Once people hear of the need and the opportunity, many are excited and want to be involved, but they don’t know where to start or how to get involved. While some of you may already have a relationship with someone from a Muslim, Hindu, Budhist, Sikh, or other religious background, some are unsure of how to engage. How do we enter that harvest field and begin finding people to share the good news with?
Here are a few simple steps to take to begin.
1. Pray.
I can’t emphasize enough how important this is. Apart of Christ, we are nothing. We can do nothing. We can accomplish nothing of any eternal significance. We are entirely dependent on the Lord, and prayer is the foundation of any work. First, pray that God will open your eyes to the needs around you, that you will be able to see with His eyes. Second, pray that God will open doors and bring opportunities. Third, pray that God would prepare the hearts and work in the lives of those He will lead you to engage. If you know of an area with a high population of internationals, try prayer walking in that neighborhood or community.
2. Look Around
One problem that many Americans have, myself included, is that we have a tendency to have tunnel vision. We are so focused on our own lives and our own business that we often are oblivious to those who are around us. Pray that God would open your eyes to the internationals in your community. You may be surprised at how many there are, who they are, or where they are. Whether it is your neighborhood, your work, your children’s school, the library, the store, or the park, they may already be around you without you having noticed them.
3. Seek out Connection Points
If you don’t find internationals in your world, it may be time to intentionally expand your world. How can we do this? First, there may be connection events already in place. These are places that have been set up to facilitate connecting with the internationals. ESL (English as a Second Language) classes are a good example, and many churches offer these to the internationals in their community. Some library systems also have ESL classes or gatherings. Many universities have international students, and they may have opportunities to connect with the community through conversation programs where you are paired with an international student to meet regularly. There may be opportunities to be a friendship family, where you have the student over to your home. You or a team may need to get together to brainstorm ways that you can connect with internationals, and you may be the one to begin a connection event. You might also keep up with the local and community calendar and watch for cross-cultural events, whether it is an ethnic food festival or other cultural presentations. Other connection points include ethnic restaurants and stores. Get to know the staff at these places and build a relationship with them to learn about more access points into their community.
I can’t emphasize enough how important this is. Apart of Christ, we are nothing. We can do nothing. We can accomplish nothing of any eternal significance. We are entirely dependent on the Lord, and prayer is the foundation of any work. First, pray that God will open your eyes to the needs around you, that you will be able to see with His eyes. Second, pray that God will open doors and bring opportunities. Third, pray that God would prepare the hearts and work in the lives of those He will lead you to engage. If you know of an area with a high population of internationals, try prayer walking in that neighborhood or community.
The Nations are all around you, but how do you find them. Resources are coming soon to give you practical ideas to learn more about unreached people in your community or region. We are also working on providing additional resources for how to engage them. For now, check out the UPG North America website for information on populations of the least reached people groups in various cities throughout North America. You can also find people group profiles and virtual prayerwalks that identify points of interest for various people groups. We also encourage you to get out and explore, searching for ethnic restaurants, ethnic markets, and religious centers to pray over and engage.
Our international neighbors may be from a different country, but they are like us in so many ways. But what are some tips for enhancing communication across cultures? How can we avoid cultural misunderstandings or causing offense without even realizing it? We are working on uploading resrouces and links with tips on effective cross cultural communication.
What are some proven tips and strategies for developing relationships that lead to opportunities to share the Gospel? Resources coming soon.