After the school year began in 1992, I got a phone call from a foreign exchange student organization that was sending out a desperate S.O.S. for a high school senior from Spain. As pastor of a church in that town, this organization's area representative wanted me to make an announcement at church to see if anyone in our church would like to be a host family for this boy that had recently come from Spain to study in our country for one school year. The boy had in just a few weeks had been shuffled to two different homes in our town, and neither home could be his permanent residence.
So I made the urgent appeal from the pulpit and in our church newsletter, and just like it is a good idea for pastors to listen to their own sermons from time to time, I began to listen to this announcement more closely. Long story short, Juan Luis Vega Jimenez came to live with our family, and we could not have been more delighted with God's providential workings for that entire school year. Juan became an integral part of our family, a big brother to our two very young girls at the time. We had such a pleasurable experience, that we decided to host another student the following year. This time we got a boy from Uzbekistan; Alisher (Alex) Abdaliev had a different personality than Juan, and he came from a totally different culture, to say the least. Still, we had again a memorable time that school year, and we made another friend for life. Alex was there at the birth of our third daughter.
Since my wife had three children at home, all pre-school age, we decided my wife needed a breather, so we did not opt for a third year in a row in hosting an international student. My father would die later that year anyway, so everything worked out well in our not hosting for a third consecutive year. We had all intention in hosting again, but other providential turn of events made it unfeasible for us to host again for the years to come.
We still have the most wonderful memories from those two years. I could tell story after story to illustrate that point, but I will keep it short. Juan came back to see us a few years later; he brought his fiance with him, so that he could get approval from his American parents. Juan is now in his mid 30s, married, with children. We kept in touch a lot, but with our move, Juan's move, different email addresses now, I have not communicated with him for awhile, but through a google search, I think I have been able to find him. So I plan on getting in touch with him by snail mail soon. Juan supposedly made a profession in Christ while he was with us, but I don't know to this day the genuineness of his profession. He came from a long line of Catholics, like nearly everyone in Spain, that he told me he would have a hard time in finding a non-Catholic church like ours in his home country, and still be in favor with his family.
As for Alex, his story had a very interesting turn. Alex came from a predominantly Muslim country, but Alex and his family were nothing. They had no religious affiliation of any kind. Alex became a part of our family, and as a result went to church with us. Again to save time, Alex during the last few months he was with us, stopped going to church, because as we found out, he was under heavy conviction from God. He told us he did not want to be saved, because he knew he would be all alone in his country. He did not know of any Christians in his home town. Of course, we respected Alex's wishes, but we kept praying for him.
Back in Uzbekistan, Alex took a Spanish class from a visiting professor from Panama, who was not only a Christian but very reformed in his theology. Alex was converted to Christ under this professor's influence, and he wrote back to me in an email in glowing terms of his testimony. He forgot at the time that he was to be not so open in his email communication, due to the fact that emails are screened over there. We have to write in coded language most of the time, especially when it comes to religious matters. He is married, has a family now, is teaching in a university somewhere in Central Asia, was involved in a prison ministry, and just two weeks ago I got another email from him.
When we were hosting Juan and Alex, it occurred to us we were doing personal world missions in the comfort of our own home. I have never been able to go on a mission trip yet in my life, and at one time in my life, I thought God was leading me into foreign missions. As it turned out, I went to Michigan and Ohio to do church planting, and from an Okie's perspective, that was very close to foreign missions. (I don't mean to offend Michiganders and Buckeyes.)
Most of us will never do foreign missions. We can pray for and financially support foreign missionaries; those are good things we should all do. We can go on a week-long mission trip overseas with our church or with some organization, but most Christians will not do that or can not do that for a variety of reasons, chiefly among them it can be quite expensive even for just one member of a family.
There has been a raging "discussion" for years if all of our short-term mission trips from our country to another country are really helpful in the long run. Some will describe them as "glorified vacation trips" for young people and adults. Considering finances alone, some will point out that the money a group from a church spends on doing a one-week mission trip could be better used in fully supporting a new missionary and his family on the field, who can be there year-round and not just for one week. Some missionaries have told me that in many cases the well-intentioned groups come with their Americanized methodologies that simply do not work in other cultures, and they have had to clean up some messes left behind by the visiting mission groups.
