GlocalNet

I leave in a few hours to speak to several thousand Hmong Christians in the U.S.  I’m really excited about it.  One of our pastors, Daniel Yang, is Hmong.  He was with us in Vietnam for the first time - and in ethnic Hmong areas – for the first time in his life, a couple of weeks ago, and it was so much fun.  I speak to different ethnic groups and gatherings and one of my biggest challenges is to help them recognize that no group will have the impact in the world like non-anglo Americans.  They come from the wealth, resources, and connectedness of the west, yet see life from a very different perspective and are far more global than most of us here.  They are the key to the Gospel spreading worldwide like no other group.  They are also the key to the Gospel engaging the west.  Our greatest hope, I’m convinced, in America is going to be coming from our ethnic minorities that get the world more than the rest of us and the Gospel as well.  When it comes to “Chrsitianity”, we may articulate it better - but they live it far better.

My biggest challenge in speaking and challenging ethnic groups is, first, for them to realize the impact that they can have here and, second, the impact that they can have around the world.  There is a minority mindset that can enter a person that makes them feel minimized or not as significant.  This is not good.  Our confidence is in God and the value that we have is massive in terms of making a difference in the world. 

As an American, with a connected world and global tensions, our greatest asset can and should be people that are Americans that are from those troubled parts of the world where we face tensions.  If we would involve them, listen to them, and learn from them, much of the conflicts that we have could be averted. 

The Bible says in several places that it is God who raises up nations and puts them down.  We also know that nations are more than just places with geographical boundaries - but people groups.  The Hmong, the Pashtoon, the American Indian, the Kurds etc., are all examples.  That begs the question especially with “nations” that straddle other nations - why did God allow them to do that, and what is special about them that God sees?

I believe these “nations” of people may be some of the most strategic in the whole world.  They are God’s gift.  I once heard a Jewish man say the gift of the Jewish people is in their dispersion among societies all over the world because they brought business leaders, political leaders, and many other kinds that helped build various countries - he is right. 

Dispersed nations I believe, are God’s special chosen peoples he has selected out of the world to be salt and light and bridges to hope, help, and the Gospel.  Not only are they dispersed but they are more humble and have to learn to adapt, which means they aren’t as rigid and have learned to look through the world with a different set of eyes than the majority they are near. 

Though we Americans are joked about for most of us speaking one language - I’m glad we are a nation of many nations - if we use that to build our nation instead of segment ourselves from one another - what a future we could have.