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作者: Sadiri ’Joy’ Tira
日期: 22.12.2011
Category: 未得之民, 媒体/技术, 移民与侨民
Since moving from Toronto to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (my home city from 1984-2008) in September 2011, Millwoods Town Centre Mall has become my favorite place for relaxation, exercise, shopping, meeting friends and new people. Millwoods Town Centre is located in the southeast quadrant of the city. In the last decade and a half, Millwoods has become increasingly multi-racial, multicultural, and pluralistic. Twenty-five years ago, there were but a few Chinese, but when the British turned Hong Kong over to China in 1997, there was an accelerated influx of Chinese immigrants to Edmonton. Today there are public schools featuring Mandarin language and Chinese culture immersion in partnership with the Chinese government -- my grandson attended kindergarten in one of them. Twenty-five years ago, there was no South Asian restaurant. Today there are over 46 Indian restaurants and the Indians have "built" their own “Bombay Village” along 34th. The Filipinos have also become a dominant visible minority here; for the first time electing a Filipino-Canadian Member of Legislative Assembly. When my family arrived in this community over two decades ago, there was but one mosque and no Hindu temple or Sikh gurdwara. Today, we find several of them in most strategic intersections of the community.
Today, at 7:00 a.m., I went to the mall for a walk. Yes, I walk inside the mall. How can I brave the -10°C temperature outside the building? And I don’t walk alone! There are others including a seniors club who meet there and together they walk for an hour before the shoppers arrive. Well, in recent days, I have been observing a distinguished gentleman (his name is withheld) who also walks. For five days we had walked together without saying anything to each other. Then yesterday, we walked and we looked at each other to say "hello good morning”. Today, we again walked and finally introduced ourselves to each other. After 45 minutes I caught up to him again, and I courageously asked him to join me for a cup of coffee at Starbucks. His response was: "Do they serve tea? Do they have Chai?" "Of course they have, let us go" was my enthusiastic invitation. "I have half an hour to join you, Mr. Tira." So there, we found our way to the Starbucks.
What do you think? Did I just buy him a cup of tea without a purpose? Do you think that I just talked about the cold and bitter winter months in Canada? He is from Punjab, wearing his turban and loose green kurta and pajama. So do you think I invited him just to talk about Punjab becoming a separate state, or talk about the shooting and ultimate the death of Osama Bin Laden? No, I shared my immigration journey to Canada and of course I talked about this Creator God, the Supreme Ruler of the universe, this powerful spiritual being who is invisible but who introduced himself to humans in the person of Jesus Christ. For 10 minutes, this man listened attentively and was fascinated when I spoke about the Gift of God i.e. eternal life or Jesus Christ!
After half an hour he said: "I need to go. Tomorrow, let us walk together and you can tell me more. I like your story. I like your faith. I want to know more about Jesus. I must have this gift before December 25!"
Then I said: "Thank you for your time today, my friend. Mr. Randhawa (name changed) I will see you tomorrow at 7 a.m. at the food court. By the way, I have a gift for you. Let us go to my car." There, I had several copies of The Jesus Film DVD designed for international scholars and translated into 16 languages, including Mr. Randhawa’s Urdu language. He took a copy. We shook hands and said "goodbye. Have a great day. See you again, tomorrow..." He walked away towards his SUV. Then I heard him say, "Mr. Tira! Wait. Please give me 10 more of DVDs."
Early this year, I got hold of the book, Christianity Encountering World Religions: The Practice of Mission in the 21st Century by Drs. Terry Muck and Frances Adeney (2009. Baker Academic). In one of the chapters, the authors talk about Giftive Mission in Practice. They posed the following questions: How does gifting express itself in terms of mission practice? Once giftive mission’s bona fides (as biblically, based and theologically viable) have been established, does it work?
According to them, gift giving is a universal practice. It is the "focal figure" of Jesus Christ’s "insistence that his gracious gift was for all people... not just for the Jewish people." They go on to say: "all cultures, all people, have an understanding of gift giving and receiving... For Paul, giving God’s grace to others was an indispensable sign of Christian maturity" (pp. 373-374).
During the Christmas season, some evangelical Christians disapprove the practice of "giftive mission". For them gift giving is associated with Santa Claus, and hence pagan practice while others see the massive giving as synonymous to "commercialism" and "utilitarianism." I must argue that the massive and lavish giving must be put into the context of Kingdom advancement and missions. Furthermore, gift giving is not limited to material things, but can be extended to include the gift of one’s kind words or precious time during this increasingly hectic season. This is the best time in our calendar year when people are most receptive to the gift of God. Even people like my new friend, Mr. Randhawa, would receive a Jesus DVD and then come back to ask for more!
This Christmas season start giving the gift of God’s grace (be it in printed form or electronic format) to the many diasporas within your reach. In this simple but meaningful way, the Whole Church can actively participate in bringing the Whole Gospel to the Whole World.
