Christianity 104: Be Good Neighbors
Luke 10:25-37
Because I spent nearly four years with the IMB in a closed country, I became familiar with what it means to be a foreigner. Upon disembarking the airplane on the field, I was instantly transformed into an outsider: disconnected and irrelevant.
My family and I were the objects of stares, pointed fingers, derisive (we think) comments and laughter. We were often ignored, clearly thought of as ignorant (we were), and viewed as second- or third-class members of the human race.
We were immersed in a culture and a country that we didn’t understand, where sometimes it seemed as though we mattered to no one. Society kept moving and didn’t slow down for us. We weren’t part of the fabric of the community, so we were just loose threads blowing in an uncaring wind.
It wasn’t all bad, however. In each of the places where we lived, there were a few people who, from time to time, were welcoming and helpful. They often became friends of ours. There were those who helped translate for us, those who showed us around and those who invited us to meals. There were those who took me to pay bills, and helped me find the right buses and properly hail taxis. There were those who offered to help me with language and with many other things. And they weren’t even Christians. (Well, some are now!)
Now that we are back in South Carolina, I have an appreciation for the loneliness of internationals living here. I’ve become acutely aware of the “outsiders” living among us; you know, the “foreigners”! It’s not like xenophobia (look it up) is running rampant in the Palmetto state. We don’t hate people from other countries. We just ignore them. They are invisible to us. They don’t matter to us. The mission field has come to us and we look past them. We don’t befriend them. We don’t reach out to them. We don’t love them. We don’t help them.
That international who works at the gas station? We know he needs Jesus. But he needs us to help him. The staff at the ethnic restaurant? They need Jesus, but they need us to help them. Your neighbors who moved here from who-knows-where, believing who-knows-what? They need Jesus, but they need you to help them.
I urge Sunday school classes and churches to begin ministries to internationals living around you. Intentional, active connections will yield eternal results. The cults are going after our international neighbors. We need to get going and show them our love and tell them the Truth.
– The ETB writer for the spring quarter is a South Carolinian who formerly served Southern Baptists in a closed country. We are honoring his request not to publish identifying information.