With that being said, and to be fair, good points can be made by the other side, because I know that these mission trips can be life-changing experiences for those who go, that missionaries can be greatly encouraged in the process, much spiritual good for all eternity can be accomplished, and God has used these short-term mission projects to confirm in the hearts of young and old alike that they need to enter the mission field on a full-time basis. So it is not my intention to come down on one side of this argument, but to use some of the points made to talk about the obvious advantages of doing personal world missions without even leaving your own home.
The Bible does say we are to take the gospel to every creature. We all have our Jerusalems, but there are Judeas, Samarias and the ends of the world out there. We can go to them; that is one way, and we have been pursuing that for 2000 years now. But what if God brings the Judeas, Samarias and the ends of the world to us? That has been happening in the United States for a very long time now. How many immigrants come to live here and eventually become U.S. citizens, and how many college students are there from other countries who come here for their education, either to stay here afterwards or to return to their home country after getting their degrees? Travel and communication--citing just two examples--have made this world a much smaller place, and it has brought the world to us.
I may never go to Spain in my lifetime, and if I do go, it will be for a very short time in all likelihood. Much more doubtful is my traveling to a place like Uzbekistan. But guess what? I know a young man in Uzbekistan, who lives there, grew up there, is from there, has more connections there than I ever would have, and is being a witness for Christ where I can not be a witness for Christ. And it was all because God made it possible for me, along with my entire family, to be involved in personal world missions for nine months, and not just for one week. Remember Jesus invested over three years of His life into a small group of men. Jesus was not a world traveler, but these men became that. If you can not become a world traveler, then all is not lost, because there is more than one way to skin a cat. God can bring the world to you.
Since I grew up as "cost analysis" type of child and teen (my mother would have phrased it differently, but we won't go into that) and due to my educational background in finance and business and jobs I held in those sectors, I am always looking for ways to get the best bang for my buck. I did the numbers, roughly speaking, and the cost of room and board for an international student in my home for nine months is an insignificant drop in the bucket compared to the cost of my entire family going on a mission trip to anywhere in the world for one week.
I know this has already become a lengthy article, but "finally, brethren" (Paul said that in Philippians 3:1 and he was only halfway through his letter, so hold on. . .) some years ago I became an area rep for OCEAN (Organization for Cultural Exchange Among Nations). I wanted to be an area representative way back when we had Juan and Alex, because I was fully convinced that this was a golden opportunity for a Christian family to be a witness for Christ and do world missions within their own four walls of their home. I get to match up students with potential host families.
OCEAN is such a wonderful organization with very high moral standards. Their process is very detailed and structured. All students must go through intense times of orientation in their home country and when they arrive here initially before they go to their respective host families. OCEAN will only accept top-notch students, academic-wise and in terms of character. They must pass a battery of tests, including English proficiency. They must have very good grades, they can not have any blemishes on their records in terms of behavioral misconduct, (they can not smoke, drink, do drugs or partake of any immoral or dangerous activities while they are here), they must come with numerous recommendations from teachers, principals, and other respected individuals who know them well. The parents who send their children here must pay a big sum of money for their student-child to partake of this American experience, so there is much financial incentive that nothing goes wrong while the student is here.
Some of the students who come here are already Christians, like the young man from South Korea, whom I helped place some years ago. Next week I will be traveling up to Tulsa because a 17-year old girl from Germany has just arrived, and I need to meet with the host family. Usually I interview the host family first before a student arrives, but there were special needs in this case. But this 17-year old from all accounts is not a Christian. From everything I have heard she is a very courteous, friendly, intelligent, sports-inclined, beautiful and helpful girl who on her bio put down she is open to "religion", but does not attend the Protestant church in Germany frequently. Her mother left her, her older sister and her dad a few years ago, and her dad is raising both her and her sister. It is a heart-breaking story, but here again is an opportunity for this host family and for me to sow the Word in the heart of a girl from a country we may never get to visit.
