Overall, I thought the World Missions Summit was a fine catalyst for people critically considering missions. I decided to attend with a hope to cultivate a heart for the nations, and spent hours listening to stories from the Live Dead missionaries. Live Dead is a church planting movement that interacts with 4,095 unreached people groups in five regions of the world—Africa, Arab world, India, Iran, Silk Road.
There were a handful of gatherings, in which speakers shared some of their insight into their heart of missions. Pete Bullette, director of Chi Alpha at UVA, shared that our standard of giving should determine our standard of living. This motivates stewarding our finances well with the heart of Christ in mind.
I really appreciated the way Sevo, Chi Alpha international director, humanized the experiences of many international students. "Over 1 million international students have been sent to study in the U.S., over 1 million international students sent here to know Jesus."
Perhaps at times, it is easy to get carried away with an over-sensationalized ‘go somewhere’ mentality, emphasizing international outreach over domestic development. Sevo reminded us that there are hundreds of international students representing a diversity of communities who attend our college campuses and who desperately seek fellowship, and yet there are instances where these students are overlooked. After-all, the mission field is where our feet are. I am encouraged by the potential of a ripple-effect that including these students can have, especially as they return to their families and communities abroad with a newfound heart of Christ.