I have been the foreigner who cannot find the correct words. I have learned that wasser is water. I will always say “ja” instead of yes. I’ve been lost multiple times. I have seen the impatience on the faces of people who want to help me but don’t understand me. I have been embarrassed. I have been inappropriate and don’t even know it. I have appeared stupid. I am that foreigner. How do missions people live like this? How many times have I looked impatiently at a foreigner in my country? What does God think of my feeble efforts to communicate beyond a smile and a nod?
Jesus came as a foreigner on Christmas morning. Before that, I believe, life begins in the womb so He came from Father God and became a speck – a teeny tiny complete life in one fertilized egg. Before that his country was everything – what he created and beyond. To be spirit and become flesh is the ultimate foreign country.
About the captivity, David wrote, “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”. The book of Ruth gives us a ray of hope that a foreigner can make a difference. She says to Boaz, her future husband, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”. When you enter a new workplace or a new school you are joining a new culture with ideas you do not yet understand. The climate is foreign. You are correct that it seems the world is shrinking but knowing what goes on in other countries is not like living there. We say people are the same everywhere and have the same needs but I would say that, that being true, the land I have been a foreigner in for three months is not going to change anything about their culture just because I’m unfamiliar. It is my job to find words, google map, be appropriate, care, and remember that I represent Jesus no matter where I live. He came for all and knowing God and making Him known is all there is. I appreciate more than ever the work of missions and the boldness to just go. It is almost a new year. What are you planning that answers what God has called you to be faithful in? I wish you joy and peace and a newfound contentment because you are in good hands! Happy trails…
