Mike Griffin: Embracing God’s Command for the Nations

In this episode, join us as we sit down with Mike Griffin, sharing a remarkable journey of faith, compassion, and cultural transformation in the Middle East. Through the lens of his son Luke’s unique connection with a grieving family, Mike unfolds a powerful story of God’s love transcending boundaries.

 

Episode Highlights:

From Sorrow to Celebration: Explore the emotional journey of a family transitioning from sorrow over loss to celebration through an unexpected connection.

God’s Command and Calling: Mike emphasizes the difference between the Great Commission as a command and a personal calling, inspiring listeners to embrace God’s heart for all nations.

Changing Perspectives: Witness the transformation of cultural perspectives on disability from shame to honor through one small act of kindness.

Prayer and Obedience: Mike highlights the role of prayer and obedience in discerning God’s will and actively participating in His work around the world.

Resources:

– “Is God Calling Me?” by Jeff Iorg- A recommended read on embracing God’s calling.

Connect with Us:

– Visit our website at launchme.church

– Follow us on Facebook & Instagram at @FBCMel.

– Send us your thoughts and questions at info@fbcmel.org.

Support the Show:

– Share this episode with your friends and family who might be interested in international missions and faith journeys.

 

Episode Transcript

Amanda:

God has given all of us a mission to make disciples here and everywhere for the glory of God. We want our church to be a launchpad for sending people out on the mission God has for them.

Regardless of who you are, we all have a role to play. We are all involved in God’s story. We pray that the story shared through mission control. We’ll encourage you to see how God is calling you to be used by him. Welcome to Mission Control. My name is Amanda Levy and I’m the communications director here at First Baptist Melbourne and the host of this podcast Today in Mission Control. We have Mike Griffin joining us. Mike is the newest member to the staff at First Baptist Melbourne and is working to mobilize more people at First Baptist Melbourne to be equipped and engaged in sharing God’s love with the nations. I only recently met Mike, but I’ve been blown away with how obvious God has been in orchestrating everything necessary behind the scenes to bring him on board here at the church. Mike has a huge heart for people in the Middle East and I can’t wait for you to get to know him a little more. In our conversation today, we talk about how God has led him to where he is today and he shares a really cool story of how God has used his youngest son with Down syndrome to open up doors to widely share God’s love with others.

We also talk about the command we are given in the Great Commission and the differences between a command and a calling. Our conversation could have easily gone on for hours. I’m excited to share it with you. Before we get started, I wanted to personally thank everyone who has made this first season of the Mission Control Podcast a success. I’ll talk a little more about what’s to come at the end of this episode, but for now, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss future episodes. Okay, let’s meet up with Mike now. So I don’t know if you’re familiar with the podcast, but we’ve been starting with a little space themed icebreaker question and the last episode I threw out to David, do you want a serious one or a fun one? And he picked the fun one. So now I’m only left with serious, so you ready for this?

Mike:

Okay, I’ll try. This

Amanda:

Is something that was new to me too, but in space there’s a phenomenon known as the overview effect where astronauts experience a profound shift in perspective about Earth. How do you think seeing our planet from space would change your outlook on life and humanity?

Mike:

What an interesting question. It would certainly show us a global picture of what’s much bigger than our little small pocket of the world. It would show us not only something bigger than us, but show us something bigger that God’s doing as well as God created all of this and it would give us a more confident perspective of God’s in control of all things by seeing it from that.

Amanda:

Yeah, I think for me it would put perspective is a word you used a lot, but even just the scale, everything feels so big when you’re in the middle of it and then when you take the step back you see the scale of how much is also around. It’s crazy to think about seeing the earth in that way. Yeah. So can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what God’s leading you in your current season of life?

Mike:

So I have a passion to show God’s love and his care for people who are, especially places that are underdeveloped or places where there’s need and where typical American perspectives or see these people as more marginalized or not someone to be a part of helping. And I just have the passion for showing his love to these places where there’s marginalized peoples. And so one of the main areas that has been defining that for us is working among Middle Eastern people. Before I got involved in this, it was so interesting to experience how my culture had sort of shaped how I viewed that part of the world and how I had this sense of being concerned about what it would be like to work among them, where they like the media portrayed them, where they’re going to be hostile and all these kinds of things. But of course, as always, I discovered the absolute opposite of that.

