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One of the funny things about the missionaries at SWUN was a signifiant number of them like Anna were Indonesian. I say funny because my mental picture of missionaries is generally of folks from North America and Europe making their way to other parts of the world. By contrast, Indonesia is a primarily Muslim country and to be Christian in Indonesia means being an outlier. Nonetheless, Anna and an Indonesian couple on my floor of the dorm were clearly Christian missionaries. For example, when the couple moved out towards the end of the semester, they left a Tibetan language bible on the fridge in our common kitchen.

Some sociologists suggest missionizing is an important part of building religious identity. It tests one’s beliefs through wrestling with non-believers and through this wrestling, one develops a sense of religious self. It’s not so important you convert the non-believers (although that’s ostensibly the goal). What’s important is the wrestling. It’s like the sojourn young Amish take outside their communities. They confront a world of wildly different values and through this engagement, learn what they want and whether they’re ready to commit to the Amish way of life.

The missions of young Mormons are another example. Growing up in Edmonton, I had a good friend, Harold, who was Mormon. Southern Alberta has a strong Mormon presence and there are a host of temples in Edmonton further north. Harold was half East Indian, half Philipino and his stepfather was this towering Mormon guy with a quiet air of imminent danger. Harold, on the other hand, was a rogue and I have fond memories of the funny, crazy things he would do. Short, and full of manic energy, Harold would have made a great standup. Unfortunately, he ran afoul of our highschool’s thunderous drama teacher and most, if not all, the teachers in our junior highschool. I recall asking my junior high vice principal one afternoon if Harold was in trouble to which the vice principal darkly declared, “Put it this way, heads are gonna roll.”