Awhile back, 1987 to be exact, we were in Palm Desert, California at a Christian conference with our former denomination. The purpose of our being there was to be commissioned as missionaries. Many things about that event are still fresh in my mind but today I am thinking about one thing in particular. There was a speaker who showed an extraordinary video while playing Neil Diamond’s song “They’re coming to America.” The speech was about missions and the point was that God is bringing the nations to us in the USA. This reality is most obvious to me when I am in the cities of America. Rarely has it been as clearly seen as it was yesterday in my home city of Philadelphia.

We were invited to take part in a block party at Mifflin Park in the south of the city. This party was sponsored by several churches in the city and we were  part of a team put together by Child Evangelism Fellowship. It was an extraordinary experience of God and how He is working among the nations in the city right here in America.

The “park” is a square city block with some trees, benches, playground equipment, grass and a fountain. It is bordered by a densely populated section of row houses, a few corner shops and restaurants and a Buddhist Temple. The “party” included free hot dogs, water ice, popcorn, cotton candy, bouncy castles, face painting and other children’s games. There was entertainment including puppets and gospel music in several different languages. Our part was talking to anyone who was willing to sit with us for a few minutes and their reward was a free T-shirt. With the people that talked to me, I did my best to discover what they already understood about God and salvation. Then I tried to fill in the gaps, to be encouraging and to pray with each of them. I also gave out loads of T-shirts with Christian symbols and verses on them.

At one point my husband and I took a break and walked around the neighborhood. Our thoughts and our conversation were all about what God is doing there in that place and how impossible and astonishing the task is. Along with the temple and the mosque, there are churches everywhere in that section of the city. The church that sponsored the event was holding services all day for one language group after another. The cultural clashes are evident including a huge brawl that broke out at one point in the “party” between young men of different ethnic backgrounds. There is such diversity that we lost count of how many language groups are represented.  It is evident that reaching anyone there with the truth of the gospel  is a daunting God sized task.

An experience like that can be very eye opening and humbling. It could also be downright frightening. Consider how you would react if you could not understand most of what was spoken around you and you were aware that the ones speaking could not understand you. How would you respond if someone folded their hands and bowed to you? What would you think if an Imam and his friends were filming you and everything around you at the event? Overwhelmed? Scared? Yet God is not at all troubled by the size or impossibility of the task. Although we may be afraid or downright discouraged by the situation, sometimes all we have to do is show up and hand out T-shirts. Our reward is to experience God working in extraordinary ways among the nations right here in our nation.

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”    Psalm 46:10