Africa, and missionary biographies were a staple in my home. I remember sitting on the edge of my seat as I read Rosalind Goforth’s account of escaping China during the Boxer rebellion, shedding tears with Anne Judson as she buried her first child in Burma, cheering Mary Slessor on as she pounded a hippopotamus with her frying pan in Africa, and praising God with Darlene Rose in a prison in Japan. So, I guess it’s no surprise that I’ve wanted to do missions ever since junior high. When I went to Bob Jones University, I chose to major in elementary education, because I knew that would be something I could use on the mission field. While I was there, I was heavily involved in Missions Advance. I loved learning about missions all around the world; I remember hearing missionaries speak from India, Philippines, Yemen, South Africa, and France, to name a few! When we didn’t have a speaker, we would have prayer requests listed for different missionaries and parts of the world. After the presentations were done, we would all scoot our chairs in little groups and pray. Sitting in those plastic chairs, listening to the murmurs of people praying all around me, and lifting my own heart up in prayer gave me a taste of true gospel advance. I knew God was working even as we prayed. Even though there were so many other things I could be doing (and yes, there were times I skipped and did those other things!), I never regretted it when I went.
Fast forward a couple years to about three weeks ago when I took a survey type trip to a restricted access country with my one year old and husband (Yeah, a lot can change in a couple of years… let’s just say Missions Advance is a good place not only to pray, but also get to know your future special someone!). My husband and I are interested in missions to a restricted access country, so we spent about two and a half weeks visiting “workers” in a predominantly Muslim country. We rented a car so we could travel to several different cities and get a feel for the whole country. During one of these trips to a nearby city, as I watched the countryside fly by my window, I started to reflect (as somehow long car rides tend to make you do) on what we had been able to do and see so far. I was struck by how hard it would be to do missions here in this country; the people did not seem open to the gospel. Even after years of service, missionaries there only met with two or three believers. I wondered, “Would it be better to go to a place where people were more open to the gospel, where they wanted to hear about Jesus? The people here just seem so anti-Christian and…. closed. Islam is everything.” These thoughts troubled me and made me wonder if we were right for this country. The next day, I read Matthew 8-9 for my devotions. As I read, I noticed a theme unfolding: But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed… When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith…” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. (Matt. 8: 8,10,13) And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. (Matt. 8:25-26) And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven. (Matt. 9:2) And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” (Matt. 9:27-29) As I read, I thought about my troubled questions from the day before. I pondered, where was my faith? Do I, like the blind men, believe that He is able to do this? How can I do anything but to echo their response of “Yes Lord”? Without faith, it is impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6). Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). Jesus was pleased by the faith of people on earth. He is pleased by my faith that He really can draw people to himself and save them in a closed, Muslim country. Since we have gotten back to States, I’ve continued to reflect on how God uses faith to reach closed countries and how prayer is inseparably linked with that faith. In 1887, the Goforths, missionaries to China, were appointed the task of reaching a new province in China with the gospel. It was one of the most anti-foreign provinces in all of China. When Hudson Taylor heard of their new mission field, he wrote to Mr. Goforth, “Brother, if you would enter that province, you must go forward on your knees" (Rosalind Goforth, How I Know God Answers Prayer). If I want to go to a restricted access country, or do any type of missions, it must be preceded by and saturated with faith-filled prayer. Now that I’ve graduated from BJU, and missions advance, prayer group, society prayer meetings, etc. are gone, I pray a lot less for missions. I’ve had to ask myself, am I praying for the lost? More than that, am I praying with faith? Not only for missions but what about for unsaved family members? For some reason, it seems like it takes more faith to pray for the salvation of an unsaved family member or friend than for hundreds of Muslims across the world! Am I praying for the lost and acting on that faith? What about you? Are you praying for the lost? Are you praying with faith? Are you willing to act on that faith and share the gospel—across the world, on an extension, to your unsaved friend or family member? Maybe you, like me, feel inadequate. Maybe you believe that God could save people in some missionary presentation, but not your unsaved grandfather. Maybe you believe God could use Hudson Taylor or some brave missionaries from the past in the dark jungles of Africa, but you wonder, “Can he really use me today? No cannibals, prisons, frying pans, boxer rebellions, but just ordinary me in ordinary Greenville, SC?” When God asked Gideon to save Israel from Midian, Gideon responded: “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” God’s response? The Lord answered, “I will be with you.” (Jud. 6:15-16) What more could we ask for? The Lord will be with us! With God all things are possible. Where is our faith?
0 Comments
Medical Missions OutreachMedical Missions Outreach seeks to use medicine as a tool for evangelism and church planting.
