Author: Colum Cille

By this time, I thought I’d be in Dunya by now.  After a number of delays, it turns out that we have been denied a visa and no longer have jobs.  Our would-be employers want us but are out of options, and so we find ourselves scrambling for employment elsewhere with loan payments looming.  My wife and I do not know what will be in store for us.  We will probably still be going overseas, but we will probably need to head to East Asia instead – at least for a year.

We will be entering a rather ambiguous time.  We’re aren’t sure if this is a detour on our path to Dunya, or whether we are heading in a new direction.  We have heard that “When God closes a door, He opens a window.”  But we also look at this and see cultural flaws such as non-confrontation and endless bureacracy thwarting what we perceived as God’s will and hurting this school.  On a side note, my wife and I’s favorite response to the news was from a friend of mine who, obviously in some sort of pastoral zone, simply said, “S___!!!”  So validating.  If you read this, thanks.  I think it’s shorthand for “God’s providential care doesn’t mean that crap doesn’t happen.  It does, but I’m here if you need anything.”

So it looks like we’ll be taking the scenic route to Dunya, if we make it there at all.  I’m disappointed but at peace about it.  I guess I’ll keep blogging.  Like the upcoming year itself, it just won’t be how I pictured it.

 

As I briefly stated in the previous entry, one of my hopes for the trip is to simply create friendships.  I believe when friendships emerge across hostile boundaries, like the current boundaries between the American church and Muslims, the kingdom of God is present, however hidden.  Even if not a single person “accepts the gospel,” I hope I can look back and consider the trip worthwhile if I am a good neighbor, a smiling face next door.  It may seem a small and insignificant gesture in the face of such a large, complex issue, but I believe the kingdom is built with small, seemingly insignificant gestures.

One passage which I have studied in preparation for my trip and which has influenced this desire is the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10).  In response to the question “Who is my neighbor?,” Jesus flips the question around through a beautiful story of mercy, asking in effect, “To whom are you a neighbor?”  Rather than looking for boundaries, Jesus calls the would-be-disciple to look for opportunities.

I came across a wonderfully insightful comment on this passage in Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine.   Augustine reminds his readers that “Nobody can be a neighbor except to a neighbor….  Thus we should understand that he is our neighbor to whom the office of mercy should be shown if he needs it… and that he is our neighbor who in turn shows this office to us.”  Perhaps this is why Jesus’ story depicts a Samaritan showing mercy to a Jew, when a Jew had asked Him the question.

It has been suggested to me that I should pray that any new Muslim friends of mine would have crises that might lead them to seek my counsel.  Besides being a rather morbid prayer request, it also seems a little one-sided.  Couldn’t a crisis of mine be equally an opportunity for mercy to be shown and friendships deepened?  Couldn’t a crisis of mine just as easily lead to a conversation about who Jesus is?  Does Jesus really need me to be in a position of power to make Himself known through me?  If He does, I hate to break it to Him, but He should have paid closer attention to who I am and where He was sending me.

I have heard a story of missionaries who struggled to connect with their new neighbors overseas.  These missionaries had a child, and their position of vulnerability raising a baby in a foreign land broke down those walls.  They found once distant neighbors suddenly warm, offering support through small acts of care for the young family’s well-being.  I don’t think it’s quite appropriate to pray for myself or anyone else to have a crisis, but I do pray for relationships filled with mercy when crises inevitably happen.

 

Prayer Request:  I will be flying out in a week or so – yikes.

In a few weeks I will be flying overseas and beginning a new season of life.  This new season will bring with it many challenges: learning a new language, performing a job that I’m not exactly ready for, and the predictably unpredictable minefield that is adapting to a new culture.  New surrounding religion, new social mores, new foods, new holidays, new customs – even giving “the finger,” if I was so inclined, would require different fingers than which I am accustomed.

In addition, the country is predominantly Muslim (in order to protect my identity I will be referring to the country as Dunya in this blog, the Turkish-Persian-Arabic word for “world”).  As someone who follows Christ, it has felt awkward telling others this part.  “Muslims don’t like Americans,” or so I’ve been told by countless, well-meaning people (enough times that I have to wonder whether that’s Americanese for “Americans don’t like Muslims”).  Or, from the more churchly, “God bless you, they really need Jesus.”  And we don’t?

At times I’ve tried to ease the awkwardness by stressing the financial benefits or the adventure of travelling across cultures, an attempt to make it understandable, even normal.  But they’re lies, and not even good ones – there are other countries I could go to for more money and more exciting adventures.  I believe that by going to Dunya I am somehow following Jesus.

On one occasion, after explaining where I was going and about my job, an incredibly warm-hearted person asked me, bristling with enthusiasm, “So is this gospel-centered?”  Somewhat caught off guard, I lamely replied, “Well, in the sense that I’m a Christian.”  I don’t know his intention behind the question – the gospel means different things to different people – but the more I think about it, the more I like the question.  I at least hope this is gospel-centered.  I hope this in whatever small way makes the kingdom of God more visible – to myself as well as others.  If “Muslims don’t like Americans” and vice versa, then simply showing up can be a small gesture of God’s reconciling work.  Even if not a single person “accepts the gospel” as popularly understood, if friendships are born which otherwise would not have existed, the kingdom of God will be present.

As a way to keep myself gospel-centered and to include others in the journey, I have decided to try to blog regularly with the NW community.  I thought it would be meaningful to share reflections on cross-cultural missions, prayer requests, and even the occasional ethical dilemma or two.