The Intersection of Language and Faith: Michael Parris's Missionary Experience
Reverend Michael Parris shares his inspiring journey from retirement back to missionary work in Asia, highlighting the profound impact of sharing God's love across diverse cultures. With a background as a pastor, English teacher, and church planter, Michael emphasizes the unique challenges and rewards of ministering in a context whereffect interpersonal relationships. He reflects on how important it is to adapt preaching styles to prioritize the messages of grace and forgiveness, especially for those who have lived under oppressive systems. Michael also recounts memorable interactions that illustrate the curiosity and openness of people in Asia toward Christianity, showcasing moments when individuals express their desire to le honor and shame significantly aarn more about God. Through his experiences, he encourages listeners to consider the vital role of prayer and personal connection in supporting missionary efforts around the globe.
Reverend Michael Parris, a passionate missionary dedicated to spreading the Word of God, shares profound insights from his extensive ministry experience in Asia. Serving in a bustling city of 200 million people, he focuses on preaching to both foreigners and local nationals, aiming to build meaningful relationships through Bible studies and catechism. Michael emphasizes the transformative power of understanding that people genuinely desire to know a God who loves them, a message he believes is often overshadowed by the burdens of law and guilt prevalent in many cultures. His journey has taken him from being an ESL teacher and church planter in Nebraska to becoming a missionary with the Office of International Missions, where he has faced diverse challenges and blessings in sharing the Gospel.
Michael reflects on the culturalntered while tra shifts he encounsitioning from a pastoral role in the United States to missionary work in Asia. He emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the differing worldviews shaped by shame and honor, rather than guilt and forgiveness, which are more prevalent in Western contexts. This insight has informed his approach to preaching and teaching, as he learns to prioritize the message of grace and love before addressing the law. Through engaging storytelling and personal anecdotes, Michael demonstrates how he navigates the complexities of teaching English while simultaneously introducing biblical principles, creating a unique platform for outreach and spiritual growth.
As he discusses the current state of the church in Asia, Michael conveys a senseortunity. He describes an increasing curiosity about Christianity among the local population, which he attributes to their quest for hope and peace. Despite facing challenges like bureaucratic hurdles and cultural differences, he remains optimistic about the prospects for growth and connection. The episode culminates with Michael's reflections on his legacy, expressing a desire to be remembered as someone who shared God's love and care with those he encountered, reinforcing the episode's central theme: the vital importance of conveying the message that Jesus loves everyone, a truth that resonates deeply in every context. of hope and opp
Takeaways:
- Reverend Michael Parris emphasizes the importance of sharing God's love in his ministry.
- His transition from pastor to missionary involved overcoming cultural and language barriers abroad.
- Michael's approach to teaching combines English language skills with biblical lessons, fostering deeper connections.
- He highlights the significance of understanding the shame and honor culture in Asia for effective ministry.
- Michael's legacy as a missionary focuses on demonstrating God's love and care to those he serves.
- The growing interest in Christianity in Asia reflects a deep desire for hope and peace.
Links referenced in this episode:
Transcript
My guest today is Reverend Michael Paris.
Host:Michael serves Asian in Asian city of about 200 million.
Host:He works for two churches preaching the word of God to foreigners and nationals from Asia.
Host:Michael looks for opportunities to teach Bible study and catechism and to build relationships as he shares God's word of life.
Host:Previously, Michael served as an ESL teacher, English center administrator, church planter and pastor at Lutheran Church in Maka.
Host:Throughout his ministry, he has served churches in Nebraska and Iowa.
Host:Eventually he became a missionary through the Office of International Missions, the Luther Church, Missouri Senate served in Makkah and other parts of Asia.
Host: In: Host:However, the loving missionary work and life.
Host:Michael decided to go back as a missionary mission partner with the Mission of Christ Network.
Host:We welcome Michael to the podcast.
Host:Well, Michael, how you doing today?
Host:Good to have you on.
Michael:Well, thank you.
Michael:It's, it's terrific to be on with you.
Host:Looking forward to it.
Host:So we talk about your ministry and what's going on with your life and ministry.
Host:So it should be an exciting conversation.
Host:You can inform us as to how God is moving in your spirit of the world.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:Thank you.
