Revolution in World Missions

Yes, today God is working in a miraculous way. Without all the trappings of high-powered promotion, an increasing number of believers are catching the vision of God's third wave in missions. We already have seen thousands of individuals raised up to share in the work. But I believe this is only a foretaste of the millions more who will respond in the days ahead. Many pastors, church leaders, former missionaries, and Christian broadcasters in North America are also unselfishly lending their support. In addition to these sponsors and donors, volunteers are coordinating efforts at the grassroots level throughout the United States and Canada. This network of local workers is making a tremendous contribution in fulfilling the Great Commission. They represent Gospel for Asia at conferences and distribute literature to friends. They show GFA videos and share what the Lord is doing through native missionaries with churches, Sunday schools, home Bible studies, prayer meetings, and other Christian gatherings. By recruiting additional senders, they multiply what they could have given on their own. I will never forget one dear retired widow whom I met on a speaking tour. Excited about how much she could still do even though she wasn't working, she pledged to sponsor a missionary out of her tiny Social Security check. After six months, I received a very sad letter from her. Brother KP, she wrote, I am so privileged to be supporting a missionary. I'm living all alone now on only a fixed income. I know when I get to heaven, I'm going to meet people who have come to Christ through my sharing. But I must reduce my support because my utility bills have gone up. Please pray for me that I will find a way to give my full support again. When my wife Gisela showed me the letter, I was deeply touched. I called the woman and told her she needed not feel guilty. She was doing all she could. I even advised her not to give if it became a greater hardship. Two weeks later, another letter came. Every day, she wrote, I've been praying for a way to find more money for my missionary. As I prayed, the Lord showed me a way. I've disconnected the phone. I looked at the check and tears came to my eyes as I thought how much this woman was sacrificing. She must be lonely, I thought. What would happen if she got sick? Without a phone, she would be cut off from the world. Lord, I prayed as I held the check in both hands, help us to remain true to you and honor this great sacrifice. Another gift, this time from a 13-year-old boy named Tommy, shows the same spirit of sacrifice. For more than a year, Tommy had been saving for a new bicycle for school. Then he read about the value of bicycles to native missionaries like Mohan Ram and his wife from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Since 1977, Mohan had been walking in the scorching sun between villages, engaged with his wife in church planning through Bible classes, open air evangelism, track distribution, children's ministry, and Bible translation. He and his family lived in one rented room and had to walk for miles or ride buses to do gospel work. A bicycle would mean more to him than a car would mean to someone in suburban America. But a new Indian-made bicycle, which would cost only $92, was totally out of reach of his family's budget. What amazed me when I came to the United States is that bikes here are considered children's toys or a way to lose weight. For native missionaries, they represent a way to expand the ministry greatly and reduce suffering. When Tommy heard that native missionaries use their bikes to ride 17 to 20 miles a day, he made a big decision. He decided to give to GFA the bike money he had saved. I can use my brother's old bike, he wrote. My dad has given me permission to send you my new bike money for the native missionary. Some people find unusual ways to raise extra native missionary support. One factory worker goes through all the trash cans at his workplace collecting aluminum beverage cans. Each month we get a check from him, usually enough to sponsor two or more missionaries. One pastor, whose Southwest congregation numbers more than 12,000, personally supports several native missionaries. Like other pastors, he has been overseas to learn about the work of native missionaries. In addition to his congregation's monthly support, he has had GFA staff make several presentations at the church. As a result, several hundred families also have taken on sponsorship. Through his influence, a number of other pastors have also started to include GFA in their regular mission budgets. A young woman whose missionary parents have served in India for 30 years said, I've always wondered why my parents didn't see people coming to Jesus in their work. Now I'm glad I can sponsor a native missionary who is fruitful. Support for the work of Gospel for Asia has come from other Christian organizations in the United States in some unique ways. For example, we were invited to participate in the Keith Green Memorial Concert Tour as the official representative of Two-Thirds World Missions. One of GFA's dearest friends has been David Maines of Mainstay Ministries in Wheaton, Illinois. Through my guest visits on his radio broadcast, sponsors have joined our family from all over the United States. David and his wife, Karen, have advised and helped us in a number of much-needed areas, including the publishing of this book. Although David and Karen never have said anything about sacrificial giving, I know they have helped us during periods when their own ministry was experiencing financial stress. But Scripture is true when it says, Give, and it shall be given unto you. Luke 6, verse 38 One of the unchanging laws of the kingdom is that we must always be giving away from ourselves, both in good times and bad. How many North American churches, Christian ministries, and individuals are experiencing financial difficulties because they have disobeyed these clear commands of God to share? I could list many others who have helped, but one more whom I must mention is Bob Walker, longtime publisher and editor. Sensitive to the Holy Spirit, Bob prayed about us and said he felt led of God to run articles and reports on the work. He also shared his mailing list with us, endorsing our ministry and urging his readers to support the Native missionary movement when many others took a wait-and-see attitude toward our new ministry. This kind of open-handed sharing helped launch Gospel for Asia in the beginning and keeps us growing now. In our weekly nights of prayer and in regular prayer meetings, we constantly remember to thank God for these kinds of favors and pray that more leaders will be touched with the need to share their resources with the two-thirds world. Perhaps the most exciting long-range development has been a slow but steady shift in the attitude of North American mission agencies and denominations toward Native mission movements. One after another, older missions and denominations have changed anti-Native policies and are beginning to support Native missionary movements as equal partners in the work of the Gospel. The old racism and colonial mindset are slowly but surely disappearing. This, I believe, could have a long-range impact. If North American denominations and older mission societies would use their massive networks of support to raise funding for Native missions, it would be possible for us and similar Native missionary ministries to support several hundred thousand more Native missionaries in the two-thirds world. Asks John Haggai, In a day when an estimated three-fourths of the third world's people live in countries that either discourage or flatly prohibit foreign missionary efforts, what other way is there to obey Jesus Christ's directive to evangelize all the world? For many thoughtful Christians, the answer is becoming more and more clear. In those closed countries, evangelization through trained national Christian leaders is the logical way. Some observers have gone so far as to say it may be the only way. The day of the Native missionary movement has come. The seeds have been planted. Ahead of us lies much cultivation and nurture. But it can happen if we will share our resources as the Apostle Paul outlined in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. There, he urges the wealthy Christians to collect money and to send support to the poor churches in order that equality may abound in the whole body of Christ. Those who have are obligated to share with those who have not, he argues, because of Christ's example. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you, through his poverty, might be rich. 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9. This is the New Testament cry I am repeating to the wealthy and affluent Christians of the West. Many are becoming more willing to follow the example of our Lord Jesus, who made himself poor for the salvation of others. How many are ready to live for eternity and follow his example into a more sacrificial lifestyle? How many will join in the spirit of suffering of the Native brethren? They are hungry, naked, and homeless for the sake of Christ. I do not ask North Americans to join them, sleeping along roadsides and going to prison for their witness. But I do ask believers to share in the most practical ways possible, through financial sharing and intercessory prayer. One couple caught the message and demonstrated real spiritual understanding. Recently they wrote, While we were reading your Sinned magazine, the Lord began to speak to us about going to India. As we pondered this and asked the Lord about it, he spoke again and said, You're not going physically, but you're going spiritually and financially. Well, praise the Lord, here is our first trip to India. Please use this money where you see the greatest need. May God's richest blessings be upon you and your ministry. Enclosed was a check for $1,000. It was signed, My prayer? For several hundred thousand more like Jim and Betty, with the spiritual sensitivity to hear what the Lord is really saying today to the North American church.