And so for the last 25 years, I’ve had the absolute joy and honor to be a part of some of the most amazing people of the Middle East, discovering that they are the most kind and most generous and most hospitable people. I’m from Georgia and so we’re supposed to have the southern hospitality, southern hospitality, but what I’ve discovered is there’s nothing that touches their hospitality. I can meet a person in that same day. They’re inviting me to stay at their house that night and they’ll provide food and everything else that I need when they don’t even have something to offer. They’d give up what they would be using for maybe the next month to provide for me in one meal or something like that. It’s just incredible generosity and kindness, which is the opposite of what typically I had viewed from the way that my culture here in America taught me about that particular part of the world.

But the Arab people are just absolutely amazing and I’ve really been drawn to those places where there is need and they’re oftentimes ignored with their need. So for example, we’re focusing a lot now is with refugees who have fled from war torn parts of that region. They’ve gone to places where they can find safety from the war if possible, but they end up going to places where they still don’t have their needs met. They’re not able to be in a UN refugee camp. Those are all full. And so they end up living in the most difficult situations without having any access to food or to healthcare or to even places to live. They’re not allowed to work in the country that is their host country. They’re not allowed to work in several of those host countries. And so that really defines what I’ve been focusing on in terms of projects and how I feel like that can maybe contribute something towards helping and showing God’s love and compassion for these precious people.

Amanda:

How did you get to this place?

Mike:

So the journey for me was a fun one actually. I went on a trip to the Middle East to do actually a tour for the first time and went with the other people that had been there in that region before. And I was really most interested in the historical aspects of that region and how in history I was fascinated by Middle Eastern history. And so I was going more for the academic side of it as opposed to the personal side of what kind of influence or what kind of impact this would have on my life. But wow, as I got there and began to meet people, it was just absolutely life-changing for me. I don’t know how else to say it, but it was a game changer for me to see the beauty of this culture, the kindness of the people, the love that they had for me.

And even though I had this picture of, oh, here’s an American and we don’t like the Americans, what I discovered is that they actually love Americans. They’re not crazy about American foreign policy, but I’m not so crazy about American foreign policy in every situation there’s things I question and some things I’m okay with, some things I’m not. But all of us as Americans, we have opinions of that we’re not for everything, but they just absolutely love Americans and they knew that most Americans were either not around them or afraid to be around them or come to their country for different fearful reasons. And then when someone like me comes, they are just so receptive. And so 25 years ago I was able to go on this tour and experience this incredible part of the world that had all these preconceived ideas of that have become something I just so cherished the fact I got to be introduced to that amazing people and I really have a dream and that is that I would be able to bring more Americans to visit that part of the world and fall in love with that part of the world as much as I have and have that same sense of wanting to show God’s love and compassion and care to that part of the world as well.

Amanda:

Gotcha. So 25 years, how many trips have you taken?

Mike:

That’s a great question. To the region, it’s going to be somewhere in the seventies, 75 range of trips going several times a year. Sometimes I may only get to go three times, maybe sometimes four. I think one year of able to go five times in one year. I’ve not been able to go and live in that part of the world, even though I’d like to actually move there and live there. But we have five kids and our youngest has Down syndrome and the healthcare system in some of the places that we would want to live is they’re not adequate enough to take care of some of those health needs that come along with the implications of a child with Down syndrome. And so we’ve not been able to go and live there, but we get to go on trips and be a part of enjoying that culture as well as being able to do good projects to help in the culture.