Michael:I thank you for this opportunity.
Host:So, so I love to ask my guests this question.
Host:What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Michael:Okay, I'll tell you something that I recall and this goes back a few years.
Michael:I was at seminary in Fort Wayne and I remember that I was, I was really struggling with sermon delivery, writing sermons and so on, and there was just so much that you had to, you know, do put together and I, I really wasn't doing well.
Michael:And, and I remember one time telling a fellow seminarian that, you know, the trouble I was having and what he said to me was, Michael, people just want to hear that there is a God who loves them.
Michael:And throughout the years, I, I've always thought, remembered that when it's come to sermons, sermon writing, Bible class, catechism, one on one relationships, and it has worked really well in Asia also because, because when you are, when you've been there for a while, you begin to realize that, you know, you're working with people in that ministry, that they lived a good part of their lives under the thumb of the law, whether it was the, the government or whether it was religions that said that would, you know, hey, if you want to go to heaven, you know, you've got to, you have to do this, you have to do that, you have to honor your ancestors or whatever the case might be.
Michael:And going back to that, you know, hey, here is a God, who has created all things, including you, and he loves you.
Host:That's a great reminder.
Michael:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Michael:So, yeah, I've always appreciated that advice that I was given and I've applied it to my life and to those that I work with also.
Host:Yeah.
Host:We live in a world where that is not something that you hear very often, that there's a guy out there who loves you and we all need to be reminded of that fact because it is so critical for our well being to know that we are loved and valued and cared for and that we are uniquely.
Host:I always love to tell my congregation my favorite passage was the one that.
Host:Where Paul reminds us that we are.
Host:We are a masterpiece.
Host:We're a unique creation of God.
Host:And so I.
Host:That I kind of feeds into what I always focused on too.
Host:Let me show you the amazing masterpiece God created you to be.
Host:So.
Michael:Yeah, yeah, right, yeah.
Michael:Or you can go to the book of Isaiah and he talks about God being the potter, you know, and he puts us together.
Michael:I think, you know, Paul's.
Michael:I mean, Isaiah is trying to be careful and saying, hey, you're the creation, you're not the creator.
Michael:But yet there's still that.
Michael:Yes, he is the one who has formed us and put us together.
Michael:And that.
Michael:That's a wonderful message to be able to tell people.
Host:I love that.
Host:I'm always curious for pastors, what was that moment in your life when you decided to be a pastor?
Host:Was there some lightning bolt like Luther had or what led you to.
Michael:No, no, it was.
Michael:I am from Davenport and I went to church.
Michael:I was baptized, confirmed at Emmanuel in Davenport.
Michael:And, you know, I guess even in high school, I can remember sitting there in the pew listening to the, you know, listening to Pastor Schember.
Michael:And I would sit there at times and I would think, I can do that.
Michael:And it wasn't that I was criticizing what he was doing.
Michael:It wasn't from that perspective.
Michael:It's just that I can do that.
Michael:And as the years went by, God kept nudging me and nudging me until finally I decided there's only one way to get him to quit nudging me, and that's to do what he wants me to do.
Michael:And so that's what happened.
Host:So what led you from becoming a pastor to being a missionary?
Host:Because that's a specialized shift.
Host:So tell us about that journey.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:I always had sort of the back of my mind how neat it would be to do some mission work.
Michael:I remember when I had churches, a church in Nebraska, we were in The TIM program and everyone now and then our missionary that we supported would come and visit us.
Michael:And I always get excited about that.
Michael: pened in the fall of, I think: Michael:I went to an LWML rally in St.
Michael:Angsker and the speaker was a pastor's wife who had just that summer done a two or three week short term in Asia.
Michael:And I thought, you know, I, I wonder if I could get into that.
Michael:So after the first of the year, I started, you know, talking with the Office of International Missions about a short term thing.
Michael:And they ended up talking, talking me into, you know, a whole year as a GEO Global Educational Outreach.
Michael:And that's sort of how I just got drawn into that.
Michael:And when I did go for that year, I loved it.
Host:I'm curious because I, I've thought about that when I was younger, too younger pastor, I thought about maybe overseas missionary would be fun.
Host:What are some of the challenges that you may of experience to make that transition from being in ministry in Nebraska and living in Iowa to going overseas to do something that's probably outside something outside your comfort zone?
