Like any other day, it was simply a time to connect with local missions leaders from our South Carolina Baptist Convention churches to talk about what God was doing in their churches and community to bring himself glory. But on this day, something happened that changed me and my ministry focus for good.
TerryThe waitress at a local Chinese restaurant approached our table and with a thick Asian accent asked what we would like to order. Following the exchange of pleasantries with her, we quickly ordered and then returned to our conversation of how God wanted to see people in this community come to know him. As we talked, I couldn’t help but notice that every employee in the restaurant was of Asian descent. This recognition brought out my curiosity.
I then looked at the missions leaders around the table and asked a simple question. “How many Asians live in this area?” The answer still astounds me to this day. The answer was a quick and resounding: “None.”
I then had the men around the table look at every employee in the restaurant and answer the question again. They looked around and replied, “These people must drive in because we don’t have any Asians living in our area.”
When the waitress came back to the table, I had to verify the response. I asked her where her family was from and discovered that it was indeed China. Then came the defining moment: “So where is your home now?”
“Oh, my family lives two blocks down the street,” she answered. Everyone at the table sat in stunned silence.
It’s called “people blindness.” It is the church’s inability or unwillingness to identify and distinguish the people groups in their own community and then to reach out to them through culturally sensitive approaches to evangelism, discipleship and ministry. Simply put, it is the church not living out the Great Commission that commands us to take the gospel to every people group in our communities and around the world.
South Carolina, like the rest of our nation, has become home to a plethora of nationalities. In fact, according to PeopleGroups.info, there are 72 different nationalities now living in South Carolina. Additionally, 81 different languages are spoken in South Carolina homes. The world has arrived in this beautiful state.
The influx of the world also brings introductions to new religious systems in our borders. Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and Buddhists now worship in every population center of South Carolina.
We have become such a hub for people from all over the world that this year the Ethnic Ministries Summit will be held in Spartanburg. This event, set for April 19-21, is sponsored by the Ethnic America Network, which is a coalition of more than 75 evangelical denominations and agencies that are committed to helping churches extend the story of Jesus to every people group living in our borders.
The time has come to move from “people blindness” to “people vision” in our congregations in order to fulfill the Great Commission in our own state. People vision is the church’s ability to discern and respect the significant cultural differences between social groups in the community and the willingness to develop contextual approaches to reach them for Christ and to minister to their needs. It is the church being a missionary people right in their own community.
Moving to people vision requires us to recognize the various peoples that now live in our communities and respect the cultural differences that we have. It requires us to know them personally and to live out our faith in front of them. It means we must learn how to communicate the never-changing gospel in the heart languages of people that God has brought from all over the world to the house or apartment complex next door.
The next time you and your family go shopping or eat out at a local ethnic restaurant, ask our Father to open your eyes to fields that are white unto harvest!
– Terry is associate executive director of the multiplication team of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. For more information on the Ethnic America Network’s Ethnic Ministries Summit in Spartanburg April 19-21, visit www.interculturalnetworkcarolina.org.