If the host family attends church regularly, then the international student will do as well, because for one thing, he or she wants to do everything the family does, and also because the student generally wants to experience as much as American culture as possible while here. If that means attending church, then he or she will definitely attend church.
The neat thing about my being a rep is that I get to choose who will be host families, which means I want only strong, consistent, loving Christian families to be host families for these incoming students. OCEAN does not believe in advertising for people to become host families; you can get a lot of takers doing something like that, but many of those kind of takers are not to be taken. A host family must undergo a background check, must be interviewed by the rep, must meet a lot of realistic standards, must come with good recommendations from others, must fill out necessary paperwork, etc. OCEAN is just as picky about host families as it is about students.
The host family provides room and board throughout the school year. The student's own family back home will provide money for all other expenses, so the costs are really minimal, but the rewards are maximum. The student does not need necessarily his or her own bedroom, just so long he or she has a separate bed. The student becomes part of the family for the school year. The host family gets to pick which student it wants from all the bios and paperwork we have on students coming in from everywhere. The host family can pick which student it wants based upon such things as country of origin, gender, age (all are high schoolers, though), interests, personality, family upbringing, religion, and other factors.
I know not everyone can be a host family for a number of reasons. Right now our family falls in that category ourselves. But there may be a lot out there that can host, if not this year (some students come in January and stay until the following December; most students come in August and stay through the following May), then maybe sometime soon in the near future. Maybe they have not considered this option or opportunity before with much thought. I have laid out the personal world missions angle, so perhaps God is calling some of you to be a foreign missionary in your own home. . .
For all those who live within a 100-mile radius of me, I am the area rep for OCEAN. I will be your go-to guy, and I will stay in constant contact with host families and all students. I see this as a joyful ministry on my part. For all those who live outside that radius, and even for those who don't but who want to check out things further, you can contact OCEAN, whose headquarters are in Tempe, Arizona, at 1-800-28-OCEAN or go to http://www.oceanintl.org/ for more information.
I don't sell Amway or Avon, but I am really sold on this, because I can't think of a better way to redeem the time and be involved in personal world missions, where God can bring the Judeas and Samarias and the ends of the world to our own personal Jerusalem.
Yours in Christ,
Chris
So I made the urgent appeal from the pulpit and in our church newsletter, and just like it is a good idea for pastors to listen to their own sermons from time to time, I began to listen to this announcement more closely. Long story short, Juan Luis Vega Jimenez came to live with our family, and we could not have been more delighted with God's providential workings for that entire school year. Juan became an integral part of our family, a big brother to our two very young girls at the time. We had such a pleasurable experience, that we decided to host another student the following year. This time we got a boy from Uzbekistan; Alisher (Alex) Abdaliev had a different personality than Juan, and he came from a totally different culture, to say the least. Still, we had again a memorable time that school year, and we made another friend for life. Alex was there at the birth of our third daughter.
Since my wife had three children at home, all pre-school age, we decided my wife needed a breather, so we did not opt for a third year in a row in hosting an international student. My father would die later that year anyway, so everything worked out well in our not hosting for a third consecutive year. We had all intention in hosting again, but other providential turn of events made it unfeasible for us to host again for the years to come.
We still have the most wonderful memories from those two years. I could tell story after story to illustrate that point, but I will keep it short. Juan came back to see us a few years later; he brought his fiance with him, so that he could get approval from his American parents. Juan is now in his mid 30s, married, with children. We kept in touch a lot, but with our move, Juan's move, different email addresses now, I have not communicated with him for awhile, but through a google search, I think I have been able to find him. So I plan on getting in touch with him by snail mail soon. Juan supposedly made a profession in Christ while he was with us, but I don't know to this day the genuineness of his profession. He came from a long line of Catholics, like nearly everyone in Spain, that he told me he would have a hard time in finding a non-Catholic church like ours in his home country, and still be in favor with his family.
