I recently returned from an international trip at the invitation of a mission agency. I serve on their corporate board, and they are launching new leadership training for field leaders.

It is always a joy to meet these field-based, experienced leaders. Over the years, I’ve met many of these folks at events or when they joined the mission.

My wife and I have served with Frontier Ventures since 1982 but have not lived cross-culturally. These brothers and sisters teach me so much about least-reached peoples where they serve. Much of what I write here in each issue of MF, grows out of experiences with people like this. Because of that, I often tell people I know a little about a lot of peoples and places. Field workers, like those I was with recently, know a lot about one place or people. The folks here this week have served in the Middle East, North Africa, or Türkiye for decades.

One of the brothers here is a younger leader who I had met briefly when he joined the mission as a single. Later, he married. Now, they serve in North Africa.

We were talking at a meal and he turned to me and blurted out, “I’m here because of Perspectives!” Here’s his story:

In the early 2000s, he was working with a pharmaceutical company and was attending a large, well-known church in the American South. Wanting to get more involved because of his faith, he went to the missions pastor and said, “There must be something more,” meaning, “What can I do to reach people for Jesus?” The pastor told him to take the Perspectives course.

The one thing that stuck with him from the class was when someone said he should reach out to refugees—go and be a friend. He said, “OK,” and started to meet with several Muslim men.

A little later, the FBI called him at work. They wanted to talk to him in the next hour! He wondered if something with his pharmaceutical company was not right. Soon, several nicely dressed, armed agents greeted him and gave him their FBI business cards. They wanted to know why he was meeting with these Muslim men. He said he wanted to share Jesus with them, which he proceeded to do with the agents (as he does with anyone he can). Apparently, the men he was befriending were connected to a man who was being watched by the FBI.

Nothing more happened, except that he sent them Christmas cards!

But his story continues. He went to serve in a Muslim context as a single man but soon realized he couldn’t continue to do this work without a wife! So, he came back to the U.S. and signed up at Called Together, www.calledtogether. us (a relationship/dating website designed for those with a mission heart). He met a gal who was already in full-time ministry. Now, they are serving in North Africa and have three kids. They have an effective ministry there, and their team is growing and multiplying in the region.

When he shared, I immediately thought of my own experience. When I was in high school, I became more serious about my relationship with the Lord. I was coming to church and taking notes. Then, in college, I felt drawn to serve more seriously. Thankfully, the leaders were thrilled. Since I was in college, I ended up serving high school students and on the Missions Committee of the church before heading to seminary.

Probably, as a reader of MF, you are already involved in a mission-focused ministry to others. Still, I ask myself if I need to take another step in my faith journey. It may lead to international service, but we don’t have to wait for that to get involved spreading his kingdom. As we obey him, God puts us into the lives of those who need him.

Who is he putting you near now?