Please Ask Me the Non-Spiritual Questions

This article was originally published here on the website for A Life Overseas on March 1, 2017. Published by Amy Medina .

“All missionaries need someone in their lives who ask about their marriage, their emotional state, the needs of their kids and their walk with God.”
 

When we’re on furlough and giving presentations about our ministry as missionaries, we always end with, “Does anyone have any questions?”

A hand goes up.  And the question is inevitable.

“How can we pray for you?”  Every. Single. Time.

Sometimes someone will ask to know more about our ministry.  Or a person we are investing in.  Or maybe, “What has God been teaching you?”

The questions, almost always, are spiritual. 

This is not a bad thing.  Of course, we’re thrilled people want to pray for us.  We are excited if they are excited about our ministry.  But do you know what we long to be asked?

The non-spiritual questions.

Sure, our ministry is extremely important to us.  But that’s only part of the picture of our lives overseas.  We moved to the other side of the world.  We landed in a country that most people only see on the news.  We had to learn new ways of shopping, cooking, eating, sleeping, educating, traveling, parenting, and talking.  It was not easy.  In fact, it was the hardest thing we’ve ever done.

We are different people now. And it is bursting out of us.  We might look the same on the outside, but we are totally different on the inside.  And you know what?  We long to talk about it with you.  We desperately want you to be interested in all of our other life, not just the spiritual parts. 

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When We're Able to Hear the Hard Stuff

This article was originally published as a blog post on the Evangelical Free Church parent site here on November 30, 2021. Written by April Warfield.

The Holy Spirit transforms through tension. We just need the courage to listen.

It’s summer in Los Angeles and I’m preparing to serve on a college missions trip. Before serving, we intentionally prayed for diversity in the team, that God would provide diverse people from different backgrounds to share His good news. God answered that prayer and blessed us with a diverse group of majority culture and ethnic minorities together. Needless to say, we were very excited. Many of us even met beforehand as we raised support, so we grew acquainted with each other before meeting in Los Angeles.  

A female student (let’s call her Becky) was on our trip and she loved America; her love for this country was on the tip of her tongue, every day, every hour. But, in our diverse group there was also a female Native American student (we’ll call her Ava). Ava’s shy and not saying anything, but Becky’s enthusiasm for America was clearly weighing on her, because her feelings about America weren’t the same as the majority culture. The Fourth of July was coming, and the group felt the tension in the air. 

One of the group members came to me and mentioned how something was wrong with Ava. How she was acting differently than when we started together. So, we sat down and talked about it. We learned this was the first time in her life she would have spent Independence Day outside of her community, with her family on the reservation. It’s a different day to Native Americans than for many other Americans and honestly, for most of our group.  

After learning this, some in the group wanted to cancel our Fourth of July celebration for the sake of community. But this didn’t sit well with Becky; she had been eagerly waiting to spend July 4th in Los Angeles. She, and others, wanted to go to a Dodgers game and see fireworks.  

In that tension, the group had to figure this out: How do we acknowledge cultural backgrounds, honor one another and stay on mission? 

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“As the EFCA works to unify all people together under the banner of Christ, from every racial, ethnic, socioeconomic group and beyond, conflict has naturally risen; if we don’t find biblical ways to deal with it, it has the real ability to threaten Christian witness and unity. ”
— April Warfield
 

'Building A Better Baltimore': Mayor Scott releases First Term Action Plan

“ This tool allows you to see the goals my administration is committed to making significant progress on and accomplishing during my first term as your Mayor. The tool is organized into five core pillars: Building Public Safety, Prioritizing Youth, Clean and Healthy Communities, Equitable Neighborhood Development, and Responsible Stewardship of City Resources. You can follow along with the status of our actions, which will be updated on a quarterly basis, as well as view key performance indicators for each goal.”
— Mayor Brandon M. Scott
 
 
 
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