Reaching Diaspora, Cheers Matched With Outcry Over Roe V. Wade & God’s Soft Whisper

The International Mission Board says the nations are right next door. A quick trip to the grocery store often means running into your Somali friend, talking to an Afghani woman over a table of green peppers or chit chatting with a Chinese man in the checkout line.

Many of the 50 million immigrants living in North America are from countries where western missionaries cannot live. This means most have not heard the Gospel message.

Reaching out to different cultures and nationalities can be intimidating, but there is no need for churches to reinvent the ministry wheel. The Diaspora Mission Collective is gathering resources to mobilize and equip North American churches to engage people groups globally and locally.

Diaspora means the movement, migration, settlement or scattering of people away from their indigenous homeland. These groups are often found in urban areas throughout the world, but not always. They come as immigrants, refugees or international students. Everything is new to them as they adjust to a new country and culture. They are often curious and more open to new ideas than at any other time in their life.

Jamie Naramore, the cross-cultural strategist for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, has seen this curiosity that leads to Gospel belief played out over and over in his state: international students coming to saving faith in Jesus; new church plants among diaspora groups and churches reviving as their congregations become multiethnic.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturned the court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade there has been a chorus of rejoicing among pro-life advocates. But the cheers of the pro-life community have been matched by the public outcry of those lamenting this court’s monumental decision.

The recent results of a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll (and others like it) that preceded the Supreme Court decision, revealing that 64 percent of Americans opposed the overturn of Roe.

Another poll, the Havard-Harris Poll, also says that a majority of Americans did not like the decision made the high court.

To learn more about the data and its ramification, read the full story at our site.

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Good News for Today is made possible through our friends at The Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit organization that serves persecuted Christians around the world. Founded in 1967 by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM is dedicated to inspiring believers to deepen their commitment to Christ and to fulfill His Great Commission — no matter the cost. Find out more and sign up for their free monthly magazine at vom.org/goodnews.

In 1 Kings 19, we find God instructing Elijah to go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence. Prior to Elijah’s leaving the cave, God passed by. Then Elijah experienced a mighty wind, an earthquake and a fire. These might be the ways we would expect God to speak, in ways that revealed His power and authority. He had used fire to confirm His presence and power at Mount Carmel.

Referring to God’s coming judgment on a rebellious Jerusalem, Isaiah later proclaimed God would use these elements to exact His punishment (Isaiah 29:6).

For Elijah, though, God was not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire. Instead, God spoke in a soft whisper. God speaking in a whisper demonstrates His power.

Sometimes, we need to step away from the noise of our lives so we can hear God clearly. Elijah had fled out of fear and in doing so placed himself in a position where God could quietly address the distraught prophet. We can remember that God spoke into existence all that is. Paul reminded the Thessalonians that the man of lawlessness would be destroyed by a breath from God, a whisper (see 2 Thessalonians 2:8).

So many times, we want a bright light or an earth-shaking sign and forget that God is in the whisper. We do not need to run away like Elijah to a mountain to hear the whisper, but we may need to retreat, put down the smartphone, and listen for God’s whisper.