For example, we do a lot of projects among the communities with disability. So begin to do workshops and to teach, bring American special education teachers to just give training to parents and others who want to work with children with special needs and just be able to provide the information and awareness that’s needed. A lot of times in parts of the world, parts of the Middle Eastern world, there is sort of a cultural view about disability that has to do with more of a shame attachment to a child born with disability as though God has cursed that family, maybe because something was sinful in the family. And there’s a curse viewpoint, and I know of some friends of mine who were actually in major political roles in the country and they’d have a child that was born with some sort of a disability and they were just cut off from their family and from their community as though something now shameful has happened to them, that there’s some sort of thing that everyone else

Amanda:

Like a sign of darkness

Mike:

And you have to avoid this family type of a thing. And so we’re able to go and share that that’s not the case. In fact, your child is a gift from God. In fact, your child is created in God’s image and is not something to view as shameful, but something to celebrate. Now, before we look at those people and say that we’re viewing them as people who don’t have the awareness that they should have, we weren’t a whole lot better here in America. So for many years we would institutionalize children with disabilities. We didn’t know what to do with them. And it really took a law that wasn’t passed that long ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act. But that’s really when things began to change is when we had a law that was enforced that began to change our own understanding as a culture. So we weren’t a whole lot better, so we’re not just throwing stones at them as to what their disposition is, but it’s been a thrill for me to be a part of doing those workshops and going different places and teaching.

And I’m not a special education specialist, I’m just a dad of a precious gift from God who a son with Down syndrome and able to speak as a father to other parents who are struggling or feeling that shame attachment. And just to see how the whole awareness of understanding that this is not from shame or from a curse of any kind, it’s just the way they were born, they were born with this particular uniqueness, unique giftedness than what maybe we would consider normal. So it’s been very exciting to be a part of those kinds of projects and those kinds of initiatives.

Amanda:

How did God open the door for the project with all the special needs awareness?

Mike:

Yeah, so it’s a fun story. As I began to go on trips to the Middle East, I would take a lot of people on those trips to go be a part of these projects, even take my own kids with those trips. But I didn’t take my son who has Down syndrome because he has health issues, number one, and concerned about that. But we met with our pediatrician and they said, sure, you can take him. And they loaded us up with pharmaceuticals. They had a whole suitcase of pharmaceuticals to take with us in case something had happen. But the other issue was a concern about how they would treat him if he was there and we’re walking out in public with him. Because a lot of my trips to the Middle East, we had never seen people out in public as much. In some countries you would, but in some countries you wouldn’t see that take place.

And so what would it be like for him to go to a place where we’re walking out in public, it’s not a common thing. And then how might he be treated, which puts him in a place of being vulnerable. And so actually when he was 10 years old, we decided it was time to take him. And part of my struggle was what would, what’s going to happen if something is done where he feels insulted? Because even at 10 he had been a part of hearing some insults or having someone make fun of him, and he was even able to know that’s what was happening. And he’s even cried before over those kinds of incidences. It’s really a struggle for me.

But we decided to take him and we went there with our family. We were there. We went to what’s called an Arabic. It’s called a Sukuk. It’s a market. And this is our first day there. First day that my son’s in this country, my son’s name is Luke, and he has some discomfort when he walks. He walks kind of funny sometimes. And so after walking a little bit, he was tired of walking and he wanted me to hold him. And so I pick him up to hold him. Now it’s in July, it’s hot there. And I’m walking with him for about 30 minutes and he weighs about 80 pounds. And I don’t know, it’s just my arm’s getting very tired. I’m doing the arm switching thing as often as I can. And finally I just have to take a rest. And again, he’s 10 years old.

I’ve been wanting to bring him on trips with us. This is the first time we’ve brought him. I didn’t want anything to go wrong. I love this part of the world so much. I don’t want anything negative to happen. And so I’m looking for a place to set him down anywhere that there’s nobody else. And this is a very crowded market. It is in the center of the old city. It’s hundreds and hundreds of people. And I looked for a place to set him down and I found a place, there was a step up against a store that was closed, and as soon as I set him down with nobody nearby, as soon as I set him down, these two men came over from that country and they got right up in front of his face and they K were bent over to touch his face, touch his hair, and I don’t know a lot of Arabic, but I do enough to say, stop. I don’t want you to do this. It looks like you’re making fun of my son. And so I try to ask them to step away and don’t do that. Before I could even say anything, these men straightened up, turned around, shouted something in Arabic I couldn’t understand, and suddenly about 20 to 30 men came rushing over.

