Sitting in our pastors office, I began to wonder: Who is this person next to me? What he was saying and the ways he communicated were beginning to sound like a foreign language. And they were, to mehe is a man.

I was sitting in one of our first premarital counseling sessions with the man who was soon to become my husband, Bryan.

The pastor began asking us to name positive characteristics of our relationship that are male-and female-specific but that also reflect the character of God.

Our answers went something like this: hes direct but shes sensitive, hes spontaneous but shes practical, hes focused but shes creative.

It was jarring at first to realize how different we are.

In fact, Ill even say it was a bit uncomfortable. Call it the pre-wedding jitters or just reality setting in. Whatever it was, it took some getting used to.

Finally, the initial shock wore off, and I noticed I was becoming more comfortable. The pastors soothing words, the scriptures of Gods loving plan for our lives, my fiancs reassuring glances. I began to see that we are uniquely different from each other but that our differences are Gods intention for us, andfor that reason our differences are a good thing. I saw that the characteristics we were naming are facets of God. And I realized that the more we as a married couple could consider those differences as good things, the more we would grow to be like Him. Our job would be to mirror Godas best we canby complementing each other.

God has called us both to function differently in our relationship. And just as we relate to each other differently, we relate differently to those around us. I can sit down and have a cup of coffee with a friend, talk to her intimately, share feelings and then possibly segue to the on mission opportunity of telling her about Christ. But my husband would approach a guy in a whole different manner. And thats OK. In fact, its a good thing.

In this issue of On Mission, we explore how men and women both do evangelism and respond to evangelism. Youll find that we uncover differences but we also explore commonality. And thats a good thing too. Because, just as God made us to be individuals, He also made us to be interdependent. All of usno matter what our methodsare needed to reach North America for Christ.

Missy Newby, design editor, mnewby@namb.net