Taking the first step!

They are here. Internationals are all around us. Have you tried connecting with the people you meet in stores? A young man at the eyeglass center was helping me pick out frames. Seeing him through the eyes of Christ, I looked for a way to turn the conversation the direction I wanted. It wasn’t difficult. I asked him his name. It was Joshua. I simply asked him why his parents chose that name. His answer?

“My parents are Christians.” He didn’t say he was. He did say, however, that he had recently moved to my town and was looking for some way to connect.

Looks like the Lord had that meeting all set up for me. I am so glad He is teaching me to see people through His eyes of compassion. He can do the same for you.

This morning I was at a car rental shop. Instantly I recognized that the proprietor was probably from another country. I simply asked him his name. His answer sounded like “Cmoe.” (I probably didn’t spell it correctly).

It was easy to go to my next question. “Okay, Cmoe, what country are you from?” Can you guess? I couldn’t either, but it was Morocco. As our conversation continued I found out that he came to the United States when he was 18. My friend who had gone in the shop with me was listening intently. When we left, we started talking about this process and how excited Cmoe was to have somebody interested in him. Once you see how easy it is to start a conversation like this, it becomes contagious and others want to try it too. Try it and see for yourself.

One of my friends is Alpha. How did I meet him? Easy! He took my order for a hamburger and his name badge said Alpha. I simply asked if he was Alpha, where is Omega? That started our conversation and more importantly it20started our relationship. Learning more about him later over a cup of coffee at Starbucks I discovered he came to the United States from Guinea, landing in New York with $100 in his pocket and no English.

How brave do you have to be to do that? Now he is manager of the restaurant but still in need of a friend and someone to explain American culture to him. He too was thinking he had come to “Christian” America. What a privilege to answer his questions and tell him who Jesus really is.

You don’t have to go to Mexico. You don’t have to go to Judea to be a twenty-first century disciple of Jesus. You don’t even have to go overseas. Just look around you. The world has come to you in Anytown, USA. Hispanics, Chinese, Thais, Nigerians, and Indians are right in front of you everywhere you go. These and people of many more nationalities have moved to America and live right in your neighborhood.

Look at the clerk in the department store, the waiter at the restaurant, the owner of the specialty shop, the teller at the bank. You’ll soon realize, as I have, that you don’t have to go 8,000 miles to be a missionary. The distance could be little more than 24 inches, the distance between your face and the face of a new friend. Now look in the mirror. You are the missionary for this day, this time.

“When memories exceed dreams, the end is near.” Thomas Freidman The World is Flat