by Lorie Huneycutt

Wherever you are, be all there!” I always found this quote by missionary Jim Elliot inspirational—that is, until our dreams were derailed when the C&MA redirected my husband and me by deciding to not send us to West Africa as international workers 20 years ago. Our daughter had recently been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and the C&MA International Placement Office concluded her needs would be better addressed here in the United States. After being redirected all those years ago, we have now spent the last 15 years in Ohio instead. It has taken me a while to appreciate that quote again. Ending up in Ohio initially felt devastating, because—Ohio? Well, I certainly did not want to be all there.

Wherever

In 2014, after over a decade in youth ministry, my husband, Paul, and I were offered the opportunity to begin an Envision site in Cleveland, Ohio. We accepted the position with more excitement than anyone has probably ever had about moving to Cleveland. We moved with our two children a mere 30 minutes north—only crossing the Cuyahoga River instead of the vast Atlantic Ocean.

What we were able to do at Envision Cleveland was everything we wanted to do overseas, but still close to all the necessary therapies and medical facilities needed for our daughter to have quality care. And with over 120 different ethnic groups living there, instead of needing to cross the ocean, we quickly realized the world was coming to us! As we were establishing the site in Cleveland, we were finding unique relationships with other families who had children with disabilities and began to recognize that our mission field was also this overlooked population of people. We were even learning a new language, so to speak, because of all the new medical terminology and disability-related acronyms. Missions, we began to understand, was not always about the location, but about presence with people—anywhere.

As we continued to accept that Ohio was our “wherever,” our circumstances with our daughter became more centered around her medical needs and hospital stays, and we found ourselves increasingly isolated from others as our circle of community began to shrink. But it was in that deficit that we learned one of the most valuable lessons—the importance of presence and how presence looks a lot like love. Because—love is patient (see 1 Cor. 13). Just as Romans 8:39 says that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” so also can we be a conduit of His love wherever we are.

Crossover Impact

During our time with Envision Cleveland, we had the opportunity to be involved with a new program being piloted in Cleveland by the Central District called Refugee Impact Collaborative (RIC). It was developed as a new option for C&MA international worker (IW) candidates to complete home service requirements before going overseas. The program involved living in an urban context, working with refugees, and partnering with urban churches and Envision Cleveland. As mentors for these IW candidates, we had many meals with them around our table. Yet in my role specifically, I often felt like I was not accomplishing much in the way of ministry. Hosting was often the most I could do because of my responsibilities as a mom and full-time caregiver. But as I sat down with some of these IWs in preparation for this article, each of them mentioned how having them over regularly and investing in those relationships with them was impactful. It helped me realize that what I considered to be “just hosting” was actually providing a safe space for them to grow and to feel loved and known.

Relational Foundations

Years later, two of these couples who were a part of RIC in Cleveland ended up in the same remote province in Southeast Asia, working together but under different specialized structures in Alliance Missions. One couple, Matt* and Taylor,* went with aXcess and the other couple, Chris* and Eva,* with CAMA Services. aXcess has a focus on establishing and empowering the church while CAMA has a focus on relief and development work. As I sit down for a virtual interview with Matt and Taylor, it is nine in the morning and a crisp 35 degrees—a stark contrast to the sweltering heat at nine at night from where they log onto our call. You can instantly feel the distance between us—the time zones and the degrees of temperature so vastly differ. But I also instantly feel something else—familiarity among dear friends whom I have not seen in years.

As I begin asking them questions about their time in Cleveland, they talk about how much they gleaned from their time with RIC and Envision. Matt shares, “You realize how important it is to have people around of the same faith on your team who are your support system and your encouragement.” Working with the RIC team in Cleveland helped him realize how important it is to have community on the field with people who have the same heart for ministry. It made him and Taylor especially grateful when the second couple eventually came to join their team.

Matt also shares how Cleveland helped prepare them culturally. “In Cleveland, we had already worked with so many refugees and immigrants, and we knew that we would like to work among an unreached people group. Most of our experience [in Cleveland] was with people of the same majority faith here, and so that was where we felt most comfortable.”

When asked what else helped prepare them, Taylor states, “Probably learning how to have real relationships with people of different belief systems.” And Matt adds, “They are people who need friends. And we are people who need friends. And so, how do you, in that friendship, then talk about faith and challenge one another? So, that was a big thing that we learned.”

It was so encouraging for me to listen to them talk about how these relational aspects of their ministry
became a foundation for them. Not just ministry to people, but being with people in authentic friendships. Their demeanor during the interview felt like a posture of being “all there,” as Jim Elliot would say. I could sense their love for the people they serve, and their respect for the culture, even with its challenges.

