From them is . . . Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. (Rom. 9:5)
“Jim and Roxy, we would like for you to consider leaving southern Africa and going to Cambodia to serve as missionaries there. Will you both please pray about this?”
My initial response, which I did not verbalize, was, “What? Leave southern Africa? You can’t be serious! I love ministering in Africa. Some of the best friends I have ever had live in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Swaziland. It would be hard to leave friends like Sonny Makusha, Solomon Kalenge, Richard Nukeri, Billy Niemack . . . ” What I said out loud was, “Can you tell us why you are asking us to make this move?”
“There are different reasons we have come to you. The first reason is that you have done well serving in Africa. Second, your gift of teaching and nurturing is what is needed in Cambodia. And the third reason is that you, Jim, are of Asian descent.”
“What does me being Asian have to do with anything?”
“A challenge of ministering in Cambodia is the perception that Christianity is a white-man’s religion. When mission organizations send only white missionaries there, they continue to feed that perception. You going to Cambodia would help to break down this way of thinking. We want Cambodians to know that Christ is for all people—not just for white people.
Thank God that your race is included in those whom Jesus came to save.
Jim “Umf” Lo is a professor at Indiana Wesleyan University, cross-cultural leader, intercessor, and author of several books including Unholiness: Overcoming the Forces That Attack Your Soul (WPH).
© 2018 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