__________ Every good story has four things–a hero, a villain, a damsel in distress, and a guide. That only matters if you happen to like stories. If you realize, story principles run through life, and deep down we all wish to hear a meaningful story with a good ending; about someone who is helped, who is saved, who fights a problem and comes through. The names Nelson, Maria, Leo, and Flora probably don’t mean much to you. But to people who’ve traveled with MMO, they are the main characters of miraculous stories about God bringing hurting people to Himself. These are stories of needs being met, pain being resolved, and eyes being opened to the ultimate dignity and worth that is found in being a child of God. When you travel with MMO, you’re a part of stories like these. We collaborate with missionaries to custom-build each trip especially for you. When you sign up for a trip, you sign up to work toward a better story. This is the story of a missionary working overseas to build their church, of a patient living in a village without medical help and without the hope of Christ, and of you–a student looking to use their professional skills to help other people in an eternal way, to help them find hope. Would you pray about being a part of a story like this with MMO? We would love to have you join us on a trip in 2022! Click here to see our 2022 trip schedule and join us in telling the best story–the story of a needy soul discovering the healing and hope that comes in Christ! Shadrach Nyeko, BJU Seminary StudentBefore going to the States for the first time in 2013, I had a lot of expectations that may not have been very accurate. For example, the picture I had in mind concerning the entire United States was that of New York City—skyscrapers everywhere and busy streets full of people! But when I got off the plane in Memphis, Tennessee, I knew that I was wrong. For me, and probably for most new international students, coming to the States was extremely exciting. But that excitement is not without some measure of anxiety and fear of the unknown. So, what should you expect as an incoming international student? And how can you engage the American culture in such a way as to impact and be impacted for the glory of Christ?
Expect some cultural differences. As you interact and observe American life and culture, expect that some things are going to be different from your own culture; and that is okay. The food is going to taste a little different. I had to get used to eating cheese in almost every food. Expect to be a little bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of options at any given restaurant. Let a friend help you. The American idea of personal space might be surprising. As a general rule, Americans expect a lot more personal space and label more stuff as personal. So, the best thing to do is to always ask before using an item that does not belong to you. Time management might be stricter. No need to get discouraged by these differences. Embrace what is required of you. Interact with people. Don’t isolate yourself. It is very easy to take the easy way out and stand aloof, uninvolved, and unconcerned. But the benefits to that approach are few as compared to engaging and interacting with people—all kinds of people. Perhaps you have found a friend with whom you share a common culture. The tendency is to hang out with only that friend to the exclusion of anybody else. Isolating yourself, whether individually or in a closed group of your comfort, will prove to be detrimental in the long run, and it will not give you the opportunity to maximumly impact the people God has put around you, or to grow to your full potential in all aspects of life. Learn by observation. When you interact with people around you—whether its in class, in the dorms, during co-curricular activities like sports and music, in restaurants, or in church—, you get the opportunity to observe what the norms are. As a result, you don’t feel out of place after a while. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Also, in most cases, you can google words, phrases, or idiomatic sayings that you don’t understand. Sometimes people speak with movie references, so if it sounds appropriate, you can google those for the context too. Be careful, however, not to copy everything you see or hear. Use your common sense and Biblical convictions to sort through the things you observe. Focus on your academic task. It is easy to become so busy with the numerous activities on and off campus and, consequently, devote less time to academics. This can be detrimental because as a student, your first priority is your studies. You are fully responsible for getting all your work done within the given deadlines. This means that you will have to pick and choose what you can and cannot do. I personally felt pressed for time playing for the collegiate soccer team, coupled with ministry class and church-related responsibilities. In hindsight, however, I feel like that experience prepared me well for my incredibly busy life right now (planting a church and trying to make progress on a PhD). You will have to plan well for your time, not neglecting time for rest and time for prayer. Recognize your Christian responsibility. Wherever you are, as long as you are a believer, you possess the privilege and responsibility to continue growing spiritually and to help others to do the same. You are still responsible for making disciples even when you have assignments pending. This means that you cannot afford to just find a comfortable pace and coast your way through. Survival is not the end game. Attempt to make an impact for Christ by living out an exemplary Christian testimony. Find a local church and commit yourself to doing any work of the ministry that is available. Reach out and be a blessing to someone. The rewards will not be insignificant. In the end, all people are just people. There is no need to get caught up in the cultural differences. God’s grace is ever-present and sufficient to enable you to thrive even as an international student. Remember to enjoy your time in college—make friends, laugh, do fun things (that are acceptable). Consider your time at BJU to be a gift from God! |
*If RSS feed is not working for you, please add it to your app or software manually by adding this url:
www.bjucgo.com/blog/feed The CGO BlogWritten by the CGO staff, with guest posts from students and other faculty/staff at BJU to provide thought leadership for missions in a new millennium. Categories
All
Archives
April 2022
|