CONVICTION UNTO DEVOTION
A letter from Rev. Alexa Rossi.
I’ve had the privilege of going on several mission trips around the world over the last fifteen years – six months in Zambia, multiple trips to Madagascar and multiple cities in the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and the Bahamas. I’ve gone, compelled by the love of Jesus to serve and learn and meet people with different backgrounds than me, and each time I return feeling like I’ve been given a priceless gift worth far more than anything I could’ve contributed to the community in my short time there. The Kingdom of Heaven is one in which the King delights and glories in His family being made up of every tribe, nation, and tongue. Experiencing that here and now is the priceless gift, and yet only a small foretaste of what is to come. I’ve been in house churches and little chapels in the country and cinder block churches in villages with rebar sticking up from the top of the building, awaiting its growth, worshiping in words familiar and foreign to me. All of it has been so, so good, and continues to be. Praise the Lord!
My recent trip to Central Asia looked quite different. The community of worshippers in the city I visited brought visions of mosques rather than churches. Even so, the sense that the Lord set His heart on this place to call these people His own was palpable.
Until two months ago, I had never been to a country where there was very little access to the Gospel. It’s such a foreign concept to us here in the States that it’s difficult to wrap our minds around what that really means. We consider people unreached when they don’t have access to three things: a Bible in their heart language, a believer, and the body – a local church. 3.2 billion people in the world lack access to these three elements that are necessary for the Gospel to flourish. 3.2 billion!
I will need even more time to continue processing all that this means, but for now, I receive a new priceless gift from the Lord, the lightbulb moment where all the things I’ve learned and heard about unreached people groups over the years have become an experiential reality for me. I’ve sat with people who had no way of knowing the hope that Jesus offered, except for the grace of God that they encountered someone sent to tell them the Good News. The chances that this happens to locals in the community I visited are quite literally less than half a percent, based on the number of believers in the country… for now. The indigenous church God is building there is solid, evidenced by what these believers give up to follow Jesus. I know their faces, their names, their stories. Many of them have been compelled to follow Jesus even at the cost of giving up their families and risking their lives.
Do I love Jesus that much? What would my response be if those were my circumstances? These questions whisper in my heart, gifts of the Holy Spirit, not for shame, but for confession unto repentance and conviction unto devotion, that necessary love and faith supplied by the God I aspire to love more and more every day of my life.
One of the graces we receive in our desire to grow in love for our Savior is to be reminded of how the Lord loves the lost, to be witnesses to how He orchestrates and directs according to His great redemptive plan to bring His people to Himself.
So we must, out of obedience to how the Lord sends His people to proclaim His name and disciple those new believers, and out of our need to be reminded of God’s great love for those who were once lost and have now been found, we must participate. After Peter identifies Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, Jesus tells Peter that on him He will build His church… and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:15-18).
The gates of hell will not overcome this small but mighty Central Asian church. She is young, but emboldened and secured by the power of the Spirit, her future lying safely in the hands of a victorious King who sits enthroned above all things and holds all things together.
I’m excited to share that we (First Pres) will get to answer this call alongside our brothers and sisters in our Presbytery of Florida and the Caribbean! We are making a commitment to this people group as part of our denomination’s larger effort to mobilize to the least-reached communities of the world. There are so many reasons this partnership is the perfect fit for us. I can’t wait to continue to tell you all about it – but even more so, I can’t wait for you to get to know these believers and Muslims alike in Central Asia. They love feasting, their tables set on the floor with long bench pillows bordering endless amounts of deliciously prepared foods, passed around and enjoyed family style. They are hospitable, kind, and resilient. Their country is beautiful, full of mountains and rolling foothills and tulips in the public square. And they bear the image of Christ in a way that no other people group will, and therefore, they are essential to the Kingdom of Heaven coming in greater fullness.
So how do we start? We pray. Pray for Muslims to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Pray for the believers there to be strengthened, encouraged, and discerning about how they may safely share their faith. Pray for the workers who live there who are answering God’s call to support the growth of the indigenous church. Pray for the committee being formed in our Presbytery to discern what engagement looks like for us in years to come. Pray that the people God desires to be on that committee will respond to the invitation and prioritize the time it will require. Pray your heart would be steadfast in prayer not just now, but throughout this partnership. Pray about going! We imagine we’ll take vision trips once a year, and we’d love for you to join us.
There are real limitations to what I can put in writing for the world to see here. Let’s grab lunch or coffee, and I’d love to show you more pictures and tell you more stories. You can find a link to my calendar to schedule yourself at a time that works for you here. In the meantime, enjoy what I can show you from the trip I had the privilege of attending along with our Ruling Elders, Gabriel and Cindy!
With love and deep gratitude,
Rev. Alexa Rossi
Director of Mission
