Talking to a Missionary to the USA

The idea that missionaries actually came to the United States bothered me at first. Why is the church sending missionaries over seas and to other countries, when we really need them right here? Americans think they have it right and have all the right answers. Modern day Christians can really learn something from Christians of other countries. My eyes were seriously opened today because I could see the deep concern she had for America. Monica had a deeper wider passion and enthusiasm to reach people, here in America, then most Christians have or show.  Foreigners sometimes have wisdom, concepts and ideas that we far too often forget or look past. 

More people need to accept that they could learn something from foreigners. Our western world form Christianity is not cutting it and is ineffective. It really dawned on me how often we use words like: gospel, good news, salvation, saved, sin and sinner. Some church people use too much jargon and do not peach what Jesus would have preached. I learned that Monica never gave the spiel about the four step plan to become a Christian. The gospel we are peaching is so dull compared to the gospel Jesus preached.  It seems like the modern church is caught up in numbers, salvation, and conversions and telling people what they are saved from, rather than being focused on what they are saved for.

Another thing that astonished me was she told me she hardly ever mentions heaven or hell. I never realized how much people are caught up in talking about going to heaven or hell. She explained to me that going to heaven was not the main concern of Jesus’s teachings. The only way to truly describe it is to use the Greek word Zoe. Jesus was showing people how to live a full everlasting “Zoe” life, here and now. The focus of the gospel is not to leave and go somewhere else, but that God is coming here. The western word seems to get caught up in heaven being so great because it is paradise and there is no more sickness, morning or death. However, she reminded me heaven is so great because God, the creator of the universe, is going to be there, not because of the place and the rewards. 

Some people think missionaries that are coming to America to witness really are not going making a difference, because no one is going to listen to them. While interviewing Monica, I could tell something was different about her, she showed how deeply she loved and cared for people through her words and her tone of voice. More so then talking about the good news, she was loving people and that seemed to be the determining factor that allowed so many people to come to Christ. We can learn something from people of different cultures, but we need to be willing to accept we do not have all the right answers and they may know something we do not. After the interview my perception about foreign people witnessing to Americans was changed.