Be a Foreign Missionary at Home

Hundreds of Christians who have wished they could be foreign missionaries have for one reason or another been unable to go overseas. But since World War II, God has brought increasing opportunities for a Christian to be a “foreign” missionary in his own language, and often right in his own living room. Each year more and more foreign students and scholars come to the United States. In 1971, there were 144,708 students and 12,047 scholars, according to Open Doors, published by the Institute of International Education. They were in 1,748 institutions scattered throughout the fifty states. In addition, several thousand foreign medical doctors were working as interns and residents in our nation’s hospitals.

These students are a very strategic group. Many will return home to become leaders in government, industry, and education. An African student I met as an undergraduate some years ago on pier 42 in New York is now minister of education and economics in his country.

Some of these students come from countries where Christian witness is prohibited; if they are ever to hear the Gospel, it will be while they are in this country. And a number of students come from a social class we probably couldn’t reach if we were in their homelands as missionaries. Political, social, and racial barriers tend to be fewer here than there. I was a close friend of the son of the foreign minister of a Middle Eastern country closed to missionaries, and I was entertained in the home of the speaker of the house of one of the largest countries in South America because his daughter and her husband stayed in our home for a few days.

These students are often more open to the Gospel here than they would be in their homeland because they are away from the pressures of family, friends, and government. Many are curious about Christianity; they think America is a Christian nation and want to know what makes it tick.

Getting to know some of these students is not nearly as hard as it might seem. Call the foreign student advisor at the college or university nearest you and say you would like to meet some students from overseas and invite them to your home on a regular basis; the advisor can probably give you names. Better yet, drop in on a campus international student club or one of the national associations, like the Arab or Indian association, and meet students.

If you live in a port of entry, such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, or Miami, you could volunteer your services to an organization like the International Services Association that meets students on arrival. If no organization in your college town meets students on arrival and gives orientation tours of the campus and city, you could initiate such a program, if the college approved your plan. There are Christian organizations, such as International Students Incorporated, Campus Crusade for Christ, and Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, that are looking for Christians to follow up the hundreds of students with whom they have made contact. (A free copy of “A Guide to International Friendship” is available from Inter-Varsity at 233 Langdon, Madison, Wisconsin 53703.)

Inviting students to your home for dinner is best. If that isn’t possible, arrange to go out with them to a restaurant. It’s usually best to have two students together at first. This eases the strain all around. Be sure to confirm your verbal invitation and its details in writing. I arrived at noon one time to pick up some students from Asia for dinner and found them in bed; I had said twelve o’clock, and they thought I was going to come at midnight! Arrange to pick the students up, since public transportation can be very confusing.

Beware of possible dietary restrictions. Ham and pork would be anathema to a Muslim, and some Hindus are vegetarians. You can ask the student if he has any dietary restrictions; he will undoubtedly appreciate your thoughtfulness. If you have to take a shot in the dark, chicken and fish are the safest, and you’ll ring a bell with people from almost every part of the world if you serve rice.

Before saying grace, explain to your guests that it is your custom to thank God for your food. This is not the time to quote every verse you know from Genesis to Revelation in your prayer, nor to pray, “If there be any around this table who do not know the Lord.…” Simply express thanks for the food. If it’s your custom to have family Bible reading and prayer at the table, by all means have it with your new friends there. Don’t however, develop the custom just for this occasion. If you have children, they will be sure to betray you! If you read around, include your guests if they are comfortable reading English. In your prayers you will certainly want to ask God’s blessing on the students, their academic work, and their families back home.

Your new friends may ask questions about Christianity that will be a natural lead-in to conversation about the Lord. These should be allowed to develop naturally, however. Make no attempt to force conversation about spiritual things. If you do, your friends will suspect that you are interested in them only as possible converts.

Spiritual impact is most likely to come out of a solid, continuing friendship. Imagine yourself in Bangkok, Thailand, knowing little of the language and having no friends. Ask yourself what things you’d appreciate help with. Simple parts of everyday life would loom large. You would need to know, for instance, about the transportation system, using the telephone, where to get your clothes washed, what stores were reliable, perhaps where to get food for a special diet. You would be very thankful for a person whom you knew well enough to be able to ask him simple questions and be sure you’d get straight answers.

