What the Middle East Showed Me About America And Missions

What the Middle East Showed Me About America And Missions

My phone alarm goes off at 4:30 am. Still sleepy, I shut it off and slowly lift myself out of bed. I load my carry-on suitcase and a small backpack into the back of a car that would take my pastor and I to our flight. We spent the next 24 hours traveling to our destination in the Middle East to train and encourage missionaries.

On the second flight, I was reminded how much of a Muslim’s life is dedicated to their religion. They have a compass that will always show where east is—this helps with them praying towards Mecca—and you have an electronic Qur’an at every seat on the plane. There is also an Islamic prayer before you take off and Muslims praying on their rugs before you board the plane. This article will reflect my travels and what we all need to know about missionary work

1.       Missionaries sacrifice a lot for King Jesus in certain parts of the world.

You need to understand how much a missionary sacrifices when living in other parts of the world. Although the missionaries I have spent time with have never complained to me, they sacrifice in three significant ways. First, the physical heat. In the Middle East, at sunset and hours after, it can still be 95 degrees. The A/C units do not work, so they mostly sleep and live in non-air-conditioned homes. They open the windows to let the air in, and the house fills with dust and noise from the street below.

At times, people blare loudspeakers containing the reading of the Qur’an right toward their homes. It can blast for eight hours a day when people find out the missionaries are not Muslim. This is part of living as a missionary in the Middle East.

The second point is the spiritual aspect of their sacrifice. When you or I are struggling, we can have coffee with Christian brothers and sisters to be encouraged. We can attend Bible studies to help us grow in our Christian walks. The fellowship of believers on Sunday helps us focus on the start of our week. Most missionaries in and around countries in the Middle East don’t have this privilege. Their mission team is usually small, consisting of one or maybe two families. This is better than nothing, but it can put much pressure on families. This does not even include the external daily onslaught.

They have Muslims constantly trying to convert them to Islam and telling them they need to get right with Allah. Their kids attend Muslim schools. However, the younger generation is more atheistic and agnostic regarding religion, which is a small bright spot.

Thirdly, there is a significant emotional toll on individuals, families, and teams. The average missionary lasts three years on the mission field. The women feel the most isolated. They spend a lot of time inside, and the men make most of the outside-the-home meetings and conversations. However, Muslim women visit the wives/ female missionaries in their homes. They read the Bible with them. However, the women spend a lot inside, leading to emotional isolation.

How can you ensure you do your part to help your church’s missionaries stay physically, spiritually, and emotionally strong? Here are just a few ways you can be a part of their mission. 

You can make sure that you pray for them weekly or daily. You can do a video chat with the missionary family. This would mean so much to the family serving in a challenging environment. You can also make sure you are sending care packages to those who are going to visit the missionaries. Finally, if you are physically and financially able, visit where they serve. Babysit the kids so they can go on a date and a night out or a night away. You will not realize how much of a blessing it will be for your missionaries.

Finally, if you can’t go, support other ministries like ours or other individuals that can and are willing to go and visit them. All of us are working together to keep our missionaries healthy, so they can stay on the mission field longer. Amen!

Now I want to share with you the perspective shift I received once I was removed from the American culture for almost two weeks.   

2.       The specific depravity of America came into clear view when I left and came back. 

When you enter these Middle Eastern countries and Africa, men are men, and women are women. Most are very conservatively dressed. Their commercials and billboards show people living and acting how they are naturally to act. I was preaching from Ephesians 2:1-10 at a church in Maputo, Mozambique, and I just began to weep for the American people because lust and selfishness consumes the average American. I told the African Christians that my people were sick and needed redemption. I pleaded with them to pray for America as I promised to continue praying for them.

God took me to Africa to break my heart for my people. When was the last time you have been broken for your lost co-worker, neighbor, and family member? I am not trying to throw a guilt trip, but I will encourage you to pray that God would break your heart for the lost. We—me included—should not allow ourselves to be desensitized to the lostness around us in our everyday lives.

When we arrived back in America and landed in New York, one of the first people we see is a male with a blond wig and make-up talking and acting like a woman. Our nation is so sick that it needs the truth and mercy of Jesus. It was easier while traveling in the Middle East and Africa in this way. I did not have to protect my eyes because everyone was covered up. That was one of the upsides of traveling in that part of the world.

However, the spiritual darkness and the worship of the false god of Islam was everywhere. Although, it looked different in Africa than when in the heart of the Middle East. In the Middle East, starting at 4:30 am is the first Muslim call to prayer that is announced across every Muslim city. This is repeated five times a day until the sun sets. This shows you the grip this false teaching has on millions of image-bearers of God. This should give us a desire to support and pray for those who will reach these people for Jesus. They did not have the Muslim call to prayer in Mozambique the way they did in the Middle East.     

3.       God is at work worldwide, and we get to be a part of what he is doing. Let’s go.

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth, (Isaiah 43:6).

In the immediate context, the passage talks about Israel returning to their promised land after God sent them into captivity in Babylon, because they disobeyed His laws. However, this can also be seen as God drawing for himself, from every corner of the earth, a people to worship Him through His son Jesus. This is the heart of actual international missions. You are part of the salvific drama of the King of Glory, and He is using us to support missionaries so that they can call a people from every Nation, tribe, and tongue home to worship King Jesus as Savior and Lord.

I want to ask a few questions. How are you spending your time? Are you praying for international missionaries? Are you supporting international missionaries by going to encourage them with your boots on the ground in their corner of the harvest field? How are you spending your money? Are you giving towards international missions so those who have not heard the name of Jesus can hear and have a chance to receive eternal life in Jesus? If you can’t go to encourage, are you giving to ministries like ours who do go and encourage these harvest field workers?    

How are you using your skills and talents to further the work of international missions? Are you an example for your family in supporting international missions? Is your church a part of giving, sending, and supporting international missionaries?  

When I ask these questions to you, I must be willing to allow these questions to do their work on me also. Missions are challenging for the missionaries on the field. They pay the brunt of the cost physically, emotionally, and spiritually. If I can fly 45 hours in ten days to help make that load lighter, why not.

To our champion partners, thanks for supporting Gospel of God Ministries to make trips like this possible. If you want to discover how becoming a monthly champion can encourage your Christian walk with gospel-centered Podcasts, videos, and articles like these, go to gospelgm.com to find out more.

Remember, they deal with unending heat, emotional isolation, and a lack of corporate spiritual nourishment. When you plug into missions, maybe you will be like me, and God will show you how broken your culture is when you start serving another culture. Until next month go out and proclaim the Gospel to see a life transformed, because the truth worth proclaiming is the truth that transforms.