My heart literally aches when we discuss the need of unreached people groups, but this wasn’t always the case. In fact theirs is a reality far removed from mine. I grew up in a family of believers in a thoroughly saturated “Christian” environment where Bibles were on just about every bookshelf, church was basically a given, and we prayed before class, sports, and meals. All this to say the choice to surrender my life and all that I am to Christ as Lord was never made for me and I continue to choose Him daily in relationship, but knowledge of the Father, of Jesus, and of the good news of the Gospel were never out of my reach. This sincerely isn’t the case for millions across the globe!
Unreached people groups are not individuals who know about Christ and have chosen not to follow Him, these are entire cultures and people groups that do not even have access to the Gospel. There isn’t a large enough, self-propagating indigenous evangelical population to reach the whole people group. Essentially, they won’t have a church down the street, they won’t run into believers at their workplace, and they simply will not know the Good News of Christ.
This will never bear significant weight to you unless you realize that the ultimate need of everyone on this world is Jesus. We do not need more government policies, healthcare, education, family counseling, environmental controls, court cases ect. While these are certainly not bad, in the end we just need life! Everyone on this earth has a fatal disease and that disease is sin. BUT Jesus changes everything; through relationship with Him we have life and life abundantly and eternal. He took our guilt, He took our shame, and He took our fear. He transforms us with new hearts and made away for us to know the Father in intimate, active relationship as adopted sons and daughters. This is the good news of the Gospel which is truly so dynamic, so fulfilling, and so incomparable that it should never dull in our minds and hearts.
In this way, all of the world’s needs are embodied in the person of Christ. But what if you never hear that the Bible is all about what God did to get to man, that you are more loved than you could ever imagine, that striving and being “moral” will never save or satisfy you but true life and fulfillment are yours through Christ? What if you never hear the Good News?
I don’t believe that stats will change the world, but how can you care about something that you have never heard about.
10/40 Window Realities:
- 62% of unreached people groups live in the 10/40 window
- That’s 3.02 billion people in 5,621 unique people groups
- 95% of people in the 10/40 window are unevangelized
- 10% of all international Christian missionaries go to the 10/40 window
- There are 4,200 missionaries working among 1.7 million Muslims
- That’s 1 per 400,000+ people
- With 2 billion Christians in the world only 13,000 work with unreached people groups
- With over 5 million Christians in full time ministry, 0.37% work with unreached people groups
- 6% of all money given to churches goes to “missions” or about 1/1000 of a traditional tithe
- 1% of money given to missions goes to the 10/40 window
- Financially, Christians could actually plant a church in every unreached people group with only about 0.03% of their income
There is more money embezzled from the church than goes to “missions.” Every dollar you give to a pastor is 100 times more likely to be pocketed than make it to the 10/40 window.
If you were to select a Christian at random they would be more likely to die in a plane crash than work among an unreached people group.
My heart is not to bash the church or discourage anyone in missions, but rather to bring awareness to the fact that there is a need for Christ around our world. With 900 translations of the English Bible, it’s hard for me to picture the reality of not even having one translation in my language.
God’s heart is for the nations or more accurately the ethnicities—the people groups. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
I know that the Lord has made me unique and I am His precious daughter, but I’m a pretty typical American 22 year old with no specific Bible training and it is very sobering to know that I will be “Christ” to many people on this trip. He is in me and I in Him and for those who have never met Him, I get to be His hands, His feet, His love—His ambassador sharing the Good News of all that He has done. Oh this is quite sobering to me, and the crazy thing is the same call is on your life as well as a believer in Christ. We are His body, His church, His Plan A for reaching the world and it is quite mind blowing that there is no Plan B.
With this I so need your prayer! The power of prayer is not in prayer itself but in the God to whom we get to talk with. He is all powerful, all loving, and so very intimate. I would love it if you would shower me and my team in prayer and truth as we are leaving to serve in the 10/40 window. My heart just breaks for those who don’t know and who haven’t heard about Christ, yet I struggle with the feeling of “what can I even do.” But I know my Jesus and I trust Him in this.
Also, I have a finanical need of about $3000 before this July 20th to meet my next fundraising checkpoint. I keep asking God about it and His math is just so crazy. Will it be a couple hundred donating $10 or only a few donating $50 or perhaps fewer still donating more? If this is something on your heart to give towards, I would love to partner with you in this Kingdom trip.
Thanks so much for sharing in this experience with me and for all of your prayer partnership. It truly means the world to me!
Blessings,
Breanna
