It’s funny how kids can teach us so much about sharing the Gospel.
When my 11 year-old son wanted to get baptized recently, we were so excited! We live two states away from our closest family, which means our friends have become our family and get invited to these kinds of milestone events.
Our son invited his friends from school, most of whom are already believers (a good problem to have). But one friend of his is from India, and the boy and his family are Hindus. He wanted to invite him, but my son was nervous about how his public declaration of following Christ would be received. He didn’t want to offend or make his friend feel uncomfortable.
To calm his nerves, I told him that this is exactly what baptism is about: sharing your faith publicly. Ironically, I don’t think my pep talk helped.
The day came and my son's friend came with his dad. They enjoyed the time and fellowship, and even asked multiple questions about the meaning and symbolism of baptism. It wasn’t a full-scale Gospel presentation. Instead, it was a simple invitation into our lives to share about what we believe is important. I don’t know if our Hindu friends will ever give their lives to Christ, but they now know a little bit more about what it looks like to follow Him.
They saw the Gospel in the most organic way possible and it was through the invitation of childhood friendship.
[The story above was from one of our WCP staff who is living life with diaspora Hindus here in the Denver Metro.]
Christianity Today Celebrates Our Book
Obviously not all those in the diaspora are refugees; some move for economic reasons to places all over the world. However, recently Christianity Today celebrated our Refugee Diaspora in their special issue on "how women are rethinking global Gospel proclamation."
Special shout out to CT for featuring Refugee Diaspora especially as a book that leaders indicated had shaped their worldview.
"Refugee Diaspora looks at the current refugee crisis through the lens of opportunity; namely, opportunities to be involved in caring for displaced persons in one’s community." ~ Jamie N. Sanchez
Refugee Diaspora has hope-filled pages of refugees encountering Jesus Christ and presents models of Christian ministry from the front lines of the refugee crisis and the real challenges of ministering to today’s refugees. It includes biblical, theological, and practical reflections on mission in diverse diaspora contexts from leading scholars as well as practitioners in all major regions of the world.
Buy Refugee Diaspora here.