Michael:Yeah, yeah, that definitely happened.
Michael: When I left in August of: Michael:And one of my responsibilities was to teach English both on the weekends at the English center, but also they had his teaching at a, at a private school.
Michael:I was teaching 4th, 5th and 6th grade English.
Michael:Now the thing is, Pastor Haney, that, you know, I've had times in the past where I've had, you know, confirmation classes of maybe 6, 10, 12 kids here.
Michael:I had like 30 to 35 kids sitting there teaching English as a second language, which I had never done before.
Michael:And I was, yeah, out of my comfort zone.
Michael:And I, I will tell you, I had some real serious conversations with God, you know, what are you doing to me?
Michael:Why am I here?
Michael:And that, that was really, really tough for me.
Michael:Finally after a while I just said, okay, God, you brought me here.
Michael:Okay, I need you to get me through.
Michael:And amazingly enough, after a bit, things started falling into place and I loved it and I thrived.
Michael:And you know, that convinced me that God's plan is always the plan.
Michael:Okay, not my own, but his.
Host:But I love that.
Host:As you went over to Asia, what were some of the cultural challenges you had to kind of learn to navigate around?
Host:Because I'm sure everything's a little different.
Host:What you have to kind of the hardest learning curve you had about their culture.
Michael:There are a lot of things different to the language, the food, but I Think, as I look back now, the thing that I had to learn is in relating to people, you had to realize that people in most of the other world see the world from a perspective of shame and honor.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:You know, here in the West, United States, Europe, we don't look at it that way.
Michael:We're more.
Michael:I think what it's labeled is guilt and forgiveness.
Michael:Okay?
Michael:You.
Michael:You are offended, or you have a conflict, and you go to somebody, you work through it, you say, I'm sorry, you're forgiven, and you move on.
Michael:You got to be careful with that over there, because if you confront someone, that may actually make your situation worse.
Michael:I remember when I was teaching ESL at this private school, there was in the second semester, I was assigned a new teaching assistant.
Michael:The English center always had a teaching assistant with us.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:And in the classroom, I started noticing that sometimes right in front of the students, she would challenge me.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:And, okay.
Michael:I don't mind being challenged.
Michael:If she has a concern about what I'm doing or whatever, that's fine.
Michael:But that's before or after class, not in front of the kids, because that is just.
Michael:You're asking for it.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:And so I thought, what am I going to do about this?
Michael:I could go to directly to her, but I know that's not going to really help our relationship.
Michael:So what I did is I went to the administrator, told the administrator the problem, the problem, went to her and talked it over.
Michael:The next day she came up and goes, oh, Michael, I'm sorry.
Michael:Where I'll.
Michael:I'll be more careful.
Michael:So I started learning there that you've really got to be careful in regard to the shame, honor, because it is very real.
Michael:And if, you know, you embarrass someone, that may damage your relationship more than the conflict or what the offense that had taken place.
Host:So I love that.
Host:I'm curious.
Host:We talked about preaching as we started out this conversation.
Host:And in America, we do have that idea of.
Host:We do guilt in our preaching.
Host:So how does that honor and shame culture impact how you proclaim God's law and gospel in that context versus maybe here in America?
Michael:That is a really good question, because I do remember one time I was talking with one of the Chinese teachers that we had, and she had heard missionaries from the past, you know, approach her from the law, gospel perspective.
Michael:And it wasn't really settling with her very well.
Michael:I mean, it doesn't with us sometimes either.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:Because we can be very uncomfortable when confronted by the law.
Michael:But with her, my thought was it goes back to this, okay, all she's lived is under the thumb of a tyrannical government or, you know, a law oriented religion.
Michael:So I, I prayed about it.
Michael:And what I think what God did is he took me over to John chapter four, where actually when Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman, the first thing he did was really words of the gospel, you know, I have living water for you.
Michael:And so that's the approach that I've taken when I'm there, whether I'm, you know, preaching or teaching Bible study or even dealing with people one on one is to first of all bring to their mind the gospel and to show them the freedom, forgiveness and life that God gives to us.
Michael:Then I can go over to the law.
Michael:And that seems to work really well for me.
