written by Shara, Kilwa Inbound Team Leader | pictures by Rebekah | edits by Brittney
With the increase of social media and technology, news of the world now reaches what seems to be even the remotest places. My Tanzanian neighbor will sit on a bucket outside her brick house and ask how bad the Californian fires are. I find myself surprised by her knowledge of events taking place a long ways away from her fishing village on the coast of Tanzania.
The same is true of the Church in the West: more people have become aware of the rest of the world. We've learned that there are around 7000 unreached people groups (UPGs) in total, with around 900 living on the continent of Africa. These peoples have no viable witness to the Gospel within their community and no access to hear otherwise — unless someone outside of their community goes to them.
But our greater awareness begs the question: “What is our response?”
While sitting in the mines of Moria, Gandalf, from Lord of the Rings, has an important conversation with Frodo. Tasked with carrying the One Ring to destruction in a land far away, pursued by enemies and faced with all kinds of evils, Frodo begins to despair:
I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
In response, Gandalf replies:
So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
Gandalf’s response hints at a deeper truth: obedience to our given task.
Missions is challenging, there is no way around this. But do we fear what may be hard, simply because we won’t take the first step of the journey?
The purpose of Inbound teams is for experienced missionaries to walk with people who take this first courageous step. These teams are designed for members to work alongside others who also desire to live out the Gospel in the midst of the unreached.
Inbound values the Gospel in action:
- Learn the local language
- Seek to understand the local culture and religion
- Connect with the local people
- Work with local church partners
- Live on a similarly-minded team
- Grow in your personal faith
- Establish a healthy, biblical foundation to every aspect of your life
Living on the south coast of Tanzania, my days are filled with sitting in the shade, visiting with neighbors and cooking over charcoal fires, the regular smell of fish wafting through the air. The heat can be intense, the spiritual darkness even more so. Daily abiding in God’s Word and in His presence is essential to life. I am surrounded by people who are slaves to fear and darkness, bound by curses, covered in charms, without hope that God sees or cares about them in the midst of their struggles.
The rains are late and the fields don’t look so good.
The wind is bad and the catch from each day’s fish isn’t very consistent.
And the thought that God loves them and has made a way from darkness to light is not even an option in their minds.
But the Gospel approaches.
God draws near to the brokenhearted.
Like Gandalf said, ours is not to worry about the state of the current world or even whether we could really have an impact. Ours is simply to obey, one step at a time, and to follow Jesus in every moment of every day.