by Rod Nuñez

  “13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. “   - Ephesians 2:13-16

Bringing those who were once far away, near, and being reconciled to God through the cross:  I see no more important mission for us today, as individuals who know Jesus and as the Family of God, the Church.  It is a beautiful image to consider, especially today, for Jesus to take those that are outside of “us” and bring them near, or into a new “us”.  For me personally, this takes on not a geo-political or economic framework but a familial one.  It is humbling to understand that when Jesus brought me from “far” to “near”, what he in fact did was bring me into his family, a new and incredible extended family.  And every time the Spirit of God uses people to bring others from “far” to “near”, they are brought into this same new extended family, and we are now related, having the same amazing Heavenly Father!  How incredibly awesome this is, and I marvel that in the same way our natural families are structured, having different personalities and gifts, so our new extended family is made stronger with the addition of our new brothers and sisters, bringing their God-given gifts that we also need!  I pray that this reality, that the Lord continues to desire for us to be part of His mission to grow His extended family, will always be a driving motivation and filter for my thoughts, motivations and ministry.

This has been the heart and vision of our church, Christ Church Vienna, as we have taken prayerful, consistent and intentional steps toward knowing and inviting our Spanish-speaking neighbors here in Vienna into our lives and into the life of our church.  Ultimately our prayer is that Jesus would take the different groups that exist in our community that are all too easily divided, isolated and unknown one to another, and reconcile us to himself to create something new as we are all welcomed into one extended family, with Christ as our head.

Far to Near Experiences Growing Up

Knowing that the Apostle Paul was originally speaking into the great divide between Jew and Gentile, I have personally seen the words from this Ephesians 2 passage proven true in different ways in my own life.  I was born in Santiago, Chile in the early 70’s and then immigrated with my family to Northern Virginia as a young child.  One way in which I have known being “far away” was knowing what it is like to be rooted in a different culture in my home, but being very aware of the differences between myself, my family and most of the kids at school each day, not understanding the new language, customs, systems and culture of our new Virginia home.  

Another way in which I experienced being “far away” was in my spiritual lostness growing up, not understanding that I was fearfully and wonderfully made and how the Cross of Jesus had reconciled me to the Father and included me in what He is up to in our world.  It was not until my sophomore year of high school when a group of guys invited me to a Friday morning small group meeting before school at Bob’s Big Boy, and through their courage to invite me from “far” to “near”, I was welcomed into their lives and began to hear and experience, for the first time, the beautiful Gospel of Jesus.  Through this group and the ministry of Young Life, I accepted His invitation to make Him Lord of my life and begin an amazing journey of faith with Him.  That fall of 1988, as a Chilean bilingual student, Jesus brought me near and made me part of his extended family.

 Bringing People from Far to Near Necessitates a Bridge

Before beginning full-time ministry work in the church, I worked as a Civil Engineer in Roanoke, Virginia many years ago. One of the ways in which the Lord has hardwired me is to look at things analytically, looking at situations, conditions and systems and noticing where they fall short and how to make improvements.  While this isn’t always a blessing (ask my wife and kids!), it has helped me look at our ministry here in Vienna with an eye to building bridges.  This has not only helped in developing strategies and partnerships for Student Ministry, but has also helped our work to flourish with our Spanish speaking neighbors over the past 8-10 years here at CCV.

Our first steps into this cross-cultural ministry came through the local public high school (where our church meets on Sundays) to help mentor young ESOL men (English Speakers of Other Languages) who were in danger of dropping out of school.  As we had endeavored to build relationship and trust with the school administration, and they realized that I was a trusted Spanish-speaker who could identify with these young men, I was invited in to meet weekly and build friendships with this group of guys, explaining how the school system and culture works here and the opportunities available to them.   This was a rude awakening for me as I learned of the extreme difficulties and pain involved with being a new ESOL student from Central America, having left behind beloved family and friends in their home countries and attempting to study and survive here in their new home.

The startling paradigm that exists at Madison High School, where much of our cross cultural service and mentoring happens, is pronounced.  It is not uncommon for there to be a driven, well-rounded, “successful” college-bound student who speaks English as their first language and hopes to attend an Ivy League University, sitting within arm’s reach of an ESOL student from Central America who is learning the language and customs, struggling with the regular social fears of being a teenager and finding their place, but also carrying the stress of family brokenness and separation that is common for many of our new immigrant families.  All while attending school full time and working a 30-40 hour a week job after school and most weekends to help the family survive. They sit only 3 feet apart in class, and yet they live completely separated and “Far” from one another. 

