International student ministry is incredibly difficult, due to the students we engage with having a variety of religious backgrounds. In addition to that, even people who seem similar are often not. For example, Indian students frequently flock to me, as they are eager to hangout and especially enjoy hiking.
However, there is a great diversity among the people of India, and many great differences between them. To share the gospel with someone in a way they will understand, it is helpful to really listen to their unique story as well as their ethnic and religious background.
There are so many barriers between many international students and the gospel. Because of this, there are often “levels of understanding or acceptance” that they need to go through to understand and accept the free gift of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I recently had a conversation that gave me a deeper connection with my international friend and showed these levels of understanding or acceptance. For months I have been spending time with her and building a friendship that has led to many conversations about faith and the gospel.
She has always shown intense anger towards religion, especially Islam because of the way her country enforces Sharia (Islamic Law). I have felt that same hatred, even toward Christianity, yet she has listened whenever I have shared.
In our recent conversation, out of nowhere she told me that she was afraid that if she became a Christian and is forced back to her country that she would be executed. This surprised me… she has thought about becoming a believer! She seemed so hostile!
Yet, she has not become a believer because she is scared…and with good reason. For believers in many countries around the world, persecution is not something they read about in the book of Acts, it is something they experience daily. We often think of persecution as beatings, imprisonment and death, yet it is more commonly losing one’s job, being shunned by family and never hearing from friends again.
For anyone interested in becoming a follower of Jesus, they must count the cost. It is not a faith you can “tack” on to your life, Christ requires everything…just as he gave up everything for us.
In sharing with those who might face extreme persecution, we must also count the cost. Can we live with the fact that by our witness someone might lose their life?
Something I have been chewing on recently is a similar question: is Christ worth it?
What I have concluded is that He is. Revelation 5:9 says, “…Worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain, and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
The salvation God offers brings a person from death to life, from lost to found, from broken to new, from darkness to light. This salvation is not limited to those from America, where we have freedom to believe how we want. This salvation is for all, even if they live in persecution.
Stop right now and pray for the first lost friend who comes to mind. Now, for another friend that, if they believed, would face heavy persecution. Show them with your life that Jesus is worth it!
