Field Stories

State Of The World And Finishing The Task: 33% Christians, 38% Access, 29% Unreached

withinreachglobal@gmail.com (David Joannes) — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 05:29:19 GMT

Missionaries generally want to share the breakthroughs and powerful testimonies with you. To be clear, amazing things are happening in the world, including pockets of revival.

But I feel led to share some of the dark realities of global missions with you. Eugene Bach shared something similar in his recent, incredibly moving podcast from Back To Jerusalem, Episode 162: A Crisis In The Church—What You Are Not Being Told. As you listen, I’m sure you will be blown away with the hard reality of unreached and unengaged people groups.

This may not be the news you were hoping to hear, but truth bombs propel us to compassion. We are falling short in reaching the remaining unreached people groups. Let’s spell it out a little bit more.

First, watch this video: State of the World: The Task Remaining. This post is adapted from globalfrontiermissions.org

World’s population: 7 billion
33% are Christian (World C)
38% have access but have chosen not to follow Jesus (World B)
29% have never heard of Jesus and have no access to the Gospel (World A). They have no Bibles, no churches, and no believers nearby.

What?! It’s the 21st century, and they still haven’t heard the Gospel message? Yes. Keep learning…

Only 1 out of every 1,800 Christians decide to serve as a cross-cultural missionary. Total cross-cultural missionary task force: 400,000.

72% of these missionaries are from World C—those who already claim a Christian heritage
25% are sent to World B—where there is already access to the Gospel.
3% are sent to World A—to the unreached world, 29% of the world’s population!

These numbers do not match. Or, at the very least, they reveal our lack of concern and priority for those who have never heard of Jesus before.

Something has to change. We need a new catalyst, a new paradigm, a radical compassion to spark in our hearts for the unreached world

After watching this video and listening to this podcast, let me share a helpful first step for changing these realities. I encourage you to find what God is doing and join Him there. Remember those who have no voice and have never heard the Gospel. Start with Within Reach Global. Read through recent blogs and see that God is at work among the least reached. Then join us and make a difference together.

Don’t let the “out of sight, out of mind” syndrome take over. God sees these precious ones and loves them immensely. Will you allow your heart to be broken by the things that break God's heart and bring the Gospel message to those who have never heard it before?

If you say you care about the kingdom of God then it's natural to care about the unreached

withinreachglobal@gmail.com (David Joannes) — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 05:25:57 GMT

The Kingdom of God is advancing around the world, permeating every alcove and cranny of the earth. The Spirit of God is coursing over precipitous mountains in Southeast Asia, refreshing communities embanked along Africa’s rushing rivers, and awakening longing spirits in North America’s urban neighborhoods.

We care about this mission, you and I, Christians who love Jesus and want to see the glory of God revealed in our world. Hence, justice ministries, food pantries, foster care programs, and outreach to the homeless. Discipleship communities and worship nights, outreach to the poor and 24-hour houses of prayer, local ministry and global missions—all these are expressions of the body of Christ seeking to establish the Kingdom of God in our world.

Still, admittedly, sometimes it doesn’t seem that the Kingdom of God is taking root in certain parts of the earth.

Why? The media blasts inundate us at every turn with messages about racial tensions, war rumors, overt sexuality, and declining spirituality, making it seem at times that the Kingdom of God is not taking root in certain parts of the earth. So, where’s the Kingdom of God again?

We are emotionally overloaded with absorbing and sorting information, which leads to spiritual numbness. We are like the proverbial “frog in the bottom of a well," 井底之蛙 (jǐng dǐ zhī wā), a Chinese idiom that describes a narrow perspective or myopic view of the horizon.

Admit it: sometimes our entire perspective looks like a small baby blue orb of sky over the lip of the deep, narrow well.

What we really want is to see God’s Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it always is in heaven. In our zip codes, cities, states, countries, and even to the ends of the earth, our hearts beat to see the name of Christ lifted up so that all men, women, and children are drawn to God’s grace and glory.

If that is really going to happen, here’s what we need to start praying: “God, pour Your Spirit into this deep well! Let the waters of Your grace and glory raise me to a broad horizon!”

And as that happens, you and I (the proverbial frogs at the bottom of a well) float upward, and the tiny blue circle expands. A new horizon appears. We see clearly now. The landscape is wide and the world brilliant. The will of God becomes clear, and the peoples in the far-off distance grow important to us.

From our Jerusalems and Judaeas, from our Samarias and even to the ends of the earth—the advent of the Kingdom of God is our greatest aspiration.

The Kingdom of God knows no boundaries. Geographical coordinates are a trivial notion to a God who dwells outside the restraints of time and space. Christian outreach in Seattle, Dallas, or Boston is as meaningful to God as Kingdom ministry in Bangkok, Beijing, Copenhagen, or Cairo.

To love the things of God—to adore God Himself—is to care about the things He cares for, namely, people. People everywhere, not just at home. Souls on the brink of eternity at every geographical juncture of our planet.

Queue and enter the unreached world.

I believe that it is time we, as global Christians, realized that we have long overlooked millions of people. We have not given them a chance to hear the Gospel. We go on mission trips to Western nations, to South, Central, and Latin America, and to much of Africa, where the Gospel has gone many times over. But we completely forget that the task is not yet finished.

Millions are waiting at the other end of our obedience. They are called unreached people groups, and they live in the 10/40 Window. They have little to no access to the Christian Gospel.

That’s got to change.

