Called to More: Awakening to God’s Global Mission
We often try to paint a picture of what “4 in 10 people living without access to the Gospel” looks like. But still, it’s easy to feel detached or unmoved by it. Sometimes, even apathetic.
“It’s a Small World” might be a catchy tune (maybe you’re humming it now), but it’s simply not true. The world is overwhelmingly big, and so much of it is unreached. Can God really open our hearts wide enough to make a difference?
Sierra*, a missionary preparing to serve in South Asia, uses the story of Jonah to encourage people to open their hearts to the unreached.
Jonah was a believer who was not interested in sharing the message the Lord had given him with the Ninevites, Sierra* explained. He saw them as enemies, pagans, “other.” Unfortunately, this led to outright disobedience to God – he missed God’s heart for the “other.”
You likely don’t feel this kind of disdain toward those who are unreached, and thankfully, God still used Jonah in spite of his disinterest. But we should acknowledge what might be barring us from engaging in God’s global mission more fully.
“Any apathy you may experience towards the unreached does not exempt you from being a part of God’s work to reach them,” Sierra* declared. “If God’s heart is for them, so should yours be.”
There are people living their whole lives without even hearing of the One who created them and loves them deeply.
Matthew Deprez, lead pastor of Inspire Church in Michigan, has a huge heart and passion for South Asia, but he hasn’t always felt this way. In fact, he grieves that for 18 of his 20 years in ministry, he wasn’t tuned into God’s call to reach the unreached around the world. What changed for him?
In the midst of casting a vision campaign to his congregation, he knew they wanted to give a portion of funds raised to missionaries. But he didn’t feel like they had meaningful partnerships and relationships with those serving globally. So, he and a colleague began to pray about it.
His colleague, knowing that Matthew hadn’t felt interested in traveling to serve globally, asked him: if he could go anywhere, where would he want to go? Matthew promptly named a country in South Asia that had always been on his heart.
Excitedly, his colleague connected him with a missionary and local Wesleyan leader in that very country. Matthew met them on a Zoom call and quickly began falling in love with the people of South Asia. This led him to traveling with two colleagues to experience the Church, the culture and the atmosphere of this largely unreached country – and it changed everything.
“I realized, ‘oh, no wonder it’s unreached.’ It was the sheer amount of Hinduism that was there,” Matthew explained. He compared it to the amount of Christian bumper stickers or crosses he’d see in the U.S. There were Hindu idols on the corners of every door, rocks – which are used in rituals – applied with a red paste, dogs adorned with tikas.
Culturally, this is the life of someone living in South Asia. If you do happen to hear the gospel and accept Jesus, Matthew said you’re not just disavowing Hinduism, you’re disavowing family, your village, everything you know.
Sierra* explained that not only do unreached people groups have a limited chance to hear the Gospel, they’re also often overlooked by Christians.
Citing statistics from The Traveling Team, Sierra* noted “for every $100,000 that Christians make, they will give $1.83 to the unreached.”
“There are people living their whole lives without even hearing of the One who created them and loves them deeply,” Sierra said. “While supporting mission efforts to reached places is still critically important in building up the Church, we cannot neglect reaching the unreached.”
Members of Inspire Church will begin taking trips to South Asia later this year.
This urgency should move us—but we must also accept that the Gospel’s spread will be slow.
Now that Matthew and his church are involved in supporting the work of the Church in South Asia, he said one of the most important things for them to understand is that it’s going to be a slog.
He strongly believes that churches should be willing to go at the pace that God is moving in these dark, difficult places.
As a leader, he also feels the responsibility to call people to places they’ve never been.
“Leadership is often seeing things before the people who you’re leading see it,” he explained. “The reason why I think we don’t go to unreached places is because we’re not calling people to places they’ve never even seen — they don’t know about it.”
So as leaders, how will you set the tone? As individuals, how will you develop more of a heart for those who are without access to the Good News of Jesus Christ?
Resources like the Joshua Project and Perspectives on the World Christian Movement are great places to start. And if you have the opportunity to stand among the unreached or support those who do—consider it earnestly.
“The more I’ve learned about the unreached since being called to an unreached place, the more I am convicted of God’s heart for them,” Sierra* said. “ … His desire is for all people, everywhere, to know Him and put their faith in Him. The Church must learn to carry this out with intentionality and care.”