From our correspondent
How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?
Romans 10:14-15 (NIV)
Ten years ago, Daniel* and Laura* led a short-term 'EDGE' team together and they have been serving overseas since 2018. Due to the pandemic they returned to the UK, but while here, they have been praying, working on their language, and actively looking for workers, both short-term and long-term.
It took about 10 years for Daniel and Laura to get to the field, during which time, among other things, they worked with Arabs, learned Islamics, and studied different cultures – all of which have proved very useful for their longer-term work.
For many people, short-term trips can play a significant role, offering an opportunity to explore and think through just what it means to serve among an unreached people group, particularly in the Arab world.
Daniel says, “We’re quite unusual in that we both felt called to a very specific people group from quite early on and that was very significant for us. But we know that other people feel called to the Arab world more generally. Workers often feel a direct sense of calling to a specific region, but we’ve found that the grain of their individual personalities can also be a big factor in how they discern this. So if they like hot weather and the desert, and they find the culture interesting, that is a really good start. As they explore further, the interest and natural fascination marries with the realisation that there is a real gospel need and the two go together.”
Daniel explains, “We’re very much in a situation where ‘the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few,’ to use the words of Jesus. The thing is we are working among an unreached people group numbering maybe 500,000 people but with perhaps only five or 10 believers; there is no church, so there’s a lot of need to share the good news with people, but there’s also a lot of demand. We know more people than we have time to share with, so there’s a need for workers to get alongside people to share.
“There’s also a sense in which we say to people the need is urgent. Sometimes people say they could do that kind of work in the UK and, yes, that’s true. But we also need to communicate that the unreached have a special need for two reasons. First, someone will have to go cross-culturally to reach them, otherwise how can they hear. Second, there are those in our people group, and perhaps this especially applies to the Arab world, who are desperate to find out about Christianity and explore it but they cannot – it’s just not possible. In the UK if anybody wants to find out about Christianity they can go into a shop and buy a Bible, walk into a church, go online – there are a tonne of resources. Where we are, people can’t find out even if they want to. In our unreached, open place, we offered some people a Bible and they practically ripped our arms off because they were so desperate to get it. They know nothing of the Bible or of Christianity – they don’t know that Jesus died or that He rose again. The message is completely fresh.”
As Daniel and Laura return to the field they are looking forward to welcoming some short-termers as well as those seriously considering longer-term service. They ask us to pray that they will receive these short-termers well. But pray too for salvation for the people. Daniel adds, “they are lost without Christ; and the Lord deserves to be glorified by the people who live there – He made them; He gives them every breath that they breathe and at the moment they don’t worship Him – but we pray that they will.”
*Names changed to protect identities.
EDGE is a one to two week trip to work practically alongside one of our field teams to gain excellent first-hand experience of serving Jesus in another culture. Contact Ben, on beng@awm-pioneers.org, if you are interested in going on short-term mission to the Arab world.