Sadiri Joy Tira (D.Min., D.Miss.) is the LCWE Senior Associate for Diasporas; Vice President for Diaspora Missions at Advancing Indigenous Missions (AIM); Director of the Institute of Diaspora Missiology at Alliance Graduate School (Philippines); and Diaspora Missiology Specialist at the Jaffray Centre for Global Initiatives at Ambrose University College (Canada).
关键词: The Jesus Film, Giftive Mission, diaspora, Muck, Adeney, Christmas
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美国
Hi Joy,
I enjoyed this article, and I liked hearing about your experience with Mr. Randhawa in the mall. I was not aware of the number of Chinese immigrants present in Edmonton. It was so good to gain knowledge of this.
I have never heard of giftive mission, and so it was good to be introduced to the idea through this article. It was nice to read that you began you relationship with Mr. Randhawa, by simply saying hello, introducing yourself, and inviting him to take coffee with you.
Do you ever feel that people feel obligated to respond to the Gospel because we have presented them with a gift?
04.05.2013
美国
This is a light-hearted and encouraging message. I would be interested to know what happened to your new found friend and if he did indeed accept Christ and begin to share the Gospel with others. It is amazing to know just how easily sharing Jesus with others can be and how receptive they are when it is in God’s time rather than our own. Who knows how receptive he would have been had you walked up to him the first day and tried to discuss these things with him. It is once again that time of year where people are more receptive to the Gift of God and I intend on sharing it with everyone I come into contact with. Perhaps some of them will be willing to receive it.
04.12.2012
美国
@ Adnahsar:
Sharing the Gospel can become a very easy task when we set ourselves up to talk with others through an everyday activity (like drinking tea). Once we have built a superficial relationship with the individual, we have a better foundation for delivering the Gospel than if we met the person on the street and just started talking about Jesus Christ. It is important to build rapport with others in order for the Gospel message to be delivered effectively and received.
01.05.2013
美国
Thank you so much for sharing this story!!! It is so encouraging to hear how people who are far from God learn what He did for them through the life, death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ. I love how your witnessing was so natural-that it was incorporated into your daily routine of walking and you built a relationship with this gentleman. I wish I could do it myself better. I always have this fear that I would mess up in some way.
Could you share how you bring up the story of God and Jesus because oftentimes many people build walls and stop listening when you mention Jesus’ name whether it is because of a bad experience at a church, a stereotype of a Christian or whatever. How can people who are not necessarily hostile but not open to the Gospel be reached? They are the people I feel that I will meet and interact with and I don’t want my mistakes in evangelizing them to push them further away.
06.08.2012
美国
Thank you for posting how you shared the wonderful gift of Jesus Christ with a non-believer. I wonder if your intent to walk every morning at the mall was for the intent of reaching other’s for Christ or if in your daily need for exercise you discovered one morning that you could share Christ with a fellow walker? I don’t really think the initial intent matters but I am happy to see that you had DVDs handy to share with your new friend. I believe God always goes before us as he obviously did in your story for you to have the translation that he needed. I had not thought of having DVDs on hand to share with non believers before your story but what a great way of reenforcing your witness and conversation. Also, it opened the door for others to hear Jesus’ story too when your friend asked for more DVDs.
11.03.2012
美国
@ Graeper:
I do agree with your assessment that his original intention is irrelevant. What this spoke to me is that as Christians, we should be ready, willing, and able to give a witness at any moment at any time. It will be out of context I am sure, but the scriptures of "be ready in season and out of season" and "be ready to give a defense of the hope within you" came to mind as well. We can be a witness for Christ in the most ordinary and mundane tasks or moments of life. Sometimes, we provide more witness then than when we purpose to make a witness.
12.03.2012
美国
@ modelk66:
model66, your post reminded me of an undergraduate student who I heard speak this week. She recently returned from a mission trip and on the trip she was asked to read scripture at one of the services by the foreign pastor. When it was her time to read scripture the pastor introduced the student as the evening speaker. She said she sat there for a minute stunned and then slowly got up as she quickly prayed for God to give her the words to say. She said that she is glad that she did not have time to prepare what she would have said because she truly felt that God was speaking through her that night. If she had known that she would be the speaker and had prepared, she said she felt it would not have been as good. While that did work for her in that situation, I agree that as Christians we need to be prepared at all times to share our stories. They don’t have to be stories that are riddled with elegant phrases or words but they do have to be "our" stories of how God is working in our lives.
16.04.2012
德国
It is a great story Dr. Joy. Indeed, this Chrismas season brings many opportunities to share the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. We had several special meetings for refugees who came from very restrictive lands.
We organised special meals for the guests and shared the reason for Christmas. At one meeting we had over 130 people! Mostly from one of the major religions who did not believe that God can become man. It was amazing to share the wonders of Christmas over a meal for the glory of God. Thank you for your encouraging. Take care and do great things for the glory of God.
27.12.2011
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