Sharing the Journey

Working in an English-speaking "bubble" of Christians is not my usual definition of cross-cultural missions.

Don't get me wrong. Gina and I both love what we do and who we're working with. We are both, God-willing, having a broader impact on Europe than just with the other English-speaking Nazarenes we come into contact with on a daily basis. All the same, we have not yet had the opportunity to learn either High German or Swiss-German in order to better integrate ourselves into the local community.

However, when Gina and I have traveled away from our local area, we have come into contact with people who are fascinated with the idea that we would spend a year away from the U.S. doing volunteer work. I, for one, can say that "teaching and working in a library at a Bible school" is by far the best opening for a spiritual conversation I've ever had ... followed immediately by "just graduated from seminary."

We recently returned from traveling in Italy. Along with seeing some amazing historical and natural sights, we met some fascinating people. In Rome, we met Francis and Susan - a couple from the U.S. who were traveling Europe on their way to meet their son in Vienna, Austria. As we were first becoming acquainted with them, the words "just graduated from seminary" popped out of my mouth and from that point on, Francis and Susan were extremely interested in us. "Are you a priest?" they asked, much to my embarrassed laughter. Imagine a young priest traveling with a beautiful young woman like Gina, alone, in Europe, with both of them wearing wedding rings. The scandal! I corrected their misconception, and we both explained what we were doing in Europe for a year and why. Oddly, we ran into Francis and Susan at least twice more during that trip. If you account for the random paths both families took through Rome amid millions of people, you would have thought our meetings a little more than coincidental, too.

In Amalfi, which is a coastal area about an hour south of Naples, Gina and I were ourselves the recipients of God's grace. Or, at least, a vivid image of it we will not soon forget. We learned of a very reasonably-priced seafood restaurant on the coast in view of Mt. Vesuvius, and headed out in search of it. When we got there, we realized we had forgotten to bring enough cash that evening. The waitress arrived, and we tried to explain our mistake and prepared to leave the restaurant with our heads hanging low. "Oh, no, no, no! Stay, sit! Eat!" she said. "You can come back and pay us tomorrow." With our mouths hanging open in shock, we enjoyed an incredible meal and service that made us feel like we'd just paid hundreds, instead of nothing at all, to eat there. Of course, we returned the next evening, enjoyed another wonderful meal, and settled our bill for both (even though they seemed not to remember us, and would have let us eat for free a second time). We left that restaurant with a new perspective on the lavish generosity of God's grace!

On our last day in Florence, we had a couple of hours to kill before boarding a train and it was raining anyway. So we sat in the lobby of our hostel and enjoyed the time talking with Leonardo (one of two brothers who run the place). He shared some funny stories with us about other tourists and guests, and we mentioned that I had also spent a few years working in the hotel business. I shared a couple stories of my own from that experience, and his expression communicated absolute amazement. I thought it was funny that a guy who had worked in the business three times as long as I ever did, and who must have surely seen everything, was so astonished by what I'd experienced as a hotel desk clerk in the U.S. Toward the end of our conversation, the topic began moving in a more spiritual direction (it seems even "I worked at a hotel" can serve as a great opening line, given the right opportunity). Gina had apparently talked with him previously, because he already knew we worked at a Bible college. He shared how he wasn't particularly religious himself, but was adamant that people who disagreed with religion should disagree and leave people of faith alone. We shared that we understood and appreciated his perspective very much, but unfortunately the conversation was not able to go much further.

Finally, the hour-long train ride between Florence and Pisa afforded us the opportunity to meet and share conversation with a Hindu man who was traveling with his family. Originally from India, they were currently living in the U.K. and were traveling Europe on holiday. I can't immediately recall how we got onto the topic, but we quickly moved in a spiritual direction. He shared how open and tolerant the Hindu faith was, and shared with us some of his perspectives and listened willingly as we shared our own. While our faiths are vastly different from one another, we were also able to reach some common ground. That conversation is probably worthy of its own entry on our blog, and I will let Gina take you through it in more detail. Suffice it to say that both parties were completely fascinated by what was said, and it was a very peaceful, positive encounter between "rival" faiths and cultures. He appeared to have genuine interest and appreciation for what Gina told him about Jesus, and about a relationship with God, and, yes, even about entire sanctification (which she brought up when he asked about what makes our "branch of Christianity" distinctive). She did a fantastic job of explaining these things, using terms and images that he, as a Hindu, could readily understand.

Always, such encounters were unplanned, spontaneous moments of opportunity. Often, they came as interruptions to our plans. We might be hot, tired, or hungry, and not exactly thrilled about conversing with a nearby passenger or talkative desk clerk. Yet we were enabled to recognize these moments and rise to the occasion as best we could. We understand that such moments, whether or not they immediately lead to any conversions, are why we're here in Europe. Yes, we live in a beautiful, quiet area, and, okay, we get to do some traveling. I don't wish to minimize the very cool experience we're having here on a daily basis. But I do want to emphasize the entire reason we came here was not to "experience Europe" but to share, in some small way, in what God is doing here - in and through the lives of everyday people like the Hindu train passenger, the waitress in Amalfi, the desk clerk in Florence, and the American couple in Rome.

God is not just at work outside the U.S., and you don't have to give a week, two weeks, or a year of your life in some other country to participate in His work of renewing people's lives and redeeming creation. Moments like we've had happen as "accidents," and the idea is simply to make yourself as "accident-prone" as possible. Recognize opportunities as they arise all around you every day. Be open, even when tired or otherwise generally unwilling, to the Holy Spirit pairing you up with someone who may either be an encouragement to you (like the Amalfi waitress) or someone who may need to encounter Him through you (like the Hindu man or the American couple in Rome or Leonardo the desk clerk in Florence).