Have you ever been to the most beautiful place on earth? I have.
Mrs Sweetie and I recently returned from a week in beautiful British Columbia. Two of our days were vacation days in Whistler, where many of the ski events were held during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The rest of our time was spent in Vancouver, where I serve as the international advocate for church planting among Farsi speaking people, in partnership with West Coast Baptist Association.
The Metro Vancouver region is an amazingly beautiful and cosmopolitan region, with around 3 million residents from all over the world speaking more than 200 languages. In the particular area of my advocacy focus, there are over 50,000 Farsi speakers.
We spent an evening in the home of our dear friends, Amin & Sepideh, who came to Canada 10 years ago as United Nations refugees from Iran. They spoke no English at the time and knew no one. Amin now is the pastor of Zendeh (Living) Church and Sepideh is pursuing a degree in psychology and works as a translator.
I should probably clear up some confusion. I don’t believe Vancouver is the most beautiful place on earth, though I love visiting.
I believe the most beautiful place on earth is the place where God sends us. Wherever Mrs. Sweetie and I are together and serving Him is the most beautiful place on earth.
The church planters we met with last week are serving Him in their most beautiful place. Many of them (including one from Henrietta, TX) have left home, family, and support systems because they have embraced a mission from God. They see themselves as sent to serve in that place.
I’m currently reading “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society” by Eugene Peterson. Here are some snippets from what I read this morning:
“Too often we think of religion as a far-off, mysteriously run bureaucracy to which we apply for assistance when we feel the need. We go to a local branch office and direct the clerk (sometimes called a pastor) to fill out our order for God. Then we go home and wait for God to be delivered to us according to the specifications that we have set down. But that is not the way it works. And if we thought about it for two consecutive minutes, we would not want it to work that way. If God is God at all, he must know more about our needs than we do; if God is God at all, he must be more in touch with the reality of our thoughts, our emotions, our bodies than we are; if God is God at all, he must have a more comprehensive grasp of the interrelations in our families and communities and nations than we do … If we want to understand God, we must do it on his terms … The Christian is a person who recognizes that our real problem is not in achieving freedom, but in learning service under a better master … A servant Christian is the freest person on earth.”
Do we see ourselves as sent to serve? Do we see our neighborhood as our most beautiful place?
