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When I walked into the chemistry lab as a college freshman, I was shocked to find out that the professor listed on my schedule wouldn’t actually be teaching my class. Instead, his teaching assistant (TA) had the honor of guiding us through our experiments. However, the guiding process was hindered significantly by the fact that the TA was Chinese. When "Ting" introduced herself, we stifled giggles, and when she tried to direct us, no one, including myself, took her seriously. I’m sure she was brilliant (and ridiculously underpaid), but I was too busy rolling my eyes at her stilted English to notice.
Looking back on the experience, I’m appalled and ashamed at my behavior. Even though many college students have similar stories, I’m disappointed that we never realized that the international students teaching us were people for whom God cares deeply. I wonder what kind of opportunities I missed with Ting. Could I have introduced her to God? Could I have helped her navigate through life in the Deep South? Could I have been a light in the darkness for her? I’ll never know the answers to these questions. But over the past few years, my ideas about missions and "going ye therefore into all nations" have changed drastically, and now I know that sometimes God brings the nations to us.
Most of us will probably never serve in an international country for more than a couple of weeks on a short-term missions trip, but that doesn’t mean we’re excused from answering Jesus’s call to teach the nations. The good news is that we don’t have to go to China to reach Chinese people or to Kenya to reach Kenyans. Our universities and cities are overflowing with international students and immigrants, and ministering to them can be as simple as inviting them into our homes for a meal or giving them a ride to the grocery store.
If we truly are the people of God, then we have the same task that the people of Israel had: to draw people to the Lord. Our churches and homes should be bright spots in a dark and sinful landscape, and the nations should flock to us. The problem is that our light doesn’t always burn brightly, and if you act anything like I did toward Ting, we are no different than the world around us.
To love and care for the nations in our midst, we first have to recognize their presence. God loves people from other cultures you encounter on a daily basis: at school, work, church, restaurants, stores, and parks, etc. However, I’m afraid that far too often, we fail to see these people as deeply beloved human beings. If we see them as part of the nations we are commanded to reach, it ought to have an effect on the way we interact with them.
Talk to them and listen to their stories. How did they end up here? What are their dreams? What are the obstacles standing in their way? How can you help them settle into their lives in America? Do they go to church? What do they believe about God? What do you have in common with them? Do they want to come to game night at your house?
I wish I had taken the time to get to know Ting and ask her some of these questions. God brought the nations to me, and I didn’t realize it; but hopefully, you won’t make the same mistake. God’s heart for the nations has not changed, and He’s teaching me to see people through His eyes rather than my own. These days, my eyes are open for the Tings around me, and I’m hoping for the chance to ask some of those questions soon.
Leslie Ann is a graduate of Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School and lives in Iuka, Mississippi, with her husband, Dennis. She blogs at leslieannjones.com.
