Maybe...

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

“Okay, Lord, let me see. If you would send me as a missionary to Scandinavia, I would go. I have heard that the youth there is getting quite unmanageable. You know, I would even have been ready to put up with all the cold and the lack of sun, even though I know that everything is extremely expensive there and it is going to be difficult for me to raise support. Because, you know, things in Syria are pretty complicated at the moment, as well as in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Libya or Sudan. Probably I wouldn´t even make it to the border, and would be raped or burnt alive… that´s not really my thing. Let’s just wait until things get a bit quieter over there and I will reconsider it then.

Obviously, I cannot make my mum upset, leave home and go to Syria to preach the gospel. God also knows it, and He knows that the number of courageous men and women is rather scarce and, anyways, the fashion of Christian martyrdom, being eaten by lions, getting your skin stripped off and all that kind of stuff is quite behind the times, at least here in Europe. Nowadays we value other things, and God knows it and He respects our freedom”.

There is only one little objection, an insignificant detail. In many parts of the world, people continue to die without ever having heard of Jesus. The point is that one doesn’t send his Son into the world to die for the sins of Mankind only to find out that half of that Mankind doesn’t even know that such a gift is available, only at a “yes” away. Too many big words and capitals to spoil them. So God starts brainstorming trying to come up with a plan B: “Let’s see”, He wonders, “How do I get all these Muslims, whom I dearly love and whom need me so much, to hear once and for all that my greatest desire is, that they get to know me? I have already called John Doe or Jane Doe, but they are too busy, and as always, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few…”

And then it turns out that the Devil, who is also wandering out there with his own plans in mind and besides, he is short of time, enters the scene and messes it up. He incited hatred into a few in order to engage in murdering, torturing, raping and causing devastation on a vast territory and, of course, Christians are among his favorite victims. Only to tease a bit, because the truth is that at the end those will not even increase his number. But he knows that by doing so, people will focus on the innocent Christians being massacred while he can sweep aside the lives of Sunnis, Shiites, Yazidis, without being bothered. It is in them in which his main interest lies because it is an immediate loss for God.

The flight is brutal. People flee from their countries, leaving everything behind and risking everything to save their lives; beginning an odyssey that may be even more terrible than whatever they are leaving behind, and whose final destination is Europe.

And that is when God, his heart completely broken, notices a glimpse of hope.

Maybe… maybe the moment has finally arrived. Maybe the message of Jesus, preached and put forward as a common cultural identity for centuries, will have some effect on the European population and they will open their arms and hearts to the pain and nakedness of other human beings. Maybe at least my children, those who have confessed My Name with their mouth and meet every Sunday to worship me, maybe they will see the enormous opportunity that is given to them. Maybe they will understand that they do not even need to go into the world to preach, because the world is going to them. To their land; their countries; their city or village; their school or working place. Maybe the largest migration tragedy since World War II can be transformed into the greatest revival in History among Muslims. Maybe my children will understand how much I love those Muslims. Maybe all this misery can be turned into a huge blessing.

Results of a Protestante Digital (Spain) survey on the religious filter imposed on refugees in Europe. “What do you think about Slovakia accepting only Christian refugees but not Muslims?”

Good: 52%

Bad: 45%

I don’t know: 3%

Poll closed. Number of votes: 232

Maybe…

Isabel Marín Martínez. PhD in Hebraic Philology. Amsterdam (Netherlands)