A high number of CMDA members want to go on or have served on an international mission trip. Why? Hopefully, not to just see another country, but to bring the love and message of Jesus to those who don’t know Him. Do we need to leave home to do this? Should we leave home to do this if we aren’t already reaching out to those around us who don’t know the Lord? A number of those living around us are from unreached people groups and nations with few believers. International missions is all around us! It is not geographic but cross-cultural.

 

Historically God has used four ways to spread the gospel. He may send believers to the unreached voluntarily, as with missionaries and mission-minded tentmakers abroad. He may send believers to other people groups involuntarily, as happens when believers are kidnapped or captured in wars. He may also send the unreached to believers either voluntarily such as through immigration, or involuntarily escaping a crisis or persecution in their country. God wants us to reach out to those He sends us right where we live and work, whether it is at home or abroad.

 

I once met two missionaries born in countries with few Jesus followers—Japan and Iran. They had not heard the gospel through missionaries to their country. Interestingly, both came to faith while international students in the U.S.! Now they are taking the love and message of Christ overseas to others. The Japanese believer, a gifted evangelist, reached out to an unreached people group in his own country and eventually returned to Japan as a missionary to his own people. The Iranian believer worked in the same unreached region, discipling and teaching Iranian Christian leaders who traveled there for the training. That’s what can happen if we reach out to internationals around us!

 

Who is God sending to live or work among us? These people may be international students, immigrants, refugees or foreign workers and diplomats.

 

For years, the U.S. has been the top destination for international students—nearly 950,000 from 200 locations were studying here from 2021 to 2022.[1] A significant percentage of these will become leaders in their countries. As Figure One shows, many are from nations where missionaries are unwelcome, like China, India and Saudi Arabia. And these students are in every U.S. state and territory!

 

As with international students, the U.S. has more immigrants than any other country —nearly 15 percent of the U.S. population, or over 40 million people. Only about half are proficient in English, a fact that hints at one of the ways we can reach out to them. Many are also from countries where missionaries are not welcome, as shown in Figure Two. In 2021, 68 percent came from Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar.

 

Clearly, most of us have internationals near us. Why should we care for them? I can think of at least four scriptural reasons:

 

• God has special concern for foreigners, orphans and widows.

 

“The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow…” (Psalm 146:9).

“If you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow…then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors…” (Jeremiah 7:6-7).

“Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor…” (Zechariah 7:10).

 

• God cares for them and commands us to do so also!

 

“The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:34).

 

“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners…” (Deuteronomy 10:18-19).

 

• God wants them to know Him!

 

“Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God…” (Deuteronomy 31:12).

 

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19).

 

“…with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

 

• We should always be mindful we are foreigners!

 

“Remember…you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12).

 

“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth” (Hebrews 11:13).

 

“…live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear” (1 Peter 1:17).

 

You might be asking yourself, “Ok, God has brought many internationals to our country, but how can I meet them?” Look around you at work! Look around your neighborhood, local schools, colleges and ethnic restaurants and stores. Look for them where you volunteer at ministries of service. And don’t forget local churches with ethnic congregations or ministries. Many are lonely and would love just to have an American friend who can explain things to them—things they don’t understand in our culture or how to do things they may have never done.

 

Before connecting with internationals, though, you should prepare by asking God to reveal to you who He wants you to befriend or reach out to. Pray regularly and persistently for wisdom and for God to use you and draw them to Him. Then boldly step out of your comfort zone to get to know them and their hopes and needs. Love, help and encourage them.

You can bless them in many ways: modeling the love and compassion of Jesus, being a friend and spending time together, helping them with English and tutoring their children. Several need practical help in using appliances, obtaining a bank account or driver’s license, learning to use the bus or order fast food and sometimes even how to use sit down toilets! You can explain U.S. and Christian holidays and customs, which are open opportunities to share their faith basis and story. You can share Scripture in their language. Local organizations and churches in your area may be seeking volunteers for programs they run, such as English classes, food banks, furniture delivery and children’s programs. Numerous campus ministries are available, like the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) North America,[2] Bridges International,[3] Cru,[4] InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s (IVCF),[5] International Crossroads[6] and China Outreach Ministries.[7]

 

To put this in perspective, let me give you some examples from my life. At work, I had the opportunity to teach international students and oversee the international student program at a large educational center. For six months each year, I was course director for and rubbed shoulders with students being groomed to be leaders in their field in their home countries. We traveled together, and even though I was not able directly evangelize, I was able to answer their questions. While in a van with several, one asked what the difference was between Christianity and another faith. In recent years, my neighborhood has become quite multicultural. Two Muslim families live on my block and are open to talking about spiritual things. At the end of Ramadan one year, they came to give me a gift of food, which is their custom, and I was able to give them the Injil (New Testament) in their own language! I’ve befriended international students in several places I’ve lived. I’m still in contact with one from my college who was befriended by our campus Christian group. Several times when I visited his country, I stayed with him and his wife and enjoyed long talks about the Bible and God. A graduate student from the Middle East and I met weekly, talked often about spiritual things and shared Thanksgiving at my home where I read Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation that honors the Lord. I’ve been part of ministries in local churches. When living near our nation’s capital, I met in the home of a diplomat from a conservative, “closed” Muslim country to help his wife with English. My current church helped resettle refugees who had, for a number of years, been in camps. I was able to help them with rides to church and friendships. In another church, I was part of a group to deliver furniture to newly arrived refugees. So, even though I’ve moved 12 times, I’ve always found opportunities to reach out to internationals in some way!

 

Now that you know about God’s love for the foreigner, their presence all around us and ways you can connect with and help them, what step(s) will you take to be “on mission”
without leaving home? Let us “be doers of the word, and not hearers only…” (James 1:22, ESV)!

 

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[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/297132/top-host-destination-of-international-students-worldwide

[2] Ifesworld.org

[3] bridgesinternational.com

[4] cru.org

[5] intervarsity.org

[6] internationalcrossroads.org

[7] chinaoutreach.org