How do you envision the gospel spreading to new places, among peoples who have never heard of Jesus Christ? Odds are, you have a pretty definite, unarticulated idea of what that should look like. Do you picture canoes, malaria, and a lonely missionary setting foot into a virgin jungle? That is certainly one way. Another way for strategic gospel advancement is English-speaking churches in non-English speaking contexts—often called “international churches.” International churches can serve as a foothold or base camp for further gospel witness.
Let me give four examples of what that can look like.
1. Expats need Jesus, and expats can show Jesus.
People who speak your language are sprinkled across most major cities around the globe. They are retirees, business people, and university students, and they are typically embedded in those cities with their own sets of relationships. Imagine if God allowed some of us to be a means of helping some of them be brought to faith and discipled. What might that do for the gospel’s witness in each of those countries? If an international church teaches these expats to work as unto Christ, equips them to give an account for the hope they have, and disciples
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