We were in the middle of it being pushed and shoved. It was the strangest thing. Didn’t know what was going on. They were all pushing and shoving, trying to get to Luke who’s sitting on this step. And I still was upset by it all because it looked like they were just, I don’t know how else to say it, but treating him like he was a sideshow or like he was a circus act or some sort of a, I dunno, something that was unique. And they hadn’t seen something like that before. It just felt there was so much intensity and what they had as they were trying to get near him, it was just couldn’t explain it. Well, finally someone saw that we were obviously upset about this and they began to explain to us in English what was happening. They said, Mike, all these men are from the same family, extended family. There’s cousins and uncles and brothers all in this group of men and in this family is a boy with Down syndrome. And that boy had recently died. And in this family, they did not see him as a curse in this family. They did not see him as shameful in this family. He was the most esteemed, he was the most important, he was the best in their family and they celebrated him. And here he now has died and they are just

Crushed over his death, grieving over the loss of his life. His name they told me is ett. And this family was just sorrowful and grieving over the death of Eder infant.

And then the person said to me, Mike, you’re not going to believe this, but the place where your son Luke is sitting on that step is the exact same step that Terat would sit every day of his life on the exact same step. So when these men saw that Luke was sitting on Ater Fatts step, they were blown away. They just knew that God had answered their prayers for his comfort and his help in the time of their grieving. They had been, I learned that they had been praying and asking God to help them. And so here is Luke sitting on adder fet step. The men are actually seeing Luke as an angel that was sent from heaven. They thought that actually an angel is sitting there and we got to go touch this angel. That’s what it was like for them. I was moved to tears.

The men were crying and these Middle Eastern men don’t cry, but they were crying because God had shown such kindness to them by bringing this comfort of showing that their prayers, their sorrow is in the heart of God. They took Luke and they held him up in the air and all the men circled around him and they were all cheering for Luke. They were all cheering Ater, ater, ater at Herat. And Luke raised up his little arms up in the air and was going, yay. He was cheering and he just knew he was the head of king of something in that moment. And I just stood there and cried here for 10 years. I had worried about bringing Luke to this part of the world and here God is using my son who can barely even talk.

And here God is using him to bring God’s love and God’s compassion and God’s care to this whole family that had been grieving so much. It shows me how much God loves these people. He’s not like many of the American perspectives about these people that they’re all bad people or they’re all terrorists or something like that. No, here’s God having arranged all of this. I mean, there’s no other way to explain that Luke is sitting on that step that God arranged it. There’s a lot of other steps in this country I could have put Luke on, but this is the one step that outer fact used to sit on and it’s the one family in the whole country that had this high esteem. And here is this scene of God arranging this to show his love for this family and these men got it. And they were crying with joy over that.

And I was crying just because I saw something birthed in my heart that we can begin to do some projects here, provide some help here for special needs children and their families. And so this story, we got contacted about a day after this by the national newspaper wanting to come and interview us and that story get published in the national newspaper of that country and the story goes viral. I get invited to all these major political offices in the country to tell the Luke Arafat story. And every time I tell that story, they cry because what used to have a perspective of shame has been now completely changed to honor here God has used my little son to change a whole country’s disposition or approach or concept about disability by changing it from shame to honor. And so I began to bring special education teachers to do training. A bunch of families would come and we’d talk with parents and I’d share Luke’s story with parents and they would cry. And I would say to them, your child is not a curse. And everything in them, every fiber of their being knows that that’s true. But the culture has been telling them that it’s shameful.

And yet when I would say to them, your child is not a curse, your child is not shameful. Your child is a gift from God, your child is created in the image of God. They would know that’s true in the depths of their being. They would know that’s true. There are tears coming down their faces. Well, the government of this country actually sent people to our workshops and they actually invited me to a meeting and they said, we want to ask you to help us to develop the special education program for the whole country.

Amanda:

No pressure.

Mike:

Wow. I did not see that coming. And so we began to see just the opportunity to open up so many doors of working with special needs children and families through that story and now throughout the Middle East we’re able to continue to try to do those kinds of projects.

