Who/what led you to consider Missions?
Usually when people ask me what led me to Missions, I think of three factors: the intensive Perspectives course that I took at Knox Presbyterian Church in 2018, P2C+ Conference Speakers/Breakout Sessions, and my friends at P2C. The Perspectives course was informative with veteran speakers, role-playing, practical and open discussions between groups, and a time to reflect on different cultures, the history of the Church, and the Great Commission. I had similar experiences hearing the passion and seriousness that speakers challenged students at the P2C+ conferences, and I’ve also heard many good things about the CROSS conference. Lastly, I was influenced by my friends who were my age and were going on summer mission trips or were intentionally sharing their faith with others in their life.
Ice-cream flavours? Or bubble tea?
I’ve never had this ice cream flavor but Blue Bell’s Cookie Two Step (Cookie Dough + Cookies n Crème) sounds ballin. Otherwise, I like any fruit flavored ice cream and I also love all bubble tea flavors as well, but it was only in the last 3 or 4 years that I began to enjoy Milk Tea with Pearls!
What does it mean for you to live missionally right now? How do you practically practice this?
For me, I practically engage with Missions by asking people “What is your name?” When someone asks me my name, I feel at home. I get the impression that I belong and matter, that I am seen. I recently started working at the Vancouver International Airport as a Quarantine Officer for the Public Health Agency of Canada. On my first shift, there was a man from Life Labs who needed Public Health’s help for a traveler who was angry she had been fined. I had no idea what I was doing, and I was simply walking to the primary inspection line to shadow my mentor. I had my red vest on and a binder in my hand, so I must have looked official to outsiders. When the man saw me, his eyes lit up; he was so excited to see someone from Public Health and he asked me if I could help. I was hesitant, but I wanted to help, so I went and did the best I could (which in reality, amounted to nothing more than listening and letting him know today was my first shift). But after that encounter, he asked me, “What is your name?” Now this same man always smiles when he sees me, and we wave to each other. He always speaks highly of me and praises me. I have never felt such love and compassion from a stranger. It is awe-inspiring. Not too long ago I asked him, “What is your name?” and he replied, “Heyder.” Now this man is no longer a stranger or a “Sir,” but he is “Heyder,” a neighbor and a friend, and if he were to no longer show at work, my heart would ache a little.
Why are Missions important to you?
Missions is important to me because I want people to taste the love I have tasted and to experience God’s overwhelmingly powerful but tender embrace. If I have had my life changed by something so real as Jesus Christ, I want others to experience that change as well.
What would you say to someone who has not yet engaged with or does not know how to engage with Missions?
I would encourage them that Missions is maybe not as complex as we fear it to be. To partake in Missions, you can start with something even as simple as asking “What is your name?” When I think of Missions, I think about all the ways I can share my life to help those who are physically proximate to me know that they are loved and capable of loving. I honestly believe that this one question contains within it an inordinate amount of love and vulnerability, and I want to carry it wherever I go in the workplace. When someone knows your name, it means they are taking the first step to know your individuality. Time and time again we see the importance of names in the Old and New Testament and their ability to communicate a person’s qualities. For example, in Acts, the disciples ecstatically proclaim that there is salvation in no one else but Jesus for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.