Almost 40 years ago this month, my wife and I boarded a plane for Asia to live a life of almost 30 years among the unreached and unengaged Asian people. What we learned from that time has left an eternal impression on our lives.
That impression is summarized with three words found in Matthew 9:35-38, which says, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
More than anything, we found that we were among a few Christians among the many who were…
HARASSED
We found people who were ridiculed, ostracized, and even persecuted. Among those people were non-Christians, but even more those who had taken up the mantle of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
We experienced harassment, but not to the point of some of our national colleagues and partners. In fact, those same colleagues were protectors, always there for us in times of difficulty, even though it might put them in harm’s way.
HELPLESS
Living overseas teaches you to appreciate small things in life, such as having clean water for bathing and drinking. Every morning, my wife would begin boiling water so we would have enough drinking water for the next day.
What we discovered during those 30 years is that a large majority of people in the world go hungry and lack good drinking water every day.
HARVEST
It is estimated that of the 8 billion people alive in the world, over 3 billion live in unreached ethno-linguistic people groups with little or no access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Estimates say that over a billion people in the world today have little to no knowledge of the gospel and little to no chance of ever hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ before they die.
The 10 Most Unreached Countries include:
- India (1,277,866,000 unreached)
- Pakistan (198,454,000 unreached)
- Indonesia (165,521,000 unreached)
- Bangladesh (163,630,000 unreached)
- China (146,228,000 unreached)
- Japan (124,296,000 unreached)
- Iran (81,619,000 unreached)
- Turkey (81,091,000 unreached
Yes, the workers are harassed and helpless but are also among a few who have taken up the mantle of Christ for the advancement of God’s Kingdom. So, guess what God is doing.
God is sending these unreached and often unengaged people to live among us in our neighborhoods. In the DFW area, people from the nations listed above now claim DFW as their home.
We, more than any other time in history, can go to the nations by welcoming, befriending, and sharing Christ with these new neighbors next door to us.
For more information how you as an individual or a church can adopt, host, or sponsor DBA’s Nations Among Us ministry, phone us at DBA or email me at bryan@dentonbaptist.org.
We are willing to come alongside you as you reach the Nations among Us.