This is my prayer: as God pours His Spirit into your well and as you rise to recognize a broader horizon, you come to understand the heart of God more thoroughly. Because saying that you love the Kingdom of God—even God Himself!—means you love what He cares about.

Here’s the simple message: God cares about unreached people groups—individuals beyond the sphere of our present evangelistic outreaches. And here’s the simple response: join Within Reach Global in bringing the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth.

God wants to broaden your horizons beyond that small blue orb in the sky. He wants you to see what He sees, to feel what He feels. His heart beats for people who have never heard of Him before.

Does yours?

A short-term American team's journey to unreached regions

withinreachglobal@gmail.com (David Joannes) — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 05:20:02 GMT

Every Within Reach Global excursion to China’s rural countryside is a unique glimpse of the unreached world, a panoramic reminder that the Great Commission task is not yet finished. The global Church is busy with multiple ministries and missional outreach—most of which are wonderful examples of God's heart. But sadly, in our busyness, we have not prioritized the unreached world in the 10/40 Window.

Bags packed, vehicles loaded with 20 Americans from The Rock of Roseville church, we began our journey from the megacity toward the bucolic landscapes of Southwest China.

Outside the window, the milieu shifted: expansive rice fields, precipitous mountains, and then cavernous valleys bejeweled with the occasional packed-mud home and ramshackle residence. These hills are home to numerous unreached people groups.

One week prior, the view our short-term team witnessed was altogether different: long stretches of smooth Western highway, vehicles magically driving in their proper lanes, and here and there a Walmart, a Starbucks, an In-N-Out Burger.

Now, crisscrossing the mountain ranges, we ascended higher and higher into the plains and plateaus that the global Church, in large part, has long overlooked and even forgotten.

One of our three vehicles cannot make the uphill journey. We alight, walking the rest of the way, lightening the load for the gutless wonder of a van.

"The Bible talks about going out into the world and preaching the Gospel. That doesn’t always mean comfort. In fact, the Gospel often spreads quicker amidst discomfort and where there is hardship. That’s the culture that Christianity blossomed in." — Brandon

The unreached are unreached for a reason. They dwell on silent mountaintops where trickling streams, tucked between craggy ranges, flow at lofty elevations. The sporadic clucking of chickens and clanking of rice pots in these village settings startle birds overhead; a pig squeals, and a water buffalo stirs beneath a stilted hut.

It’s remarkable how the advent of the Kingdom of God is much less subtle than we might have expected—quiet at first, a fiery flicker, like kindling, a spark that will soon become a blazing flame among those who have never heard of Jesus before.

“Do you know who Jesus is?” I ask. A blank stare is the only response, often followed by, “Jesus? Is that some kind of soap?”

They do not know. The Gospel, still a fantasy in these parts, is shrouded in secrecy—an unthinkable travesty. And how can they find out about the heart of God unless we go? That is why we’re here today.

"But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” — Romans 10:14-15

All day, we lounge (uncomfortably) on six-inch stools, breaking sunflower seeds with our molars, chatting, and listening to the village chatter. We help the locals by slaughtering a goat and some chickens and slicing and deboning fish. We sense the Spirit of God hovering over these mountains. The advent of God’s Kingdom is nigh. A scaly dragon, long the keeper of these hills, shifts restlessly, knowing his time is short. For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

"The reality of unreached people groups is such an injustice. The Church should be sending people to these villages. We should be going. We should care more. My heart really opened up and realized that it is a huge deal that people still don’t know who Jesus is.” — Morgan

In our going, hearts slowly awaken to the reality of God’s grace and glory. The going is slow—reluctant, we think, perhaps even sedated according to our monochromatic manner of time. But where seed is sown, a harvest is sure to come; the harvest is in the seed.

"Unreached peoples are no different than Americans; they’re just normal people. This realization demystifies missions. We find that they are not an obscure, nameless, faceless conglomeration of individuals. But it is heartbreaking that the Gospel may never reach them.” — Faith

At Within Reach Global, we long to see salvation spring up among those who have never heard the Gospel. We desire to see new disciples, churches planted, local leaders emerge, and revival fire fall. This happens as we lay down our own frivolous and myopic desires, die to self, and take the Kingdom news to regions still waiting at the other end of our obedience.

Smoke billows from the fire pit, cloaking the decrepit living space in soot and darkness. But suddenly a light breaks forth as we stretch out our hands, praying for the locals and empowering the two lone indigenous missionaries to thousands across these sprawling mountain ranges. Tears of joy fall, Christian love arising in a most unassuming spot.

A twelve-year-old girl starts crying. Little did we imagine the impact our seemingly menial presence had upon her little heart. One by one, the girls from the Rock of Roseville team hug her. I cup my little sister's face in my big brother's hands. “No matter where you go, no matter what you do,” I begin, “Jesus loves you with all His heart! You are God's princess! You are precious! You are valuable."

Instances like these are not as mysterious as they might seem. To demystify global missions, think this: We, the body of Christ, carry the all-surpassing power of the Kingdom in cracked, leaky jars of clay. And thank God for the fractures in our weak selves! How else might the glorious power of God flow out to those who are waiting to understand his love?

These unreached regions—these places and peoples who have long been overlooked and underprioritized—the time has come for them to learn about our Savior, Jesus! If Revelation 7:9 is to come to pass—every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne of God—do we not have a part to play in partnering with God to make this a reality?

John Piper is fond of saying, “Go, send, or disobey.” I, too, find no other alternative to the command of Jesus.

So choose your response today. Countless lives hinge upon your decision to join God’s epic redemptive plan in the nations.