How it feels working -in an overseas mission field is only known by those who have had that experience. Craig, Julie, Steve and libby discuss some of the barriers they faced and effects that the summer campaigns in which they participated had on their lives. "Our primary task in Holland was to set up appointments with contacts for the missionaries who are stationeQ there to go back and visit. They're still studying now with those that were made during June. They hold stud ies every night , and on some nights they alternate between homes each week . They just don't have the manpower to contact all of them. "Most people do know the name of Jesus , but they don't have the concept of Jesus that's in the Bible . I believe that for the most part, they view Him as a distant savior who' s not really concerned about what's going on . They view God more as someone who is anxious to condemn , rather than as a loving Father. To be more precise, to them He is simply inactive - practically dead today. He doesn't have anvthing to do with the fact that they' re lonely or that they're hungry or that they 're worried . Religion isnothiog more than a ritual. "One way this summer helped me was in really learning to depend on God. Since I only had a limited knowledge of the language, I realized that what I could do is very small , and I learned to have more faith . I think I'm beginning to learn how to pray, especially since this sum~ mer. I've learned to see that although we can't do much, God can take the little things we do and make something out of it . "I really believe the campaigns are worthwhile for students who are here preparing for their life's work. I think to prepare for the work you are going to do the rest of your life, part of your education needs to be in seeing the needs of other countries, too." "People were constantly coming up to us and saying, 'You have such beautiful smiles. Why do you smile 50 much I' Why you ' re happy is a hard thing to explain to people who don't have Jesus in their lives. The people in Germany are very sad people. They drink a lot and are very materialisti c. They would see something in us , just by the fact that we were happy, and they wanted that. It was a big factor in the success of our campaign work . " You have to realize that their whole coun t ry has been destroyed and so associating God with the idea of protection is hard for them. You have to consider that they have been through much more than we have - ' that they have seen members of their families die right before their eyes in the war, and have had their homes destroyed. There is a coldness there. There is a 'I'm not willing to open up to you because I might be hurt : and as Americans, we had to deal with that idea . There are some people who remembered us as Americans in the war, and regardless of whether we had ever shot a bullet, others had before us, and that was a barrier that we had to overcome. "Five other campaigners and I worked witn the puppet theatre in an un~ derground mall at the main train station in Hanover. We worked all day with these puppets and contacted thousands of people. They would watch and then leave, and sometimes a few minutes later you would see them come back - maybe with a child, maybe with another person. " They didn't always agree with what we said. Some people would shout things at us. Of course, we were lucky - we didn't know what they were saying. But then there were the people you could tell understood. I think there's a language much deeper than words. It's the language of love. " "The main barrier is atheism. We really don't understand why people don't believe in God because we were taught to believe in Him all of our lives and we just accept it . I remember one time a guy told me not to blame him because he didn't bel ieve in God because he had never been taught about God. None of his teachers and friends believed in God, and there aren't that many Bibles in Yugoslavia, although it is more tolerant of religion than any of the other communist countries. "It's given me a whole new point of view about truth. I thi nk you can be taught the truth , but it will be meaningless until you seek it yourself - until you stop saying, 'Well , he's taught me that it's true, 50 I believe it: and start saying, 'He said it's true, I'm going to see if it's right.' "Most importantly, I think, I've gained a more open mind toward the world. I've come to realize that the world isn't just Searcy, Arkansas or the United States. For example, we've been taught all our lives that democracy is the only way, that communism is evil and that they in ~ doctrinate their people . And they say just the opposite. I really feel that democracy is the best system, but we need to be more open~ minded to other types of philosophy. You can see good in almost anything. "I n the same way, I met some people who were atheists and will probably be atheists all of their lives. But I think that God sent Christ for that person just as much as he did for me. I think a lot of times we tend to hold grudges. We need to just love people, no matter who they are " People go to Rio de Janerio and say they've been to Brazil. But we rode on the buses with the people. We went in their homes and drank coffee with them. It's a whole different view of the country . The people, I think, really make a difference. They don' t have the things we have, but they don't miss them. They' re content with what they have . "In Brazil, no one looks at a person for what they wear or for what they have. I really appreciated that about them because Americans put so much emphasis on appearances. This campaign made me realize that it doesn't matter what a person wears or what they look like or what color they are. Brazilians are such a mixture of races that they don't have any racial discrimination. It really helped me to see that God made us all. " The people were very receptive . They were hungry for literature, especially religious literature. Anytime we would pass out tracts on the streets or on the buses, people would stop what they were doing and read them right there. "We really got attached to the young people. They are so uplifted when the campaigners come . It's something they look forward to all year. And then it just puts them on a high until next year. They work 50 hard and are 50 dedicated, it just puts us to shame . " I now recognize our responsibility as Christians to take the gospel to all the world. People hear the gospel all the time here in the States. They get tired of it. They slam doors in our faces and they won't come . They are just turned off by religion. Elsewhere in the world, people are starving to hear it . It's not hard to get Brazilians to listen to you. Language wasn't a barrier. We could express our love to the young people by our eyes . I wouldn't let language stop anyone from going." Campaigns • 33
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