I quickly realized that these students are the hardest working and most resilient young people I have ever met, and the Lord used these new friendships to reveal where bridges were most needed to even have a fighting chance to bring these guys from Far to Near.  Walking with and loving these young men led to meeting their families, and our circle of Spanish-speaking relationships grew steadily throughout the last several years.  This helped strengthen our relationship with the local high school as they appreciated our ability to lend assistance in this way, investing time and funds to not only help these students stay in school, but to begin to take steps to connect them relationally with kind and loving people from our church and community. 

One thing that became apparent as we began befriending and understanding our Spanish speaking neighbors was that many times what we thought were the needs in our community, were not always accurate or complete.  And the first step in bringing those that are Far closer is the ability to notice who is FAR off, and then take intentional and personal steps to befriend, understand and to know.  We soon realized that as our network of Spanish speaking students and families grew, what we needed were more people who could communicate effectively to care for and minister in this community.  Through a series of attempts and failures, we began to reach out in search of bilingual, cross-cultural missionaries that would assist us in connecting with this growing group of friends and to help minister and connect the rest of our congregation in building friendships across this cultural divide. 

Our answer came through connections with our friends in the Global South from sister congregations of the Anglican Church in Santiago, Chile, which we had spent many years building relationships with through our Student Ministry Summer Missions collaborations.   This has been a huge blessing as we have built a bridge with our Anglican family in Chile for gifts and calling that we could not find here.  In a beautiful living out of the 1 Corinthians 12- Body of Christ teachings, we continue to build out ways to host Spanish speaking pastoral staff that will help strengthen the bridge here in Vienna to bring our Spanish speaking neighbors into our church family and connect them as much as we are able.  In full circle, these bridges that Jesus built to our extended family in Santiago, Chile have allowed us to begin construction on the more local bridges we realized are needed here in Vienna. We continue to pray and take steps of obedience as we strive to bring those, right in our community, that are far, alone and isolated into our extended family.  Jesus has been so patient with us in our clunky process but we have been able to begin to see the fruit of the two becoming one.  Thank you, Lord!

 Bridges Go Both Ways

The interesting thing about bridges is that they actually go both ways.  Many times, we have built ministries and programs in hopes of bringing those that need help into a place where they may find it.  And then we just wait for them to come and are disappointed if they do not.  Unfortunately, I have done this very thing, with a huge heart to help bring life to students and neighbors, but learning over the years that the “Build it and they will come” promise does not work without first building authentic relationship and trust with those that are far off.  For those that are spiritually, culturally and relationally isolated, we cannot expect them to come to us, or even to meet us half way. No, for those of us that know Jesus and have already been adopted into His extended family, It is up to us to cross the bridges we are building and go to “them”. 

Learning Cross Cultural Ministry Principles from the A-Team, MacGyver, and the Three Amigos

While I am a product of a family and culture from Chile, much of my upbringing and development happened during the 1980’s while growing up in Burke, Virginia.  I am embarrassed at the amount of television screen time I had as a kid and was deeply influenced by all the TV & movie watching that happened in my middle and high school years. Thankfully, the Lord has redeemed some of those hours and allowed me to recognize some valuable ministry principles in the story lines. 

Whether it was the A-Team, MacGyver or the Three Amigos (to name a few), they all have one clear thing in common (other than being very entertaining for a kid in his teens): In each of these, the main characters are confronted with a huge challenge/crisis that they are able to overcome by doing 3 things. (1) Recognizing the gifts/talents and skills that they DO have as they begin to envision a plan to conquer the challenge, (2) Recognizing the raw materials and possessions they ALREADY HAVE IN HAND as part of the plan to achieve their goal and (3) Working intentionally and diligently to utilize what the Lord has already given them and courageously take ACTION, specific steps towards a solution. 

I believe that this is the way to begin the process of bridge building, by recognizing our Spanish-speaking neighbors that are far off, and then allowing the Lord to prod and nudge us to begin building.  I suspect as we are moved to do something and we take the time to look around at what the Lord has already provided in our churches, through the amazing and gifted people in our congregations, we will find much more than just money.  Although this is also a gift and much needed, it is definitely not the only tool or raw material available to build with.  Our church members have talents and skills that are beautifully diverse and have influence in Government, Non-Profits, Arts, Education, Military, Social Services, as well as the Private Sector, and there is an abundance of social capital, experience and connectedness that could be used to effectively build bridges to bring those that are Far off Near.

As I finish writing these reflections, I am so thankful that my experience growing up as a son of Chilean immigrants who were seeking opportunities and hope of a better life has allowed me to begin connecting the two worlds, I see existing in parallel but separated lives here in Vienna. 

May each of us have eyes to see those around us that live separate and isolated lives, that we would have the courage to take steps toward those that are Far off, and trust in the Lord to potentially use us to help bring them Near and bring us all into a new extended family with Him.

Rod Nuñez is Assistant Pastor, Students and Missions, at Christ Church Vienna in Vienna, VA.