Universe Next Door

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We will soon be sharing our home with a young man from Sudan who we managed to get into a Charter School close to our home. He and his parents were refugees in Egypt after fleeing war torn Sudan and have been here since January. They barely speak English and we want to walk with them in their journey.

Interacting with his community, an apartment complex full of people around the world, Liberia, Uganda, Eastern Europe and Latin American countries, I am amazed at how our world has changed. We no longer have to go to Africa to be missionaries because Africa has come to us. Latin America has come to us.

Rather than seeing this as a threat, as some are wont to do, I see it as God’s hand in the world. Here are the broken of the world coming to teach us how to be broken. Here are the humble of the world showing us how to be humble. Here are the displaced of the world reminding us that we are all aliens in this land. For, as Christians, we belong to another Kingdom, another land, another country.

As Peter calls us, we are ‘sojourners and exiles;’ “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

3 thoughts on “Universe Next Door

  1. Padre,
    Long time no see. I am so happy to hear about your cross cultural move. This is going to be a great experience for all involved. I had some experience with a few of the Sons of Sudan while I was at CCU and I really enjoyed them. I actually had a great relationship with one guy named Mawor (I’m not sure if that’s how it is spelled). Good luck, and enjoy this awesome opportunity.

  2. As missiologist Ray Bakke says, “The Lord of the Harvest is bringing the world to our door step at their own expense.”

    If we reach our own cities we will reach the world…we live in great times!

    jazztheologian

  3. Nice well written piece. I just wanted to say what a real pleasure it was to read.

    I couldn’t agree more with it and also with the above comments.

    God bless you in your new relationship.

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