You would also need help with the meaning of certain words or phrases in the language. Suggest to your student friends that they write down English words and expressions they hear that they don’t understand, and offer to go over their lists with them from time to time. I remember well the amazement and laughter of a Japanese postdoctoral professor when I told him what the expression “what’s cooking?” meant. He had been puzzled by this for months. My wife once taught an informal English class for the wives of foreign scientists who were doing short-term study at a laboratory near our home. A few days after she distributed a list of 150 idioms and their meanings, she was besieged with requests for extra copies. The scientists had gotten hold of their wives’ lists.

In a foreign country you would be interested in places of historic and scenic interest, and so, no doubt, are your new friends. Also, visits to such things as a labor-union or PTA meeting, a court, a farm, a factory, and schools will probably be welcome. These are the kinds of experiences that help a foreigner feel he has gotten beneath the surface of the culture.

You might suggest that your friends from overseas cook some of their country’s food for you and your family. They’ll probably appreciate this opportunity both to eat their own food and to give you a glimpse into their culture. Perhaps they’d like to bring some other friends along.

As your friendship with a foreign student develops, you may want to ask some questions that could lead to conversation on spiritual matters. You might ask, “What contact have you had with Christianity in your country?” Perhaps he was educated in a mission school. Perhaps he’s had no contact at all with Christianity. It’s helpful for you to know this, and the question could well be a launching pad for conversation. You might suggest that it must be confusing to try to understand Christianity when there are so many different denominations here. You can point out that the differences are minor compared to basic agreement on the deity of Christ, his death for our sins, his resurrection from the dead, and the necessity of the new birth. The student would probably be glad to have copies of the New Testament or parts of it in a clear, modern English version. You might also be able to get a copy in his own language from the American Bible Society. As his interest develops, a book like John Stott’s Basic Christianity can be very useful in giving a clear, objective statement of the faith.

By all means invite your friend to go with you to church, without forcing the issue if he would rather not. If he goes, protect him from overly eager people who might try to “buttonhole” him and put him in an embarrassing situation.

Never identify Christianity and the American way of life as if they were inseparable. If the foreign student feels he must become an American in order to become a Christian, he is not likely to be interested. Most foreign students are highly critical of America’s foreign policy, and perhaps of parts of its domestic policy also. One test of your relationship with the foreign student is how free he feels to criticize America to you.

By all means try to learn a little about his country. Read an article in an encyclopedia so that you at least have some idea of its geography, history, and present conditions. Be sure to avoid ignorant and unfeeling questions, such as “Do they wear shoes where you come from?” If the student’s name is difficult to pronounce, write it down and work at saying it properly.

The main prerequisite for work with overseas students is not education but love. Children are an asset rather than a hindrance; they help break the ice. A Japanese friend of mine tapped me on the shoulder as we heard a baby crying and said, smiling, “Universal language!”

Someone has well said, never underestimate foreigners’ intelligence or overestimate their information. You don’t have to speak loudly to them, just slowly. Many of them, though highly educated and cultured, are as unaware of the basics of the Gospel as a savage in a jungle. You could be the first one ever to communicate the Gospel to one of these strategic friends from overseas. Some time ago a Hindu postdoctoral student told me she had never before held a New Testament in her hand. I have had Muslims say to me, “This is the first time in my life I have ever heard why Christ died.” I could introduce you to people in many countries of the world and from every religious background who found Christ in this country while they were students and returned to their own nations. Now they function as missionaries who do not come home on furlough and who are ten times more effective than any foreigner could be.

It is a tragedy that every year thousands of foreign students return home without having seen the inside of an American home and without having had any contact with a vital Christian who could demonstrate the love of Christ and share with him the Good News of the Gospel. Did some of them live in your town?

George M. Marsden is associate professor of history at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has the Ph.D. (Yale University) and has written “The Evangelical Mind and the New School Presbyterian Experience.”

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