One of our team came hurrying in to breakfast two Tuesdays ago with the news. Thirty-one of us from the seminary at Andrews were wrapping up our evangelistic mission to Santiago de Cuba. We’d just spent our only night (and the last one) in Cuba in a hotel (a change from the generous kindness extended to us by the Cuban families who boarded all of us in their small living quarters during our mission). Lisandro had been watching the news in his hotel room and hurried in with the announcement, “There’s been a terrorist bombing in Belgium at the Brussels airport!”

We got back to our rooms and turned on the hotel televisions and CNN Mexico. Sure enough, surreal images of the dust and din aftermath of the twin bombings at the international airport were flashing across the screen. And commentators were reacting in Spanish (at 100 mph). Our Spanish-speaking seminarians began interpreting. And the grim reality of yet another global urban center under attack quickly sank in.

Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Do you suppose Jesus was aware that His command to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15) would have to be obeyed and fulfilled by an endtime generation in the midst of such threatening geo-religio-political conditions? The answer is: Of course He did—just read Matthew 14/Mark 13/Luke 21. This civilization has never been on a trajectory of ascending peace and prosperity. The third law of thermodynamics is proving true socially and geo-politically—civilization is moving from equilibrium (order) to entropy (disorder). Moving, as anyone can see, at an accelerating pace.

Which only makes Christ’s command all the more imperative. The nearly 100 flags flying unfurled on our campus mall on this International Student Sabbath are a vivid reminder that this university was raised up “in the beginning” to prepare young minds and lives for global mission. No matter the academic discipline, no matter the nationality, no matter the mother-tongue—we are all under commission by our Lord and Savior to GO on His behalf into every nation, every culture, every city, every village and hamlet and through the practice of our training find access and opportunity to proclaim God’s love for this dying world.

And never forget—His is a co-mission—which means we do it “co” or “with” the Master. Nobody has to go alone. No one.

So whichever colorful flag is yours out on the windy mall, the command to all of us is the same: GO. And to those unsure of what Jesus’ command means for them there is surely this response from the Spirit: Which part of the GO don’t you understand—the G or the O? “For lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19).  

PS—don’t miss our Cuba Mission Team report (with video, pictures and personal testimonies) next Sabbath in both services.