If I could turn back the clock I’d do things differently in reaching the unreached with the message of Christ.
* If I were an engineer I would get a job with a company that works overseas.
* If I were in college today I would study international business.
* If I was graduating from college this spring I would take a civil service test, apply for a State Department job and try to get an overseas assignment with the U.S. embassy.
* If I were a history, english or math teacher I would apply to teach at international school in the Middle East.
* At 23 years of age and single I would join the Peace Corp, Red Cross or some other international agency.
* If I were a chef I’d open a hamburger joint in Jordon.
Whatever a person is good at, they can live, work and serve Christ overseas.
For a local church to be involved in M3 ministry they only have to look as far as their local college or university as students from M3 nations are in your town.
In almost every community there are cultural blocks of people. In my hometown in northwest Arkansas of 45,000 people, there is a significant Hispanic population, but also a considerable number, between 15 and 20 percent, of immigrants from the Marshall Islands. One does not need to abandon their local church to reach out to students or immigrants; they merely have to look for ways to interact with others.
If I could turn back the clock I probably would still teach intercultural studies, but rather than following the traditional mission track of working within the established church I would look for ways to serve Christ in the secular workplace. I can’t turn back the clock and I’m too old to start over, but I can encourage others to think about doing missions differently in this age of globalization and post-Christendom.