In an area of the world where it is illegal to live as religious workers and overtly share the gospel, they, along with their CAMA teammates, work for a nonprofit that hires local workers to produce moringa products. The moringa tree is a tropical tree native to Asia, known also as the “miracle tree” because of its nutrient-dense properties. The nonprofit helps to provide jobs while developing nutritious supplements that are accessible to the marginalized population in their context. “We have to have a meaningful, impactful presence that gives us credibility to be here but also allows us to do what God has called us to do, which is to tell people about Him,” Taylor says.

Not a Stepping Stone

I had the privilege of interviewing Chris and Eva in person since they are in the U.S. on home assignment. As I walk into their home, there is an instant feeling of belonging. Although it is a bit challenging to find a quiet moment to conduct the interview, with their four small children to oversee, I relish the opportunity to interview them in their authentic, day-to-day environment. In writing about presence, it somehow just feels right on theme.

They, too, reminisce about their time in Cleveland, and Eva shares how they were encouraged early on to not treat their time there—or anywhere, for that matter— as a stepping stone. When they bought and renovated their home in Cleveland, their goal was to intentionally set down roots in the neighborhood. Chris says, “And then we get to be the gospel bearers, so then how are we present in those places? The last couple months before leaving [Cleveland], John 17 just came alive to me.” He continues, “The unity between us and Jesus, between believers and believers, and then how that unifies us with the Father. And Jesus says, ‘May they have the same unity that I have with You.’ And then the amazing thing, too, is that it says when we have that unity, ‘Then the world will know that You sent Me.’” This Scripture is such a beautiful way to describe their current ministry as their team works together, each with different focuses, but all in unity with the same heart for the Kingdom.

Chris and Eva mention that their time with Envision helped set them up well for working in the context of the majority religion in their province. Eva says that it also helped them appreciate the importance of empowering local believers and young people, saying, “It’s important to raise up other young people and get others to catch the vision because that’s how you multiply.”

She also shares how, growing up as a third culture kid, she sometimes saw her parents doing seemingly insignificant things in ministry, like bringing potato salad to a potluck. “Maybe I had some judgmental thoughts of even my own parents, where what they were doing was maybe not enough or as epic [of a ministry] as certain people who were around us,” she says. “Sometimes it’s a lot more [about] the daily faithfulness . . . like your own sanctification and walk with Jesus.”

This resonated with me. During my time back in Cleveland, sometimes I felt like all I was doing was
making the potato salad. But in listening to these couples talk about how one of the things they were most encouraged by was the time spent around our table (when I frequently did actually make potato salad), I can see now that it was so much more than just food. Our day-to-day lives can look different for every person following Jesus, but if we keep showing up with our proverbial potato salad, the impact of that kind of presence is immeasurable—to believers and unbelievers.

While there were many needs that our daughter had that required me to stay home more often with her, I see now how the Lord used those limitations to help us recognize the power of simple presence and how it overflowed as a gift to others we had contact with. It forced us to slow down as a family and in various aspects of ministry, which allowed us to see more clearly how important presence was to and for all people. It was our daughter’s disability that redirected us all those years ago, but more so—it is what helped to shape our hearts in profound ways. And it’s also what allowed us the amazing opportunity to live and learn alongside others in our Cleveland ministry, such as the RIC team.

Begin Here

When the word “missions” comes up, it is often in the context of leaving one’s country and culture to spread the gospel. In Acts 1:4, Jesus commands the disciples to not leave Jerusalem while waiting for the Holy Spirit. Later in verse eight, He says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Note the context from verse four—they are told to stay in Jerusalem, in familiar territory, and then in verse eight, Jerusalem is the first place in which they are told to be witnesses. Jesus has called us to the ends of the earth, but first He calls us to be His witnesses in Jerusalem.

“Jerusalem” is different for everyone. But Jerusalem is the place we begin loving our neighbors and practicing presence. Wherever we are, let us be all there with whomever we encounter. “Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23).

Our time in Cleveland ended up allowing us a unique opportunity to experience God’s heart for all people and what it meant to “go,” even if the going meant staying. And the collaboration with different ministries and missions structures there was a beautiful picture of 1 Corinthians 12—how a body needs all its parts to work effectively. Everyone with their different gifts and specific passions for certain areas of ministry is essential, wherever they are. Because it takes all of us to share all of Jesus with all the world.

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