Hate

In the online missions class I am taking, one of our more recent lessons asked us if we could see parallels between the story of Jonah and the Ninevites and how the modern Church views Muslims. Jonah hated the Ninevites for their cruelty and oppression and he knew that if he shared God's message of the coming judgment with them that they would repent and God would forgive them. Not wanting this cruel, barbaric people to experience the Lord's mercy, Jonah angrily said that he would not go. And when eventually he did go, it was with a very bad attitude.

I had never thought about it being a parallel but I can see how the two could be similar. While it is not wrong to be angry over the sins of oppression and murder, I think that often the Church takes it too far and becomes angry and even hateful toward the Muslims themselves rather than the sin that has been committed. Perhaps we feel justified by thinking that if the Muslims hate us so much that they want to exterminate us, then it is alright to look on them with hostility. We view the person as the enemy rather than the sin in their hearts. We do not see them as individual people but we judge them by the extremists who hate us and murder and rape their own people.

Personally, I know a Muslim woman who died of cancer just last month. She was a very sweet, caring person and I would give anything to be able to share with her the love of Jesus now. I only saw her a few times but not once did I even attempt to share Christ with her. It breaks my heart that she died without knowing Christ as her Savior and that I did not even attempt to share the Lord's forgiveness and grace with her while she was alive. God, forgive me. Sumar, I think of you so often and I am so sorry that I let you down. My regret cannot bring her back nor can it save her soul.

I think that the church needs to look past the exterior and see the person for who they are. Not Muslim, black, white, Catholic, or Protestant but someone made in the image of God. Someone dreamed up by the Creator and created for a specific purpose. Someone with such incredible value that Jesus willingly died for that one person that they may not perish but experience eternal life and freedom. Instead of focusing so much on the crimes and sins of our Muslim neighbors, we need to pray for them and look for ways to reach out and show the love of Christ to them. If we 'repay evil with evil' we are not doing God's will and He cannot use us as He wishes. Have we forgotten the terribly misguided crusades of the middle ages? People back then committed terrible crimes in the name of Christianity and the Lord could not have been pleased by it. We are all made in His image, no matter what we look like or what background we come from but so often we judge based on what we see on the outside and forget that there is a real person with feelings and a soul underneath. May we all try daily to view others through the eyes of Jesus. He loves them and so should we. Let us not repay evil with evil but rather evil with good, as we have been commanded.

January Update

I suppose I should give you all a quick update as to where I am in my preparations to go to Mongolia. I received a financial statement from my coordinator at the end of last month and am currently at $3,900. I only need about 1,000 dollars more! It is exciting to see how quickly and generously people have responded to my request. It is my hope that each of you who supports me in some way realizes just how big a part of this ministry you are. This is not my mission, this is not our mission, this is God's mission. I must remind myself of that on a daily basis. My upper class at the school is doing a fundraiser for me this month and it means a lot to me to have my kids involved. I know that God will bless their efforts for they are His children.

Mongolian camels

Map of eastern Europe and Asia. Both Mongolia and Romania are in blue

There is also a possibility now that I may be going to Romania as well at the end of July for a couple of weeks. I am waiting to hear how much it would cost and whether my advisers would recommend I wait a year as I could still be in reverse culture shock at that time. Please pray for discernment as I consider adding on this trip. I would love to go if it is the Lord's will but if it is not, it would be better for all if I don't.
 

Romanian family with horse and cart

Change of Heart or Mind?

Up until this point, my motto for this upcoming trip to Mongolia (and all previous mission trips) has been "Here am I, send me." from Isaiah 6. While there is nothing wrong with this per se, taking the Perspectives course has really started opening my eyes to a few things. Perhaps I should say "Here am I, send me so that the world may know." That the world may know what? That Jehovah God is the one true God, that we were all created in His image, that He loved us enough to send Jesus to die for our sins, and that we were made to bring glory to His name. We are to not only show people the way to Christ but we are to bring glory to His name. Our main purpose on this earth is to glorify God. If we are not using our gifts and creative abilities to do that, we are not being just stewards of all that He has given us. It has been said that missions exist because worship doesn't. How true that is! All nations on earth are to exalt and bring glory to God, our Creator and Savior.

If we go on a trip running on our own strength and thinking of all the good we can do for people or for God, then we will quickly become discouraged. We are to be partners with God, servants of the Most High, allowing Him to work through us and use us. We are not to be running ahead, even if our intentions and actions are good. We are to rely on God for our strength and the results of any mission. He has ordained good works for us to do but we need to be constantly in communication with Him so that His will is the one accomplished.

I pray that as the time draws near for me to go to Mongolia, that not only is my mind changed about how I am to view this trip but that my heart is too. I pray that I will rely on God and realize that this is His mission, not mine, and that I will be a willing servant for however He desires to use me.