Missionaries serving unreached parts of the world will often enter a community or a neighborhood where there are no other foreigners, no other Americans, and no other Christians! They are seen as outsiders; it can take years before they are accepted and seen as part of the community. Ephesians 4:3 says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” How does that happen when culture, religion, and race differ so vastly? One of First Church’s partner missionaries shared a story about an act of unity that happened in a very meaningful and miraculous way. As this story beautifully depicts, unity can transcend a sea of differences when we invite God and strive to keep the peace—even if we are nobodies and outsiders!
“So, what do you think?” Youseff asked me. “Will you rent the house?” I took a deep breath. We had been looking for a house close to where we worked for more than a year now and had really struggled to find anything at all. This house, although not perfect, could work well for us. After so many months of looking, I asked the father of our daughter’s best friend at the local school if he knew of anything. Within a few weeks, Aziz, the dad, had introduced me to Youseff, who had a brand-new house for rent. This was a huge answer to prayer! There was a bit of apprehension on my part, as I had learned in my last five years in North Africa that the landlord-renter relationship could be difficult. I had found that negotiating rent prices was one of my least favorite parts of life here. I gathered up my courage and prayed.
“Yes, Youseff, we like it a lot. We have been praying and asking God to provide a house just like this. How much do you want a month for rent?” Youseff looked at me strangely and answered, “I’m going to have to talk to Aziz about it. Come back in two days, and we can talk about it then.” That was a strange answer! Although the house was close to Aziz’s house, the two were not related, in my Western mind, this was between me and Youseff. What I learned was that because Aziz had made the connection and recommended me to Youseff, he was the mediator. He was vouching for my family and me, and he was inviting us into his neighborhood, his protection, his care, his reputation, and his honor. Wow!
Two days later, I came back and met with Youseff. He told me that he had been hoping for a particular rent amount for the house, but Aziz had said to charge 20 percent less than that. So that is the price Youseff said. “Does this work for you?” he asked. This was cheaper than any other house I had ever rented in this country, and I didn’t have to do a single minute of negotiating! And as far as we knew, we were the only foreigners living in this town. We were nobodies and outsiders and yet Aziz became our mediator, and we are now deeply connected to him and his family through this act of unity. We pray that one day, Aziz and his family will know what it means in 1 Timothy 2:5 when it says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” Missionaries serving unreached parts of the world will often enter a community or a neighborhood where there are no other foreigners, no other Americans, and no other Christians! They are seen as outsiders; it can take years before they are accepted and seen as part of the community. Ephesians 4:3 says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” How does that happen when culture, religion, and race differ so vastly?
One of First Church’s partner missionaries shared a story about an act of unity that happened in a very meaningful and miraculous way. As this story beautifully depicts, unity can transcend a sea of differences when we invite God and strive to keep the peace—even if we are nobodies and outsiders!
by Trusha Barner, Director of Missions
