Are You Taking the Long Way Around?

Brian Kushman, Missionary, Hispanic Ministries USA
The Call, July-September 2016

Missions has traditionally been focused on strangers in another land. But this begs the question: “What about the strangers who are among us?” In Exodus 22:21, God says, “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him,” (NKJV) and in 12:48-49, “And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord,…then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land.” This teaches us that if a stranger wants to worship the Lord with us, we should welcome them with open arms. 

Leviticus 19:33-34 states: “The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself.” We think of this as a New Testament teaching, but from the very beginning, God wanted His people to love their neighbor as themselves. Deuteronomy 10:17-19 says, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger.…”

In the New Testament, Acts 1:8 states that the Holy Spirit will give us power to be witnesses for Christ “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” How does this relate to us? I suggest that our Jerusalem are those who are culturally like us and geographically close to us. Our Judea are those who are culturally like us but geographically farther away. Our Samaria are those who are culturally different but geographically close, and the ends of the earth are culturally different and geographically far. 

As the body of Christ, we need to recognize that we are not only called to reach out to those who are geographically far and culturally different, but also to those who are culturally different and geographically close. These could be immigrants or students from another country, migrants who have come to work, or even refugees fleeing war or persecution. These are our Samaria. Let’s not neglect this aspect of ministry.

But reaching out to people outside our own culture isn’t easy. In the time of the New Testament church, Jews avoided Samaria. Instead of traveling on the west side of the Jordan River through Samaria, which would be more direct, there was such prejudice that many Jews crossed over to the east side and took the long way around to avoid what they perceived as those who were undesirable.

Christ set a different example. He took advantage of every opportunity to minister to those with spiritual and physical needs, as in John 4 when He did what was socially unacceptable and talked with a woman of ill repute from another culture. Because of that interaction, many Samaritans came to believe in Him. 

Missions is more about crossing cultural boundaries rather than geographical borders. Christ ministered to those who were culturally different from Himself but were geographically close. His apostles eventually had this vision as well; Peter and John made a special trip to Samaria to confirm the Samaritans that had been baptized under Philip's ministry (Acts 8:14-17).

Christ promised to enable us, by the power of the Spirit, to be witnesses for Him, even to those who are culturally different but geographically close. Who is your Samaria? You see, “It is not the person from the radically different culture on the other side of the world that is hardest to love, but the nearby neighbor whose skin color, language, rituals, values, ancestry, history, and customs are different from one’s own” (“Hatred between Jews and Samaritans”).

Let’s follow Christ’s example and partner together to minister on the west side of Jordan!

ACT: Christ has called each of us to help the oppressed and to preach the gospel—essentially to be a missionary wherever we are. Not sure where to start? Check out the World Go! Manual, a Bible study for missions. Learn more and purchase a copy here. 

Our Walk Around Inspection

An excerpt from...

Our Walk Around Inspection

By John Kunkle, Hispanic Ministries USA and former pilot withWings of Peace, Bolivia
October-December 2013

When I was in training for service with Wings of Peace in Bolivia, I was privileged to have flown with a man named Paul Dye, an instructor serving with the New Tribes Mission Aviation training center in McNeal, Arizona. One day during my training, Paul said, “Today you are going to make an electronic checklist.” Paul showed me the necessary tools and I quickly finished the project. It was one of the highlights of my training because I had a means of keeping a checklist of critical procedures that needed to be accomplished for the safe take-off and landing phases of each flight.

As Christians, we can also follow a checklist prior to boarding each day. Here is an abbreviated checklist from an average airplane preflight “walk-around” and how it resembles our Christian walk.

1. Engine: How do we maintain that quality oil in our spiritual engines for maximum power and efficiency? By prayerfully seeking the renewal and cleansing of the Holy Spirit and reading the Bible.
   
2. Wings: They are the main source of lift and contain the ailerons and flaps.
   a. The ailerons (the narrow, hinged panels near the wing tips) roll the plane from side to side. Do we have our spiritual controls moving freely and correctly to keep us on course?
   b. The flaps are large, adjustable panels that lower at the back of the main wing on each side to provide drag for slower flight upon landing. In spiritual terms, we need self-control and patience in our lives to help us slow down and be able to see what God is doing around us.
   
3. Tail: The tail is made up of the rudder and elevators which help keep the plane in stable flight.
   a. Rudder: This panel at the back of the vertical stabilizer rotates the plane from side to side, providing correct turning forces that coordinate with the roll of the plane in a turn. In other words, the rudder keeps the passengers from feeling like they are on a roller coaster! In our spiritual lives, without proper coordination with God, we can be out of control and at times feel like we are in a spiritual “slip!” (The term “slip” refers to the lack of rudder pressure applied by the pilot in the direction of the turn in coordination with the ailerons.)
   b. Elevator: Possibly the most important control on the airplane—it determines the up or down “attitude” of the airplane. If you don’t have the elevator “trimmed” just right, you can be fighting the controls to exhaustion and possible loss of control. Spiritually speaking, if you don’t have your life trimmed with the right attitude, you will be in a constant battle to reach the levels to which God wants to take your life. You’ll need to “adjust your attitude to gain proper altitude.”
   
4. Global Positioning System: This modern marvel has saved many lives, including my own. GPS instrumentation has allowed pilots (and their wives) the peace of mind to relieve much of the extra stress encountered when flying over rugged jungle terrain.
   
   We also depended on what my dad, Joe Kunkle, referred to as God’s Prayer System for our safety while flying; the vast network of praying people like you who kept our lives and ministry before God’s throne. Prayer is vital to our existence as missionaries.
   
5. Fuel tanks, fuel, and filters: The only way to get the engine to run right is to have the right kind and amount of fuel for the flight.
   
   Our spiritual fuel tanks must also be kept filled and ready for flight. Any sin condensation or worldly dirt in our tanks that is not removed will cause our lives to come to a complete stop, resulting in a very hard landing or crash.
   
6. Weight and balance: We must make sure the plane is within its proper weight and balance limits for safe flight. If not, you won’t be able to lift off the ground. We also need to keep our lives balanced with family, church, work, and rest to be able to stay within the operating limits that God has set for us.
   
7. Instruments: We need to keep our instruments set to the correct settings for critical phases of the flight. Hebrews 11:2 reminds us: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…”(NIV).

Still, the Christian walk is not simply a checklist. Our walk with Christ is a product of the reconciliation of God to man through Jesus Christ, and a growing, living relationship with our heavenly Father by the power of the Holy Spirit living within us. Let’s make every walk-around inspection of our spiritual airplane consistent every day.

Hispanic Ministries USA: Immigration

Of Hispanics living in the U.S., 62 percent are native-born citizens, and the remaining 38 percent are immigrants. Approximately half of the 38 million immigrants living in the United States are of Hispanic or Latino origin.

WGM’s outreach to Hispanics in the United States will focus on leadership training with the goal of starting more Hispanic churches. As Hispanic church leaders are trained, they will be able to take that spiritual foundation and leadership training with them. Whether they go to another state or return to their home countries, they can use their training to plant churches and lead others into the kingdom.

ACT: This is a ministry happening in your community and likely in your church. Start bridging the gap between cultures by inviting a Hispanic family in your neighborhood or church to have dinner with you this month.

Beginning at 8 a.m., WGM’s Prayer Lifeline will feature a recorded prayer for Hispanic Ministries USA. Call 671.7232 (Marion, Indiana, area) or 1.800.426.0846(toll free) to join the prayer intercession.