Host:I love that because I was thinking about that if you're used to a certain format that we've been taught here, to have to go switch all that around really is kind of being, having to adjust the cultural expectations that you come in, in there with.
Host:What are some other things?
Host:Even in your teaching, you've had to adapt for your, the culture you're working in.
Michael:Oh, well, okay.
Michael:Teaching English.
Michael:When you, okay, you want to teach the Bible, you want to teach the Bible, it's, you know, your goal is Bible study or, you know, that's our catechism instruction.
Michael:That's the number one thing.
Michael:But when you publicize that you're teaching English, you have to do that.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:Particularly if you have some officials that should happen to show up.
Michael:Okay, you, you want to make sure you've got some English teaching in it.
Michael:And so you have to find a way to be able to teach this English, maybe to reach different levels of English, different ages of people that are showing up.
Michael:That can be a challenge.
Michael:Like, like Pastor, when I was again teaching at the private school, you know, I'd have a class of 32 kids and some of them would be such that their English was as good as you, your English or mine.
Michael:Others, if you were to say, Jerry, what's your name?
Michael:He wouldn't know what you asked.
Michael:So in a 45, 50 minute class, I'm trying to put together a lesson that will, you know, reach all of the students there.
Michael:And then I learned how, even though I really wasn't supposed to, but I learned how to work Christ in.
Michael:I was, I had to be very careful, but I was able to do that.
Michael:But yeah, it's putting together lessons and working with kids that are from all over the place when it comes to their English ability.
Michael:But also when it comes to their biblical ability.
Michael:So our biblical knowledge, that's great.
Host:What would surprise most of us who don't understand what missionaries are doing over in Asia, that would be helpful for us to kind of get a kind.
Host:Because even you talking about the English thing, for me, I can conceptually understand what you.
Host:But I can't.
Host:I can't imagine trying to navigate English teaching and scripture all at the same time.
Host:How do you, how do you make that balance in the work you're doing?
Michael:Okay, when I teach Bible study or I teach esl, with the goal is teaching the word of God.
Michael:When I put together a lesson, I have to put in something that has to do with teaching English.
Michael:If it's like a grammar less grammar point that I want to make or, or whatever I do.
Michael:But for example, if I'm going to.
Michael:Oh, recently I wrote a lesson that had to do with talking about autumn, the fall, and things that Americans do because people like to learn about American culture too.
Michael:And so I'll put that in there.
Michael:And then I came up with some idioms that, you know, figures of speech that had to do with fall.
Michael:But then with that, I also put in some.
Michael:I looked up some idioms in the Bible and I will put them in.
Michael:And so the English teaching is there.
Michael:They're learning something about the culture and maybe grammar.
Michael:But then I've also brought in maybe, you know, four or five idioms that we find in the Bible.
Michael:You know, sort of like, you know, Jesus saying Herod is a fox.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:That kind of thing.
Michael:And I will put that in.
Michael:Which gives me the opportunity then to start talking about, you know, about God's word.
Michael:So.
Michael:And then usually from there I can go into the actual Bible study.
Michael:Like right now I've been writing lessons on the miracles of Jesus.
Michael:I'm not there right now, but I write the lessons and I send them to another pastor there who is teaching them.
Michael:And then the back page will always be the actual, like, miracle lesson.
Michael:So.
Michael:But at least I can say that I taught English and I did have sort of a transition from the English teaching through the Bible idioms into the miracle lesson.
Host:Oh, wow, that's really neat.
Host:That's interesting how you do that.
Michael:Yeah.
Host:So I'm sure as you think about your time over there, there have been some stories that stand out.
Host:Is there a particular instance or a person that you connected with that really kind of comes to mind?
Michael:Yeah, there's a lot of those because people over there just love meeting Americans.
Michael:And I would maybe suggest that or mentioned that I.
Michael:I did have a dinner, that I went to a lunch.
Michael:It was about a year and a half ago.
Michael:It was a young lady.
Michael:Her English name is Helen.
Michael:It was her birthday.
Michael:And she invited.
Michael:Invited us to her birthday lunch at a restaurant.
Michael:But she told me that she was going to have some friends with her, and one of them in particular was kind of debating whether she wanted to become a Christian or maybe she should start looking into Buddhism.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:Because, Pastor, there is a lot of that that goes on.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:So you want to learn how to work with that.
