The American Passport: 8th Reason to Advance in Missions Today
March 26, 2010 – 12:19 pmIt is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)
I own a magic book. It opens doors all over the world. It is called a United States passport. I have used mine so much they have added pages to it three times.
The American passport is a very valuable book, no matter what other countries think of the US. Even if they don’t like Americans, accepting the American passport pays the bills. It is kind of like Paul’s Roman citizenship. It allows you to go places and it makes things happen that might not otherwise.
I have some missionary friends who are Canadian, and they were a little upset that I could get a multiple-entry visa into a certain country for less than they could get a single-entry visa. I felt bad, but the only thing I can do about it is take advantage of it.
The director of Bibles International, who is a Haitian citizen, had to have a letter from the mayor of a town in France where he wanted to teach for two weeks before the French embassy would grant him a visa. I have never had to get a visa to enter France. My passport is enough.
On one of my early trips for BI, when I was still learning about international travel, I was in Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport for a fairly long layover. I decided I wanted to get out of the airport for a walk in the outside air, so I headed to passport control to leave the airport transit zone and actually enter the Netherlands. As I approached the desk, there was a man at the counter with his passport opened, and the border guard was telling him in every language he knew: “No, you can’t come through here.” The man finally took his passport and went back into the airport.
I somewhat sheepishly went up to the counter and laid my passport down before the guard. He barely glanced at it, didn’t even open it to stamp it, and said: “You can go through.” I was somewhat shocked, and as I picked up my passport I said something about not knowing if I could come in, since that other man had had such problems. The guard said: “If you had his passport, I wouldn’t let you go anywhere, either!” Score one more for the American passport.
There are actually two reasons why my passport opens doors. The first is because it is an American passport. The second is because it is very worn and thick, and contains many visas and stamps. When people see my passport, they don’t often give me any trouble.
However, as much as I value the fact that my passport commands respect, I don’t act like I deserve it just because I am an American. Many Americans when they travel carry a very disrespectful attitude along with their very respected passport. That is a bad combination.
The fact that we are US citizens will open doors, but the fact that we are Christians should make us respect all people and remember always that we are guests in their country, and that we are ambassadors for another country in which we hold eternal citizenship.
Glenn Kerr, guest author for the MM Blog, provides 10 reasons why local churches should advance in their effort to start indigenous church planting movements in regions that do not have a gospel witness.
Glenn J. Kerr is chief translation consultant for Bibles International, the Bible Society of Baptist Mid-Missions. He has worked as a consultant for 15 years, being involved with translation projects on five continents and about 28 languages.
He has a master’s degree in Hebrew and Semitic Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has done graduate studies in linguistics at Michigan State University, and is currently in doctoral studies through the University of South Africa.
He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Bible translation and related linguistic subjects on an adjunct basis at three Bible colleges and universities in the US as well as his consulting work overseas.
