July 26th, 2010

"I love missions," she said. That certainly seems to be one of the major themes of Christy Dyer's life.

All this is why she: went to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary after getting her undergraduate degree to pursue further education in missions; now works at the Tennessee Baptist Convention in the Women's Missionary Union (WMU) Department; and dedicates her life to involving kids, teens, and young adults in world missions.

Her passion for missions began at an early age when she spent five summers in high school and college working at a girls' mission camp. This summer, she's at it again, doing what God has called her to do.

In June, she led a group of 53 students and leaders from across the state to a country halfway around the world (alongside fellow Kairos attender, Jennie Bowling) to tell the locals of Naples, Italy about Jesus. "We went to partner with a team of eight missionaries serving there," she said. "We were divided up into teams and sent out to build relationships with people there."

According to Christy, Italy is a very social, family-oriented culture that is heavily influenced by Catholicism. While 99 percent of the country claims to be Catholic, only one percent are practicing. They know Jesus, Mary, and the saints, and most of them know some form of Scripture, but their religion is in name only.

Being so close to Rome, most Italians are influenced by what the saints and Pope say. Every town is assigned their own saint they're encouraged to pray to. Their perceived order of authority would be shocking to most: the saints have more power than Mary; Mary has more power than the Pope; and, whether they'd like to admit it or not, all three of these have more authority than Jesus.

"What they don't know is how to have a relationship with Jesus and the importance of it," Christy said. "It makes it incredibly difficult to share the gospel with them because they believe they're already religious. They believe what they do in mass or know from tradition is enough, and to not be Catholic would mean they aren't really Italian, so most will never denounce that."

In the mornings, the six teams would go into area shops, gelaterias, and cafes to talk with locals. And, in the evening, they would spend two or more hours in a piazza (or park) and minister to the neighborhood teens. The teams took them tools in their own language—copies of the Bible and the Gospel of John.

"On four or five different occasions, we shared the gospel with at least 75-100 teens. We built great relationships with five or six teenagers in my group," Christy said. "Interestingly, a lot of the students we worked with had a mixed understanding of even their own Catholic faith. One student said his family was Catholic but that he also believed in the Mayan calendar and a combination of other things."

The students and leaders explained to the Italian teens their own backgrounds as "evangelicals" and what that means. Many conversations between the two groups took on the pattern of "we believe this" and "we believe that."

One girl from Argentina, who was staying in the same hostel, was so interested in what the Americans believed—and their commitment to sharing their faith around the world—that she followed one team out for a day to see what they did in the city. Open to the gospel, she was searching for truth as she traveled abroad.

After joining the team for worship one morning, she said, "Thank you for what you've shown me and told me over the last couple of days. I'll take this with me always and thank you for the gifts you've given me."

Before they left, the team openly prayed over her that God would continue to show her truth and that she would find salvation in Him.

On another adventure, some of the students went into a local cafe to meet a man whom one of the missionaries had started getting to know. While there, the man introduced them to a friend of his who was going through a difficult time, as his wife had just recently passed away.

The team began to minister to the brokenhearted man, who had turned away from any faith as a result of his wife's death. He told them, "I can't love a God who would let this happen to my wife. She was sick for 16 months. I took her to all the saints. I prayed in all those places to all of them and nothing happened. She still died."

Because of that one interaction, the missionary assigned to that team shared the truth of the gospel with him. He explained the powerlessness of the saints and the hope only found in Christ. After an hour and a half conversation, the man accepted Jesus and asked for him to fill the void in his life. Today, he's growing in his faith.

As a result of the trip and Christy's leadership among the team, the eight missionaries stationed there have continued to follow up with the people who were contacted and relationships that were started.

As a regular, devoted attender of Kairos, Christy says she loves leadership, but it's the one place where she can come to just be herself, worship, and serve—without wearing the leader hat. She's passionate about helping kids, teens, and other young adults, like herself, understand the important of serving others.

She said, "As young adults, we're all very busy and socially involved, but we also live in this bubble where it's all about us. Sometimes it becomes a 'me-oriented' Christianity. What can I do to feed myself? What can I do to grow myself spiritually? But when you think beyond yourself, about the people living all over the world who are less fortunate and don't have the hope of Jesus, then it changes your life."

Even in Nashville, Christy says there's a greater melting pot of people who've never heard the gospel. She often takes the opportunity to encourage others—especially her fellow Kairos members—to serve right where you are.

"The reason God grows us and uses us is not for ourselves, but for His kingdom and glory," she said. "We need to throw off the 'me' mentality and put on a 'kingdom' mentality. There are so many things we can do. You don't have to be in leadership to serve somebody. People who live next to you need to hear about hope. People who you work with are hurting. Our spiritual growth and lives aren't about us. It's got to be all about Him."

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