Graduate Missionaries
Don't Wait to Finish School Before Starting Ministryby Shannon Whiting
When Link staff Nairy gave a commitment call to Urbana 03 participants, she slipped in a somewhat humorous call of her own:
"If by chance you are a man, you love Jesus and you can talk, please come see me afterwards."
In the room of nearly 20,000, only one who fit the description approached Nairy that evening. InterVarsity intern Jason remembers his call-and-response moment very clearly.
"It's something I always refer back to for why I should be here," Jason said.
Here, for Jason, is the Middle East, where he has lived for the past four years, the last two of which he has spent in student ministry by being a student himself. His first two years were spent teaching English to students at an internet café run by a team of Link staff.
During that time, "I wasn't very excited about being in the Middle East" said Jason, who had begun to suspect his personality was a poor match for relational evangelism work. Yet he still responded to God's prompt to apply to grad schools in the Middle East. Over the next few months, his calling was confirmed through the development of a few deep, cultural friendships.
"They redeemed my whole time there," he said. It was right at this time that Jason got his acceptance letters to grad schools.
Becoming a Student Again
As Jason stepped out of the English teaching ministry to pursue his MBA, another young man, also moved by Nairy's message, stepped into Jason's old apartment and his place on the team. And like Jason, Ben felt English lessons were not an effective witnessing tool for each and every student who entered the café.
When the decision was made to close the café a few months after he arrived, Ben began to seek other ministry opportunities. Once he decided to attend Middle Eastern grad school, he knew he'd found his niche.
"When you come in as an English teacher, you're the expert," Ben said, explaining the cultural status separation. Relating student-to-student is a major improvement for him. "Right now I'm studying for my finals," he said, "so we can relate through going through finals together."
Both Ben and Jason agreed that in such close, cross-cultural relationships, smaller actions are a bigger deal.
"They can see your life, when you're frustrated, when you didn't do well on your exam," Jason said. "They're really watching you more than you would think." This, he added, leaves plenty of opportunity for gospel impact.
For Ben, who lives on campus, that impact is magnified.
"I can't make it to cafeteria or dorm without getting stopped to talk or invited to tea or meal." he said, adding his fascination with how easily conversation transitions from casual to personal heart issues.
"Before, conversation was such a struggle," he said, in reference to café discussions in which he tried hard to gauge interest and avoid offense or suspicion. "Now my prayer requests are for discernment to know which person to invest in," Ben laughed. "It's a good problem to have."
Jason admits there is no "silver bullet" to sharing faith, yet he has found the incarnational approach to prove him trustworthy with locals. When one of his Middle Eastern friends had expressed disgust with Christians who pushed their agendas, Jason had asked how he himself was perceived.
"Well you're different," his friend had said. "I feel like you're a real person; we can talk about real things."
Staying on Campus
Since graduating in June, Jason was hired by a Middle Eastern university both to teach and to work in the international office, recruiting students. There, his ministry continues in much the same way as it did before, as he invites business students to focus on economic development in poorer communities.
As he recruits, Jason hopes to find others who will minister to Middle Eastern Muslim students through grad school. Not only would such an approach give missionaries an "easy in-road," but it would serve their educations as well.
Few are aware of the possibility of receiving a strong education outside the U.S., Ben said. Those who are aware may not realize there are few factors to deter them.
"Middle Eastern schools are dying to have more foreigners," Jason said. As a result, the programs are taught in English and offer generous scholarships, subsidized housing and teaching assistantships.
With most grad programs lasting only two years, the experience provides a short-term missions exposure that helps the missionary "to see if this is something that's for you," Jason said.
Though Ben has another year to go, he is continuing to think outside the box as he considers an American PhD in order to return to the Middle East as a professor. Though their hearts are in the Middle East, both Ben and Jason believe that this type of ministry can and should be performed anywhere.
"It's easy to read a book about famous missionary workers in the past, see how they've done things and box yourself into one way of going abroad and doing work here," Ben said. "One of the great things is throwing out those boxes and focusing on how the Lord calls us to be a blessing wherever we are."
For further information on overseas graduate ministry, contact InterVarsity Link at rmolitor@intervarsity.org or 608/443-3751.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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