Reaching the World at Our Doorstep

When Jesus' disciples were told they'd be His witnesses in Samaria (Acts 1:8), they were confronted with the need to venture beyond the holy city of Jerusalem and the familiar, mostly Jewish region of Judea. They knew that in Samaria they'd primarily find people who weren't like them culturally, religiously, or ethnically. They had to travel roads that were unfamiliar (most devout Jews traveled around rather than through Samaria), and they had to interact with people whom they'd long considered unclean.

Fortunately, Jesus had already shown His disciples through His interaction with the Samaritan woman (John 4) and His illustration of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) that God's mission pathway leads through Samaria and His mission heart leads to Samaritans.

Today's Samaria for the modern American church is the diverse North American continent that is beyond our community and even beyond the borders of our state, province, or region. In this Special Issue of On Mission, we explore the ways that today's on-mission church can and must travel through its Samaria, the world that God has brought to our doorstep.

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