As for Alex, his story had a very interesting turn. Alex came from a predominantly Muslim country, but Alex and his family were nothing. They had no religious affiliation of any kind. Alex became a part of our family, and as a result went to church with us. Again to save time, Alex during the last few months he was with us, stopped going to church, because as we found out, he was under heavy conviction from God. He told us he did not want to be saved, because he knew he would be all alone in his country. He did not know of any Christians in his home town. Of course, we respected Alex's wishes, but we kept praying for him.
Back in Uzbekistan, Alex took a Spanish class from a visiting professor from Panama, who was not only a Christian but very reformed in his theology. Alex was converted to Christ under this professor's influence, and he wrote back to me in an email in glowing terms of his testimony. He forgot at the time that he was to be not so open in his email communication, due to the fact that emails are screened over there. We have to write in coded language most of the time, especially when it comes to religious matters. He is married, has a family now, is teaching in a university somewhere in Central Asia, was involved in a prison ministry, and just two weeks ago I got another email from him.
When we were hosting Juan and Alex, it occurred to us we were doing personal world missions in the comfort of our own home. I have never been able to go on a mission trip yet in my life, and at one time in my life, I thought God was leading me into foreign missions. As it turned out, I went to Michigan and Ohio to do church planting, and from an Okie's perspective, that was very close to foreign missions. (I don't mean to offend Michiganders and Buckeyes.)
Most of us will never do foreign missions. We can pray for and financially support foreign missionaries; those are good things we should all do. We can go on a week-long mission trip overseas with our church or with some organization, but most Christians will not do that or can not do that for a variety of reasons, chiefly among them it can be quite expensive even for just one member of a family.
There has been a raging "discussion" for years if all of our short-term mission trips from our country to another country are really helpful in the long run. Some will describe them as "glorified vacation trips" for young people and adults. Considering finances alone, some will point out that the money a group from a church spends on doing a one-week mission trip could be better used in fully supporting a new missionary and his family on the field, who can be there year-round and not just for one week. Some missionaries have told me that in many cases the well-intentioned groups come with their Americanized methodologies that simply do not work in other cultures, and they have had to clean up some messes left behind by the visiting mission groups.
With that being said, and to be fair, good points can be made by the other side, because I know that these mission trips can be life-changing experiences for those who go, that missionaries can be greatly encouraged in the process, much spiritual good for all eternity can be accomplished, and God has used these short-term mission projects to confirm in the hearts of young and old alike that they need to enter the mission field on a full-time basis. So it is not my intention to come down on one side of this argument, but to use some of the points made to talk about the obvious advantages of doing personal world missions without even leaving your own home.
The Bible does say we are to take the gospel to every creature. We all have our Jerusalems, but there are Judeas, Samarias and the ends of the world out there. We can go to them; that is one way, and we have been pursuing that for 2000 years now. But what if God brings the Judeas, Samarias and the ends of the world to us? That has been happening in the United States for a very long time now. How many immigrants come to live here and eventually become U.S. citizens, and how many college students are there from other countries who come here for their education, either to stay here afterwards or to return to their home country after getting their degrees? Travel and communication--citing just two examples--have made this world a much smaller place, and it has brought the world to us.
I may never go to Spain in my lifetime, and if I do go, it will be for a very short time in all likelihood. Much more doubtful is my traveling to a place like Uzbekistan. But guess what? I know a young man in Uzbekistan, who lives there, grew up there, is from there, has more connections there than I ever would have, and is being a witness for Christ where I can not be a witness for Christ. And it was all because God made it possible for me, along with my entire family, to be involved in personal world missions for nine months, and not just for one week. Remember Jesus invested over three years of His life into a small group of men. Jesus was not a world traveler, but these men became that. If you can not become a world traveler, then all is not lost, because there is more than one way to skin a cat. God can bring the world to you.
Since I grew up as "cost analysis" type of child and teen (my mother would have phrased it differently, but we won't go into that) and due to my educational background in finance and business and jobs I held in those sectors, I am always looking for ways to get the best bang for my buck. I did the numbers, roughly speaking, and the cost of room and board for an international student in my home for nine months is an insignificant drop in the bucket compared to the cost of my entire family going on a mission trip to anywhere in the world for one week.