Michael:And she was asking me a lot of questions then while we were eating.
Michael:Some of them were sort of unusual or meaning that I've never had anyone ask me them before.
Michael:For example, she asked me if I thought there was life on other planets.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:Or, you know, what the church thinks of artificial intelligence.
Michael:AI.
Michael:But then she did ask me.
Michael:She said, what is the main difference between Christianity and Buddhism?
Michael:And right away, the birthday lady, the one that invited us, who is.
Michael:Who again, is a Christian, she jumped right in and said, well, in Buddhism, they encourage you to look inside of yourself for your peace and for your hope, but Christianity says to look outside of yourself.
Michael:And, you know, I thought that was a beautiful response on her part.
Michael:And so I, you know, I added to that.
Michael:But that's an event that I'll never forget.
Michael:I'll be honest with you.
Michael:I don't know where the lady went with her decision as to Christianity or Buddhism.
Michael:You know, I pray that the Holy Spirit would guide her in the right direction.
Michael:But that was an event that I don't think I'll ever forget.
Michael:Not only the question, but even that, you know, the Chinese layperson jumping right in with that kind of response was really memorable.
Host:So what a neat story.
Host:I'm curious, how is your family adjusted to the missionary?
Host:What role do they play in your work as a missionary?
Michael:Most of my family is.
Michael:My daughters are adults and they have their own families, and I have seven grandchildren.
Michael:Grandchildren.
Michael:And my wife is Chinese, so she loves being over there.
Michael:So she loves being in Asia.
Michael:So her adjustment is really, really well.
Michael:I mean, she's like, you know, she's near back at home, so.
Host:Yeah, that's great.
Host:So I saw you came out of retirement to go back into the mission field.
Host:What motivated you to come out of retirement?
Host:To go back?
Michael: ess I, you know, I retired in: Michael:I like to work.
Michael:But I just knew that there were these opportunities that were over there.
Michael:In fact is I finally went over there.
Michael: I think it was in November of: Michael: But between: Michael:That's kind of an English teaching situation also.
Michael:That's the one where you publicize that you're teaching English and then draw people in for that.
Michael:And you do teach English.
Michael:But here comes the Bible study then.
Michael:But I enjoy doing that.
Michael:And then I was asked by a missionary if I would have an interest in going back as full time.
Michael:And so I, you know, yeah, I would.
Michael:I love doing that.
Michael:I want to go work at it again.
Michael:So.
Host:So what's a typical assignment look like for you?
Host:Are you over there all the time?
Host:Are you over there for a certain period of time and come back to the States?
Host:What's that look like, your schedule?
Michael:My schedule is, yeah, I'm not, I'm not over there, you know, all year.
Michael:We do have to come back because of my wife's Visa green card here.
Michael:There's a certain amount of time that we have to spend here in this country, but we come back to, in order to, you know, satisfy that requirement.
Michael:Otherwise, then we are back over there.
Michael:We've been, we've been over there now about five months this year.
Michael:And when we go back, it'll be pretty close to another three months.
Michael:So it's going to make about eight months this year.
Host:Okay, cool.
Host:For someone who's listening to this going, I think I want to be a missionary too.
Host:What advice do you have in terms of how they would get into that role of being a missionary?
Michael:I think the thing to do is to go, first of all, go talk to people.
Michael:Go talk to people who are missionaries.
Michael:Go talk to people that are staff people here in this country.
Michael:For example, the Office of International Missions.
Michael:I'm sure there's somebody down there that would be more than willing to speak, talk about what it's like.
Michael:Or you have Mission Central that's actually in your district, you know, at Mapleton, Iowa Mission of Christ Network, was, which is the organization that I'm with, would be more than happy to talk with someone.
Michael:Actually.
Michael:We did have a young man this past spring from a church, LCMS Church in California, that's seriously looking at being a missionary.
Michael:And he did come and joined us for a while.
Michael:I took him around to the worship services, the English corners, the Bible studies, for him to experience that and so he had the chance to talk with me.
Michael:He had the chance to talk with people, you know, the local people in the field.
Michael:I would say to number one, pray about it.