Amanda:

That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Changing gears just a little bit, but not that much. You recently preached here at the church and you said this and I thought it was a really good just, I don’t know, kind of light bulb moment a little bit. Not a direct quote, but this is what I wrote down. The Great Commission is not a calling, it’s a command. We are all commanded to obey your calling is a matter of how you obey. In light of that, what advice would you give for someone who’s trying to figure out how to obey and what that calling is?

Mike:

One of the greatest things about God’s word and about the Bible and about the message of Jesus is it displays God’s heart for all people and not just for Americans, not just for people in Florida or wherever. A person might be in a place that has religious freedom or has a majority Christian population, but God has demonstrated his love for all tribes and tongues and nations and peoples. And so we have this massive number of people groups around the world, and for many of them, they may not know about that love that God has provided for them. And the great commission in Matthew 28 is the last thing that Jesus commands to those who follow him. It is in the imperative grammar in the original language, which means it’s a command. It’s not a suggestion. It’s not an option if for someone who is seeking to know next steps, it just begins there that that’s not something you have to wonder about whether or not I should be thinking about this.

It’s a command for everyone who follows Jesus. Every follower of Jesus should have in the depths of their heart, his heart for all the nations and his desire for all the nations to know of his love and his provision for salvation. And so it begins with that point of command. I’m supposed to be a part of this as a father of Jesus calling, since the Great Commission is not about a calling, it’s about a command. Then calling has to do with how we then obey that command. What does it look like? Now? For some it might be that we go and live in international places showing God’s love, sharing God’s message and international places. For some of us it might be that we do the same thing here where we have people from different ethnicities, different countries that have come to live in our neighborhoods, live around us, and we’re to show his love to people right here.

For some it might be a little bit of all of it that there may be ones who are financially able to send others and to pray for others who are going into different places of making contact and making building relationships and providing help with people who are in need. So for the person who’s trying to discern God’s will for their life, it begins with that place of it’s a command as a father of Jesus that we embrace his heart for the nations. Now show me what that looks like from my life. How does that unfold with my gifts and talents? And I think the important thing is to always have our willingness where we say, Lord, it doesn’t how you fill out the rest. I’m going to say yes to how the rest of that’s described. If that means I leave my home, I’m willing to do that.

If it means I stay, I’m willing to do that. Sometimes we think about this idea of those who go, it’s almost like we have this mental picture of we should plan to stay and see if we have a unique call to go to go. Yes. But I would say, why don’t we reverse that? Let’s plan to go and see if we have a unique call to stay because we’re all a part of the command and let’s just, let’s see how with our willingness on the table of saying, here it is, God, my yes is right here. How do you want to unfold this? It’s not about me because it’s all about you. And I think that’s the first place a person needs to be when they are discerning God’s will for their life is it’s not about me. It’s all about God’s glory among the nations. And it begins with God’s heart for the nations. Now the rest of it’s easy. He begins to open doors, he begins to shut doors. But it begins with that trajectory of what he’s called us to do and what he’s commanded us to do.

Amanda:

So what does that look like for someone listening who is at First Baptist Melbourne involved with First Baptist Melbourne? What are opportunities available?

Mike:

So here, there can be of course projects right here, whether it’s with helping teach English with people who are local here that are from a different country and they want to learn English. There’s many different kinds of projects and outreaches that are done through this particular church family. And there’s also trips that are offered short-term trips, which might be a week or two weeks, sometimes three weeks, or even going for what we might call midterm, which would be a year to two years or the whole idea of long-term, which has to do with being where we go with not intending to come back and be gone for a career or for a lifetime. And then you have those who are physically unable to go or to even here, they may not be able to do much because of physical reasons or physically get on a plane and go somewhere else. And their role can be in giving and supporting and helping to send people who are involved in those things and also they can pray. And to me, that’s not like you tag that onto the end because really prayer is that communication with God that is the launchpad for everything. I really believe that prayer is central to all of it. And it’s not that we really are praying for the work. Really prayer is the work.