I know this has already become a lengthy article, but "finally, brethren" (Paul said that in Philippians 3:1 and he was only halfway through his letter, so hold on. . .) some years ago I became an area rep for OCEAN (Organization for Cultural Exchange Among Nations). I wanted to be an area representative way back when we had Juan and Alex, because I was fully convinced that this was a golden opportunity for a Christian family to be a witness for Christ and do world missions within their own four walls of their home. I get to match up students with potential host families.
OCEAN is such a wonderful organization with very high moral standards. Their process is very detailed and structured. All students must go through intense times of orientation in their home country and when they arrive here initially before they go to their respective host families. OCEAN will only accept top-notch students, academic-wise and in terms of character. They must pass a battery of tests, including English proficiency. They must have very good grades, they can not have any blemishes on their records in terms of behavioral misconduct, (they can not smoke, drink, do drugs or partake of any immoral or dangerous activities while they are here), they must come with numerous recommendations from teachers, principals, and other respected individuals who know them well. The parents who send their children here must pay a big sum of money for their student-child to partake of this American experience, so there is much financial incentive that nothing goes wrong while the student is here.
Some of the students who come here are already Christians, like the young man from South Korea, whom I helped place some years ago. Next week I will be traveling up to Tulsa because a 17-year old girl from Germany has just arrived, and I need to meet with the host family. Usually I interview the host family first before a student arrives, but there were special needs in this case. But this 17-year old from all accounts is not a Christian. From everything I have heard she is a very courteous, friendly, intelligent, sports-inclined, beautiful and helpful girl who on her bio put down she is open to "religion", but does not attend the Protestant church in Germany frequently. Her mother left her, her older sister and her dad a few years ago, and her dad is raising both her and her sister. It is a heart-breaking story, but here again is an opportunity for this host family and for me to sow the Word in the heart of a girl from a country we may never get to visit.
If the host family attends church regularly, then the international student will do as well, because for one thing, he or she wants to do everything the family does, and also because the student generally wants to experience as much as American culture as possible while here. If that means attending church, then he or she will definitely attend church.
The neat thing about my being a rep is that I get to choose who will be host families, which means I want only strong, consistent, loving Christian families to be host families for these incoming students. OCEAN does not believe in advertising for people to become host families; you can get a lot of takers doing something like that, but many of those kind of takers are not to be taken. A host family must undergo a background check, must be interviewed by the rep, must meet a lot of realistic standards, must come with good recommendations from others, must fill out necessary paperwork, etc. OCEAN is just as picky about host families as it is about students.
The host family provides room and board throughout the school year. The student's own family back home will provide money for all other expenses, so the costs are really minimal, but the rewards are maximum. The student does not need necessarily his or her own bedroom, just so long he or she has a separate bed. The student becomes part of the family for the school year. The host family gets to pick which student it wants from all the bios and paperwork we have on students coming in from everywhere. The host family can pick which student it wants based upon such things as country of origin, gender, age (all are high schoolers, though), interests, personality, family upbringing, religion, and other factors.
I know not everyone can be a host family for a number of reasons. Right now our family falls in that category ourselves. But there may be a lot out there that can host, if not this year (some students come in January and stay until the following December; most students come in August and stay through the following May), then maybe sometime soon in the near future. Maybe they have not considered this option or opportunity before with much thought. I have laid out the personal world missions angle, so perhaps God is calling some of you to be a foreign missionary in your own home. . .
For all those who live within a 100-mile radius of me, I am the area rep for OCEAN. I will be your go-to guy, and I will stay in constant contact with host families and all students. I see this as a joyful ministry on my part. For all those who live outside that radius, and even for those who don't but who want to check out things further, you can contact OCEAN, whose headquarters are in Tempe, Arizona, at 1-800-28-OCEAN or go to http://www.oceanintl.org/ for more information.
I don't sell Amway or Avon, but I am really sold on this, because I can't think of a better way to redeem the time and be involved in personal world missions, where God can bring the Judeas and Samarias and the ends of the world to our own personal Jerusalem.
Yours in Christ,
Chris
