POVERTY
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. – 1 John 3:17-18
The Bibles speaks repeatedly about the responsibility of the people of God to care for those in need. Deuteronomy 15:11 says “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. In the New Testament our care for the needs of others is a demonstration of the internal transformation Christ brings to our lives. Therefore we must be well informed about the needs around the world so that we can show God’s word active in our lives in the way we care for the poor.
963 million people do not have enough food to eat, more than the entire populations of USA, Canada and the European Union combined. (Source: FAO news release, 9 Dec 2008)
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. – 1 John 3:17-18
The Bibles speaks repeatedly about the responsibility of the people of God to care for those in need. Deuteronomy 15:11 says “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. In the New Testament our care for the needs of others is a demonstration of the internal transformation Christ brings to our lives. Therefore we must be well informed about the needs around the world so that we can show God’s word active in our lives in the way we care for the poor.
963 million people do not have enough food to eat, more than the entire populations of USA, Canada and the European Union combined. (Source: FAO news release, 9 Dec 2008)
30,000 people die every day from hunger and preventable disease; (The State of Food Insecurity in the World FAO,2008)
Under nutrition contributes to 53 percent of the 9.7 million deaths of children under five each year in developing countries.
This means that one child dies every six seconds from malnutrition and related causes. (UNICEF, 2006)
Unreached People Groups
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” – Matthew 24:14 NIV
The phrase “of all nations’ is found throughout Scripture, but what does it actually mean? When Scripture speaks of nations, is it referring to the modern day nations-states that appear on our geo-political maps of the world? The New Testament Greek phrase is “panta ta ethne”. The word ethne is very similar to our English word ethnic. So, another way to say this is that the gospel will be preached to all the ethnic peoples or people groups of the world. Ultimately, we see this Biblical reality fulfilled in Revelation 7:9-10. As we take a look at the current status of this task we see that all people are equally lost without Jesus, but all people do not have equal access to the message of saving faith through Jesus.
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” – Matthew 24:14 NIV
The phrase “of all nations’ is found throughout Scripture, but what does it actually mean? When Scripture speaks of nations, is it referring to the modern day nations-states that appear on our geo-political maps of the world? The New Testament Greek phrase is “panta ta ethne”. The word ethne is very similar to our English word ethnic. So, another way to say this is that the gospel will be preached to all the ethnic peoples or people groups of the world. Ultimately, we see this Biblical reality fulfilled in Revelation 7:9-10. As we take a look at the current status of this task we see that all people are equally lost without Jesus, but all people do not have equal access to the message of saving faith through Jesus.
An unreached people group (UPG) is a people group in which less than 2% of the population is Evangelical Christians.
Globally there are approximately 6,400 UPGs.
GLOBAL CHURCH
…so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. – 1 Corinthians 12:25-26
…so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. – 1 Corinthians 12:25-26
All Christ followers should be actively a part of a local body of believers, but we are also all a part of the global body of Christ, the Church. We must show unselfish concern for the needs of our brothers and sisters around the world.
Persecution
There are over 200 million in evangelical Christians in over 50 countries who regularly face various degrees of persecution for their faith in Christ. As members of the same body we are to pray for and identify with our persecuted family around the world.
Pray that God would send out laborers to meet the needs of both the physically thirsty and the spiritually thirsty around the world. Pray also for the body of Christ in areas that lack safe drinking water-that they may show the sufficiency of Christ in the midst of difficult circumstances and boldly proclaim that Jesus is the living water.
