Priorities. We all have them. We take time for the things we value.
Jesus had priorities. After He rose from the dead He engaged His apostles and many who believed Him for forty days to communicate about the kingdom and His commission. The result is the New Testament, recorded by people who were there to talk with Him and people closely associated shortly thereafter.
A key theme in all of their writings is that of going to people who haven’t heard, telling them about Jesus, and teaching them to be like Him. That’s how the message of eternal life through Christ reached each of us.
Faith (believing God) comes by hearing the word of God which is spoken by messengers who are sent.
We have to ask ourselves, “How do our activities fit in with His priorities?”
As mobilization representatives, we are working to pursue messengers to tell language groups of people who are still untold about Jesus. If they don’t know, they can’t go. We seek to encourage faith among people who have already heard and believed the message of eternal life through Jesus Christ, so that they, by believing God’s word, can take the message of life to the untold.
Our hope is to find people who will adopt as a high value,or have adopted, the work of establishing thriving churches among language groups of people who have not yet been told about Jesus.
I have found that the words “unreached people groups” often lead to conversations about groups of unbelievers right down the road near the local High School, or conversations about refugees living in a nearby inner city. While it may be true that people in those groups have not yet understood the Good News, most of these groups already have a Bible in their language, churches nearby, and Christians living among them who could share the Gospel with them if they would.
By “unreached” we mean groups of people who will live and die without an opportunity to learn about Jesus unless those of us who believe act with intention to tell them.
Now, instead of “unreached unengaged people groups” (UUPG), we find it necessary to talk about those people as language groups who are still untold.
Among the churches, the word “missions” commonly leads to talk about rebuilding houses, drilling wells, working in orphanages, disaster recovery, or participating in medical missions trips. Loving people, ministering to physical needs, practicing hospitality, evangelizing the lost, and equipping people for ministry are all very much a part of being the church in the world.
However, there tends to be a gap between the idea of missions as helping people (demonstrating the love of Christ in the world), and the commission that Jesus gave us to accomplish; teaching people worldwide to observe all that He commanded. Practicing good works is part of who we are as we obey Christ through loving and serving our neighbors. Where there are no Christians, the good works that Jesus would have us to do are not happening. Where is the salt and light?
Isn’t the mission of the church to go into all of the world? One third of the world has still not heard.
In obedience to our commission, we want to establish a steadfast, growing outreach of people ministering salt and light, grace and truth in communities where Christ is not known, where no messengers are yet en route, and where there are no other means for people to hear.
To do that we need people and we need churches that understand the objective to send and support them until the Commission is complete.
Matthew 28:18-20
For the glory of God, for the joy of the church, and for the souls of this generation of the unreached people groups, we are asking God to remove the confusion that hinders us all from completing the Great Commission.
Will you pray with us for opportunities to share about God’s heart for the world and the untold language groups of people?
Will you pray with us for wisdom, boldness, gentleness, and grace as we speak?
Will you pray with us that the Lord will raise up laborers to help bring in the harvest among those language groups who are still untold?
It’s not about accomplishing our program or agenda. It is about the worthiness of our Savior to be proclaimed in every language, about aligning our hearts with His, about entering into the fellowship of His suffering, and about bringing the message of His gracious redemption to untold people in remote places for whom He purchased redemption.
Thank you for your partnership with us in proclaiming Christ!