One aspect of the profundity of the gospel is that it announces God is here.

No matter where that here is.

Yet, as we announce this we have to be prepared for the question, "Is God really here?" In genocide, poverty, despair or death?

Here lies the need for a skill the missionary too often lacks: empathy.

The missionary does not know where God is in these moments. You can offer your charity. You can be an escapist, toting a theology that denies God's presence in the here and now by directing their attention to other times, places or the afterlife. Or you, my missionary friend, can practice empathy. It requires all sorts of other practices. You have to listen, to learn, to love. You have to pay attention, learn the language and, in effect, "go native."

In so doing you might uncover God at work in the midst of tragedy. But it starts with an answer that is as much a confession, "I don’t know but I will stay here with you until we find out."

This is what Mother Teresa did.

This is what all true missionaries do.