Why Nashville Needs Missionaries
By Meridith Curtis
When most people hear the word missionary, they picture a faraway country, a plane ticket, and years of language school.
But what if God is doing something different — something closer to home?
Truthfully, Nashville wasn't on our radar. For four and a half years, we poured ourselves into life and ministry overseas — learning the language, building relationships, putting down roots. Then the visa renewal was denied, and just like that, we were on a plane home. We didn't feel called to Nashville so much as we felt sent — by circumstances we didn't choose and a God who doesn't waste any of them.
Go and Make Disciples — But Where?
In Matthew 28:19–20, Jesus gave His followers a command that has echoed across every generation since:
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
For most of church history, "all nations" meant crossing oceans. It meant learning unfamiliar languages in unfamiliar lands. And God still calls people to do exactly that.
But something remarkable is happening in cities like Nashville. The nations are no longer only out there. They are here.
Nashville: A Mission Field Hidden in Plain Sight
Approximately 105,000 immigrants now call Nashville and Davidson County home — roughly 15% of the local population. These are our neighbors, workers at businesses we frequent, the parents of the children our kids play with at the park, the people in line at the grocery store.
They come from every corner of the earth: Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Venezuela. Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, and Somalia. India, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Laos. Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Sudan.
Nashville is home to the largest Kurdish population in the United States — an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people — so concentrated in South Nashville that the area has been named "Little Kurdistan." There are an estimated 60,000 Muslims in Middle Tennessee alone, representing dozens of ethnicities and languages. Metro Nashville Public Schools support students who speak 132 different languages.
One hundred and thirty-two.
Let that settle for a moment. That is not a statistic about a far-off city in another hemisphere. That is the hallway of a school near where we now live.
God has gathered the nations in Nashville — and He did it before most of us were paying attention.
Why Our Family Said Yes to Nashville
When we returned to the US and began praying about where God was calling us, we assumed it would be another overseas location. But doors overseas didn't open.
What became clear over time was that God wasn't asking us to leave our country to reach the world. He was asking us to open our eyes to the world that had already arrived.
Nashville is where He sent us. And through our work with MTC Nashville — a Missionary Training Center where we open our home, train disciple makers and church planters, and create space for God to form and send ordinary believers — we have watched God move in ways we could not have manufactured or planned.
People from backgrounds vastly different from our own, sitting around the same table, encountering the same Jesus.
That is the Great Commission in motion.
Mission Is Not a Program — It's a Life
Our family has chosen a lifestyle of everyday discipleship, opening our lives, home, and table so others can encounter Jesus and grow in His Kingdom — a vision we share more deeply in my book, Kingdom Living.
The Great Commission isn't a project you schedule. It's a posture you carry.
Every conversation is an opportunity. Every shared meal is a door. Every act of hospitality is a witness.
In a city where 105,000 immigrants are navigating a new country — many without the support of extended family, many without a faith community, many carrying deep grief and deep hope at the same time — ordinary believers living with intentionality can change everything.
You don't need a title. You need availability.
You don't need a platform. You need obedience.
The Opportunity in Front of Us
The Great Commission was never meant to be outsourced to professionals. Jesus spoke those words to ordinary people — fishermen, tax collectors, women who had witnessed the resurrection.
He still speaks them to ordinary people today.
If you live in Nashville, you are not waiting to be sent to the nations.
The nations are already here. And so are you.
The question is whether we will recognize the moment for what it is — one of the most remarkable gospel opportunities in this city's history — and whether we will choose to step into it with our whole lives.
A Practical Word
This week, ask yourself: Who has God already placed in my path from another country, another culture, another background?
Then take one simple step:
- Start a conversation. Ask where they're from.
- Invite someone for a meal. Open your table.
- Pray specifically for one neighborhood in Nashville where the nations have gathered.
- Learn something about a culture different from your own — not as a project, but as an act of love.
Don't wait until you feel ready. Just be faithful.
Scripture
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations... And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." — Matthew 28:19–20
Prayer
Lord, give us eyes to see Nashville the way You see it. You have gathered people from 132 language groups, from dozens of nations, into this one city — and You did it on purpose. Forgive us for missing what was right in front of us. Awaken our hearts to the Great Commission not as a distant calling, but as the life we are already living. Use our family, our home, and our ordinary days to make disciples among the nations You have brought to our doorstep. May Nashville be marked by believers who said yes — simply, faithfully, and together. Amen.
Walk With Us
If this post encouraged you, here are a few ways to take a next step:
- Read my book, Kingdom Living, for a deeper vision of everyday discipleship and mission.
- Share this post with someone who needs a fresh vision for their city.
- Explore what missionary training at MTC Nashville could look like for you.