“There is a gold mine in [country], but it seems as deep as the centre of the earth; who will venture to explore it?” asked Andrew Fuller.
William Carey’s response was, “I will go down, but remember that you must hold the rope.”*
Is it possible to reach every unreached language group in our generation? We believe that the answer is, “Yes!”
God has given amazing tools and resources to this generation of Christians. We can accomplish our task, if we work together, by faith in His word, specifically toward fulfilling the Great Commission. Every language. The ends of the earth. All of the world.
John 20:21.
None of us can do all that needs to be done. However, each of us can use the gifts God has given us to accomplish His will. (Core Values)
Sometimes people ask us what they can do to prepare or assist. Here are some practical ideas:
What You Can Do
The harvest is ripe and the laborers are few. The greatest need is willing-hearted people who will invest themselves, their energy, time, comfort, and resources to expand the team into those areas where Christ is not known.
Go Yourself – ethnos360.org/go
- Career – Join Ethnos360 as a career missionary.
- Teach in a missionary school for a year.
- Volunteer to assist work already in progress.
- Wayumi.com – Attend a weekend or week-long tribal missions experience.
- Short Term Missions – Assist missionaries on the field.
- Skilled Associates – Go for a year or four.
Be a Sender
Advocacy. Be an advocate for a missionary. Help arrange meetings. Introduce your missionary to your friends, potential speaking opportunities, and possible supporters. Often the most effective and long-lasting supporters who join the work do so as their friends share the value of the ministry and introduce the person(s) ministering. Cast the vision: Take groups to Wayumi.
Financial supporter. The job of reaching remote people is too big and too important for one person or family working alone. Funding is fuel for missions and a tool to transfer labor. It gives missionaries the freedom to serve others, to hire services, and to create opportunities for engagement. Your gifts enable missionaries to go where they go, live where they live, and do what they do. We give to missionaries because we want more of what they do to glorify God. Give
Prayer supporter. Pray personally, specifically, corporately and regularly. You will begin to see God’s hand at work as your prayers are answered. If you use a journal you can more easily review how God answered your prayers and share His praise with other people. You might adopt an unreached language group and pray specifically for every aspect of what it takes to plant a thriving church among them. (Church planting personnel, support teams, funding, Bible translators, logistics, discipleship, leaders, weaning, Bible publication, etc.) Pray
Discipleship. Intentionally invest your life in other people to disciple believers toward spiritual maturity and reaching the unreached language groups. You can expand the ministry team by sharing Biblical foundations, imparting God’s values (esp. concerning the “nations” or people groups of the world), inviting teamwork and equipping laborers for ministry. Jesus is our treasure. Leading people to Jesus and teaching them to learn of Him, walk with Him and adopt His values will ultimately lead to joining in His work where He leads. Equipping
Get Informed
- Read God’s word, the Bible, about His purposes, plans and methods.
- Learn the importance of the nations (ethnos) in God’s design.
- Subscribe to missionary email, blogs, newsletters and publications.
- Read missionary biographies to learn how others exercised their faith in God.
- Ask current missionaries about their lives and needs.
- Research world needs, methods of meeting them and who is doing what.
- Research “The Biblical Basis of Missions” on the web. (or write to me for some links!)
- Attend a Wayumi program and take other people with you. wayumi.com
Educate Others
- Download and show missionary videos.
- Make missionary publications available.
- Ask your friends to pray about specific needs.
- Host missionaries in your home, small group or church.
- Invite a mission mobilizer to speak.
Come Prepared
- Be a student of God’s word.
- Ask to be mentored by a trusted leader.
- Serve the church under supervision. Mentor others.
- Learn how to share the Gospel message and disciple others.
Be Trained
Ethnos360 Bible Institutes – e360bible.org
- Focus on practical Bible knowledge.
- Learn from experienced missionaries.
- Grow in community with people of like faith.
- Work through every book of the Bible.
Ethnos360’s Missionary Training Center
- Excellent practical training for career missionaries!
- Learn what you didn’t know you need to know.
Firm Foundations Bible Studies
(Shore up your own foundation. 1 Cor. 3:11, Eph. 2:20, 3:17, Col. 2:7)
- Ethnos360 resources – biblestudy.ethnos360.org
- Access Truth – accesstruth.com/pages/accesstruth-curriculum
- Ethnos360 Bible Institute Online – e360bible.org
- Establish 101 – Bible Overview – establishseries.com
(This post is updated periodically.)
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