Oregon: Fostering community and loving neighbors

How do we define missions? Going deep into the jungle to share Christ with unreached peoples? Hosting a week of Vacation Bible School in central Mexico? Flying across the country? Walking across the street?

I’d say, all of the above.

For Christians, mission is a responsibility that transcends location. I have friends who literally are across the world serving as missionaries, and I love hearing stories of God’s work there. I also have friends who are faithfully hosting a house church in their apartment every week. And the funny thing is, both groups are following the Lord’s call in their lives.

Riley Price served as a Go Now missionary with Perioikos—a Greek word for “neighbor,” or “dwelling around.” The purpose of the ministry is to foster community within apartment complexes by serving their residents.The name of the apartment ministry I work with in Beaverton is Perioikos—a Greek word for “neighbor,” or “dwelling around.” The purpose of our ministry is to foster community within apartment complexes by serving their residents. Our goal is to find leaders within these communities to reach out to their own neighbors with the good news of Christ. Loving those we dwell among.

The Portland metro area would not be classified as unreached. But just under half the city’s residents identify as religiously unaffiliated, and roughly one in nine is involved with a local evangelical church. Sounds like a pretty big mission field to me.

Now, missions in the Pacific Northwest looks vastly different from missions in Sudan. But the Lord has used my time here to show me how the objective behind both is the same—and that is to make disciples as we follow him in our respective contexts.

I would define a missionary as someone who has aligned his or her self with the heart of Christ, and lives accordingly. It’s more than a trip. It’s more than an internship. It’s an active obedience to a biblical mandate that can be carried out in any stage of life. Regardless of career, education or income, if someone is a Christian, he or she can be a missionary. I think that’s pretty neat.

Riley Price, a graduate of Dallas Baptist University, served as a semester missionary with Go Now Missions in Beaverton, Ore.