I’ve come to realize that there are handful of family and friends that have legitimate concerns about my upcoming trip to Southeast Asia. First of all, thank you; thank you for caring so much that I feel the need to write this in the first place! I wanted to help you better understand the nature of my trip, and hopefully relieve some of your fears.
To begin with, my job on campus is actually working for World Serve, the very department that sends us out on these mission trips. I am in a group of 5 students who work under Dannielle Stahly, (Coordinator of Student Missions), so I get to know all of the processes that go into choosing a location and ministry. If a location is not deemed secure by our Simpson University President, we will not go there. This location has been approved; in fact, we have been sending teams for the past two years. Last year we were planning on sending a team to the Ukraine. However, when the country became unstable, we chose to send our team to another country. Our university and World Serve cares about the safety of our teams. The agency we are partnering with in Southeast Asia receives over 1,000 middle and high school students from all over the world every year. The location is used to receiving even elementary students that go to surrounding islands, take the same boats, and eat the same food we will be. They have been running these trips for over 10 years, and there are no pirates in the area (they have been asked about that before) and are not in any danger of tsunamis due to being blocked by land. They are also fairly close to singapore if an emergency arises.
And, just to make us extra safe, World Serve hires a local Redding man, who trains navy seals, to come teach our teams about safety, particularly relating to being in a foreign country. We do this as extra precaution to make sure we are the safest and wisest we can be.
Also along the lines of safety, I’ve been asked what the travel warnings are for this country. The US Department of State website lists no travel warnings or alerts, nor have there been any in the past year (I can’t figure out how to search back any further).
Just a few days ago I was talking with Dannielle about my trip, and she brought up an interesting point. Not all missionaries or mission agencies in Creative Access Countries (what we call where I am going) keep their location/country private; some do, some don’t. This is just a personal agency preference. With that said, I actually personally know a missionary family (with a little baby girl) who is in the country I will be going to, who gives full disclosure of the location on their Facebook page. Out of respect for the request of agency we are working with, we have not publicly disclosed the location. (If you really want to know, I can tell you, just not on a public platform.) Yes, it is a Creative Access Country. But that does not mean it is automatically dangerous.
World Serve cares about the types of trips we go on—that they are strategic, relational, and that we are invited. One of the values World Serve holds is this: “We long for unreached peoples to hear the Good News. We desire for students to minster alongside field workers who are directly reaching the lost, therefore we are willing to go to dark and difficult places to bring light and further Christ’s church. We pray to be a part of the work in Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Atheistic nations.”
I thought it might be encouraging to hear from my friends who have gone to Southeast Asia with World Serve. They had some thoughts about the trip I wanted to share with you.
“First off, I have never felt more safe than being on this trip. The field workers do a great job on informing you on what precautions to take. This includes letting you know what is proper attire as well as what you should and should not say. Besides that, the people that you are going to encounter will be some of the most friendliest people that you will ever meet. Their level of hospitality is phenomenal and they are also very gracious if you happen to break a cultural norm. I would say that you will be good hands and will not have to worry about your safety or the safety of your teammates. Unfortunately, I believe many Americans have a highly negative view towards people of that specific religion and they forget that they are also human beings who share similar values that we relate to.”
“While there are stories of unrest and extremists on some of the big islands (rare... And on the other side of the country), I felt safer on the islands and with my home stays than any other trip I've been on. Everyone was incredibly kind and hospitable... Never did I have to question my safety. We were treated with the utmost respect, especially by our home stays who truly adopted us into their families. It is a different and completely detached world from the big cities. These islanders have none of the hostility toward the west that people worry about. Instead, they honor westerners to the point that it can be embarrassing.”
I would like to share a few verses that I believe speak on my desire to serve in Southeast Asia.
Romans 10:13-15
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Psalm 96:3
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
In conclusion, I believe we are called to be a witness everywhere. One of my favorite lines from a song says “People are just people, they shouldn’t make you nervous” (Regina Spektor), and it always reminds me that people are people no matter where I am. People are searching for truth, they are searching for a reason to live, they are searching for hope, they are searching for love. God created us all, and wants to see each and every one of us redeemed.
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