It still amazes me that an estimated 3.4 billion people on the planet — 42.5% of the world’s population — are still considered to be “unreached” with the Good News of Jesus (www.joshuaproject.net). Even more amazing is that over two billion of these unreached people live in places where their government or religious leaders deny them the opportunity to even hear the gospel. These “frontier” or “least reached” people groups have virtually no known followers of Jesus, no disciple making or church planting occurring, and require cross-cultural workers who are willing to risk their lives to go to them.
Additionally, within the next ten years or so, it will be exactly 2,000 years since Jesus was crucified, rose from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of God the Father. But before doing so, He stood on a hillside somewhere in northern Israel and gave His followers this last command—”go into all the world and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20). And yet, here we are today, unable (or unwilling) to get the gospel to every people group.
So, the big question the global church should be asking, individually and corporately, is, “What’s it going to take to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission to go and make disciples of all people groups?”
While the sheer numbers of unreached people are definitely concerning, there are things we can get excited about. In many places in the world, for example, there has never been a greater openness to hearing the Good News of Jesus. Even among some of the hardest places and most resistant people, disciple making and church planting movements are sweeping through entire communities and nations as people encounter Jesus for the first time. You can read about one such place in the Ministry Spotlightbelow.
Jesus made it clear to His disciples that, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:37-38). So, “What’s it really going to take to give over two billion people an opportunity to hear the gospel for the first time?” Jesus gave us His answer: Every disciple! It’s my personal opinion that little will change until every follower of Jesus catches the vision of the Great Commission and decides to follow Jesus’ words and actions to make disciples while praying for more workers to go to the hardest to reach places. What a tremendous responsibility we have as His followers. What a tremendous privilege it is to get to partner with Him in chasing after what is closest to the Father’s heart—lost and broken people.
If you would like to join us on this journey, we would be honored to travel it with you. Just click on the button below for more information.For His Global Glory!