Michael:You know, just go to God and say, is this what you want me to do?
Michael:Second, go talk with missionaries.
Michael:Third, go talk with people who are staff people, you know, whether it be Mission of Christ Network or Office of International Missions, and just continue praying and see if this is the direction God wants, you know, wants someone to go.
Host:That's good advice.
Host:Can you give us kind of an update on the status of the church in Asia?
Host:Kind of.
Host:Is it robust?
Host:Is it struggling?
Host:How do you view where it's at today in Asia?
Michael:There is a tremendous interest and curiosity in regard to Christianity.
Michael:Christianity is growing because it's a people that are looking for hope and they find it in the church.
Michael:So there's tremendous opportunity that's there to, you know, preach and teach and, you know, work with people one on one.
Michael:I will say that there are challenges, sometimes getting a visa, sometimes dealing with the government.
Michael:These are all things that can be stumbling blocks or a sense is that like you can take three steps forward and now you find yourself having to take a step back.
Michael:But the church is.
Michael:There is growing.
Michael:People want to know where there is hope, where there is true peace, and where there is freedom.
Michael:Freedom from, you know, the sin and guilt in this world and freedom from shame.
Michael:And so I would say the church is.
Michael:It is God's church, and he will take it where he wants it to go.
Michael:And at this point, I would say that he is blessing that church with.
Michael:With people who want to learn.
Host:And that's great.
Host:I love to ask my guest this question.
Host:What do you want your legacy to be?
Michael:Oh, wow.
Michael:That's.
Michael:As a missionary, I think I would want my legacy to be that here is someone who came here among us and just showed us God's love, showed us his love and.
Michael:And showed us that he cares about us.
Michael:That's because that's what they want to know.
Host:Yeah, it goes back to what you said before about your preaching.
Host:It's like, let them know Jesus loves them.
Host:Right?
Michael:Yep.
Michael:That is right.
Michael:Yep.
Host:So what's the most rewarding aspect of work you've done so far, your journey as a missionary?
Michael:The thing that I have found rewarding is that, you know, Paul tells us that there are those who plant, those who cultivate, and, you know, there are those who can.
Michael:Can be there to witness the harvest.
Michael:I think a lot of times in this country, you know, we you know, we baptize, we.
Michael:We confirm people and we teach Bible study.
Michael:We officiate the sacrament of Holy Communion, and we see.
Michael:We see people go through their journey.
Michael:But I think most people have a tendency not to have this, at least this appearance of this moment of coming to faith.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:Over there.
Michael:It's just so enjoyable to see when people start coming to your Bible study English corner and these things where suddenly one day they'll just walk in and say, well, Michael, I've decided to become a Christian.
Michael:And wow, that's.
Michael:That is rewarding.
Michael:I mean, it's.
Michael:You see God's work among these people, and it's.
Michael:It's just fabulous.
Host:That's awesome.
Host:Where can people listen to support your ministry?
Michael:I do put out a newsletter.
Michael:Newsletter on a routine basis.
Michael:If someone wants to be in contact with me, I do have an email address.
Michael:It would be michael parisionofchrist.com not.com org.
Michael:So it's michael.parisionofchrist.org yeah.
Michael:And you can, you know, send me an email.
Michael:I'll get back to you and maybe show you other ways to support.
Michael:Of course, one thing that people can do is support by prayer.
Michael:That's the most important thing.
Michael:So, yeah, that's.
Michael:But anyway, if somebody wants to contact me, that is the thing to do.
Host:Well, Michael, thank you so much what you do for the kingdom.
Host:And thank taking the time to be on the podcast and helping us understand more about the work you do in Asia.
Host:And may God continue to bless you and your work you do in there.
Michael:All right, well, thank you.
Michael:And I, again, I thank you for giving me this opportunity because I love to share the things that I do because, you know, I think it's important that people come to an awareness of what God's work is, not just in this country, but in other cultures.
Host:Yeah.
Host:Well, thanks, Mike.
Host:Blessings on you, too.
Host:And blessings on your travel as you go back over and continue to spread the gospel there.
Host:Maybe.
Host:Sure.
Host:They remember that Jesus loves them.
Michael:Okay.
Michael:Yep.
Michael:That is right.
