"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
—Matthew 28:19-20
Calvary Chapel Treasure Valley is actively involved in the following foreign missions outreaches:
Romania—Missionaries Nicu and Silvana Hagiu. Web site: http://calvaryromania.org/vladeasa/
India—We support 7 Indian native missionaries. Web site: gfa.org
>>For more information on foreign missions please see our Mission Resources page.
Why missions?
We know from God’s Word that as Christians our basic duties are to love God with all our heart and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. So the question regarding missions really is, “Who do we consider our neighbors?” Are they the family next door, down the street, across the ocean? This can really start getting complicated if we let it.
Fortunately, someone asked Jesus the same question, and we have His answer recorded in Luke chapter 10. Jesus responded by relating the now well-known parable of the Good Samaritan: A traveler is attacked by thieves and left for dead along the road. Out of three passersby the one who shows love and mercy is the most culturally different of them all—a Samaritan. Jesus concludes the parable by asking, “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” The law expert who asked the question answers, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
So a false dilemma is created by asking, “Why be mission focused when we have many here that need help?” It’s not an either/or situation—we have the privilege to express the love of Christ both near and far. Thankfully, God did not do an either/or selection with the Gospel because we as Gentiles would have been left out: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:17). Likewise, we have the privilege to broaden our circle of neighbors in the name of Christ. The eternal perspective from which we operate as believers has no need for political boundaries, cultural differences, or race—we are all members of the same Church through baptism into Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:28).
As American believers, we’ve been uniquely positioned by God to focus on those who are “far off.” We live in one of the wealthiest, freest, internationally relevant, and Christian saturated countries in all of history. Without neglecting our Christian duties at home, how can we not leverage the great resources God has entrusted us with to minister in His name far off—in Romania, India, or wherever He might direct each of us personally? A large percentage of this world lives in relative material poverty without the eternal hope of the Gospel. May God grant us the heart of the Samaritan to be true neighbors to those millions who have been left for dead on the road so that we obey Christ’s command to “Go and do likewise.
