“We are now at the end of our presentation. Thank you so much for coming, and thank you for your support and prayers!”
We are currently spending three months in Germany visiting my family, raising funds for our ministry and meeting friends and supporters and telling them how God has blessed us. So many people have supported us for many, many years, and it is wonderful to see them, talk with them and thank them for their commitment.
At the end of our church presentations, we give people an opportunity to ask questions. Often they ask about our lifestyle in Benin and the climate. Children want to know what kind of wild animals we have in our area. But during this furlough, a new question is coming up over and over: “Do you think it is possible for us to evangelize refugees and immigrants? How do you think we could reach out to them?”
Over the last year, hundreds of thousands of refugees have come to Europe, especially Germany. On a single weekend, more than 19,000 people arrived just in the town of Munich. Most come from Syria, some from the Balkans and others from northern Africa. Each town is assigned a certain number of refugees and has to find or build housing for them. Even the smallest and remotest villages welcome hundreds of people. Right behind the apartment building where we are staying with my parents, a field has been turned into a refugee center, with housing under construction for 200 refugees. While most Germans are welcoming and willing to help, there is also the fear of the unknown and the challenge of integrating people with a totally different culture and worldview. Among many others, the Adventist church is trying to find a way to help refugees and reach out to them.
I think this is a great opportunity. Most of the refugees come from places where evangelism is either prohibited by law or extremely difficult. They come from the 10/40 window, the area most in need of mission outreach. Now they are coming to us, where religious liberty allows us to witness to them without any risk! We can freely share with them, invite them to special events at our churches and set up special programs for them. The wife of our pastor has already started weekly German classes. Some of these refugees will eventually go back to their home countries, and those who have become Christians will take their new faith with them. What an opportunity!
Toussaint and I don’t have enough time in Germany to get involved in refugee ministry, but we do have an opportunity to spend time talking with people about cross-cultural evangelism. We will share with our friends how to get acquainted with a foreign culture, and how to learn about and appreciate new customs and values. Jesus is our example. He spent most of His time here on earth talking with people, listening to their sorrows and joys, healing their physical and spiritual sicknesses, caring for them and meeting their needs. He laughed and cried with them, celebrated and mourned with them, told stories and cuddled their children. He breathed the love of God, and that is what every person longs for. This was the key that unlocked people’s hearts back then, and if we live and share the same love, it will unlock today’s hearts just the same.
May God help our brothers and sisters in Europe to seize this opportunity to become cross-cultural missionaries in their own neighborhoods.
