A Matter of Family
The ophthalmologist I’d never met before called me “brother” at least five times during our visit. Then when I tried to thank him, he interrupted, “No, it will be my honor to perform your cataract surgery!” This level of deference is not normal in our shared culture, so where did it come from? Early in the conversation, we had implicitly identified our common bond in our Lord Jesus Christ. From that point on, I was “brother.” This was not about culture, but a matter of family.
Over 20 years ago now, I sat with a gentleman in a living room in Ndjamena, Chad. He spoke several languages, but only a tiny bit of English, and I could muster just a tiny bit of French. We had no translation help because LBIM director Matthew Rogness was sequestered in a meeting in another room. But as we two struggled to communicate at the simplest level, I knew warm fellowship with my new friend, a Chadian pastor. We found that we had so much in common. Culture wasn’t as important. It was a matter of family.
I was still at an impressionable age when a former missionary, Morris Werdal, came to be my pastor. I heard the story many times of his calling from God to work among the people of Japan. Because of his experiences growing up, Morris could have seen the people as his enemy. But by God’s grace, he saw them as future brothers and sisters in Christ.
In seminary, I met and bonded with believers from other continents. I shared in graduation with three of my brothers: Hiroshi Suzuki from Japan, Victor Lagardy from Chad, and Silas Lapeube from Cameroon.
Nearly 20 years later I was reunited with Victor in order to encourage him at a key point in his declining health. And it was my great honor to have Silas translate for me as I preached to a large congregation in Garoua, Cameroon. But will I see Hiroshi again?
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands” (Rev 7:9).
Why does the CLB pursue mission endeavors in places unreached with the gospel? It’s a matter of family! Not just the family in Christ many of us have been privileged to know over the years, but the brothers and sisters we don’t know yet. Especially the ones who don’t know Jesus yet. We will meet them all at that great reunion, centered on the Lamb of God, in heaven. What could be more important than the Great Commission work the Lord calls us to? It’s about family!
Rev. Brent Juliot is Contributing Editor of Faith & Fellowship magazine and Pastor of Living Hope Church in Menomonie, WI.