And so that role of intentional prayer for the love and compassion of God to be shown to all people, to all nations is a tremendous part in being a part of this whole picture of it’s a command from God that we are part of this that is a central and really a foundational part is that role of prayer.

Amanda:

Gotcha. You recently joined the team here at the church. What excites you about what God is doing at First Baptist to Melbourne?

Mike:

I’m really blown away actually with all that’s already going on here. There’s already a heart for God’s love for the nations that exists here. And I celebrate that. I’m not bringing any of that to the table. I just get to come in and be a part of what’s already happening. But I get to work with a wonderful committee here that we’re able to see how we might be able to organize and look for a comprehensive way that from children to senior adults, everyone can be involved with what we’re commanded to be a part of. And so I am thrilled to walk alongside what’s already been going on for many, many years right here to be a part of that and just to contribute in a small way, whatever I might bring to the table, but not only what I bring, but what I get to learn from what’s already happening here. And just to bring glory to God as a church family, bringing, making his name known and proclaimed among the nations.

Amanda:

Yeah. Awesome. Well, finally, and this question always feels like you’re just repeating everything you said, but I’m always amazed what new things can come out of it. So finally, what advice or encouragement would you have for someone who’s feeling the call to make disciples here and everywhere for the glory of God?

Mike:

Yeah, I mean, it does begin with that picture of this whole thing called following Jesus. It’s not a hobby,

It’s a commitment of my life. It’s a commitment to live my life on this planet for his purposes. And so it really does begin with, it’s not about me, it’s all about him. And we have to settle that. It’s about having this whole perspective. We sometimes buy into the American dream and we buy into this whole thing of what’s in it for me type mentality almost when we think about following Jesus, it has some of that mixed in of what’s in it for me. And I think the perspective is it’s not about what’s in it for me. It’s all about the one who created all of this, the one who owns all of this, the one who created me, get to have the privilege, to have the opportunity. I get to live and serve for him and for his honor and glory. And so it must begin with that perspective of it’s not about me.

It’s all about him. And then recognizing the very clear command that he gives that we’re to go to all nations, seeing how that unfolds with how we’ve talked about already and how it emerges to become a, I’m willing to do whatever you put in front of me to do and committing ourselves to that. It’s just amazing how much God is more interested in this than we are. This is what he longs for, is for his creation to do this. This is why he created all things was for the nations to worship him. And so he wants that. And so he is faithful to shut doors when we’re going down a journey. That’s not what he has for us. He’s faithful to open doors, and we have to be faithful to recognize this as an open door. And sometimes I’ve started to walk through a door that seemed open and it gets shut, and I realize, okay, that’s a shut door, but it don’t stop.

I see so many Christians who seem to be just paralyzed with finding out what the steps are supposed to take because they stopped walking through the next open door, and we needed this to be like, I think Paul did in scripture where he kept doing the next thing that was in front of him, that he saw the door open and maybe sometimes the doors did shut for him, and he went a different direction. And so I think that that is for all of us, the opportunity that we can embrace doing the next thing that God has for us and being able to see the amazing joy of living for his glory among the nations.

Amanda:

Well, I’m really excited to see what God might do with you here on the team and the future as we seek to build a bigger heart for the nations here at the church. And thank you for coming on the podcast. We really enjoyed this conversation.

Mike:

It’s great to be with you. Thank you so much.

Amanda:

Thanks for listening to this episode of Mission Control. If you’re interested in learning more about Launch 10 x and the different ways to get involved in what God is doing here at First Baptist Melbourne, a great place to start would be visiting our website Launch Me Church. Thanks so much for listening to the Mission Control podcast. It’s been an absolute honor to have the privilege of producing the Mission Control podcast this year, and the busyness and chaos of life. It’s been nice to have a continual dose of encouragement and inspiration in my own life, and I hope the podcast has been the same for you. Stay tuned for season two of the podcast starting in January where we have so many more stories lined up to share with you. I’ve heard from a few of you that you enjoy watching video podcasts. So starting in January, we’ll begin producing video versions of the Mission Control Podcast in addition to the audio format you’re already familiar with. Until then, I hope you have a great week on mission with King Jesus.