A Global Mission Here at Home
Scripture Reading — Matthew 24:3-14
“You will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
“God so loved the world …” (John 3:16). Jesus, the Lord of the harvest, loves the people of Mexico City, Paris, New York City, Cairo, Toronto, Guatemala City, Beijing, Moscow, Miami, Jakarta, Nairobi, Edmonton, Tripoli, and Seattle.
As time goes on, our sovereign God is also bringing the nations closer together, so there is a convergence of the mission “to the nations” and the mission to people in our own local areas. Today, for example, many of us are discovering that the peoples of the world are coming to North America. According to the United States census in 2000, immigrants from around the world numbered 31.1 million, or 11.1 percent of the U.S. population. This was a rapid increase from 19.8 million in 1990. And by 2009 the immigrant population rose again significantly to 38.5 million, nearly twice the amount from twenty years ago.
Today Jesus asks us to follow him into his global mission right where we are. So as people from many nations come to live among us, we learn to serve “the nations” as our neighbors in our cities and backyards.
Even so, we are also still drawn into mission opportunities internationally, “to the ends of the earth.”
What an exciting time! What are you willing to do to join Jesus in his global mission?
Lord, show us how to break down walls that keep us from reaching out to neighbors. Thank you for bringing people from the ends of the earth to our own area. Amen.
About the author — Allen & Lynn Likkel
Revs. Allen and Lynn Likkel have worked in communities across North America for many years—planting churches, nurturing them along, and developing new church leaders. A minister in the Christian Reformed Church, Allen served with Christian Reformed Home Missions for nearly 40 years, and Lynn, also ordained as a minister of the Word, has served to build leaders and new congregations. In November 2010, Allen entered retirement, and the Likkels moved to Washington, their native state. They have four adult children.
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