On July 9, 2021, dozens of armed police officers burst into the meeting room where our Within Reach Global missionaries conducted an underground leadership training.

Over 20 believers gathered to learn strategies for reaching their communities with the gospel and ushering God’s kingdom into the earthly setting. In a hostile environment, where China’s anti-Christian government seeks to halt the spread of the gospel, only those truly committed to Christ and his commands would attend a meeting like this.

The police confiscated everyone’s computers, tablets, and phones. Within Reach Global’s indigenous Chinese missionaries scrambled to delete incriminating information as the officers made their way to them.

Brother Lee and his pregnant wife, Liu Zhenmei, and their two young boys, ages 4 and 8, were apprehended by the police. The stressful situation caused Liu Zhenmei, who is in her second month of pregnancy, to vomit incessantly. The police took her to a nearby hotel room, where they guarded her and the children. They separated her husband, Brother Lee, and four other disciples. They took them to the police station for questioning and interrogation.

We sent out an urgent prayer request, and the global body of Christ began beseeching God for the Chinese Christians’ safety.

Twenty-four hours passed, and Brother Lee was released. Police officers escorted him to his wife and children, but the reunion was short-lived. The authorities merely wanted him to retrieve his wife’s phone and additional incriminating information. Brother Lee whispered to his wife to delete the contents from her devices. He was taken back to the police station for two more days, where the police questioned him relentlessly about his Christian activities and outreach.

Meanwhile, we had not heard an update about the whereabouts of the four other jailed Chinese Christians.

After years of ministry to unreached peoples and communities, our indigenous missionaries are committed to Christ’s mission to make disciples of all nations. They believe wholeheartedly in Jesus’ inevitable triumph at the end of the age. They know his kingdom will have the final victory. Jail time and persecution cannot halt their passion for extending the good news of the kingdom.

Chapter one of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs begins: “The history of the church may almost be said to be a history of the trials and sufferings of its members, as experienced at the hands of wicked men.” However, Foxe’s tone quickly changes from tragic to triumphant. He portrays Jesus’ followers as men and women endowed with a Spirit-initiated passion for proclaiming Jesus Christ as King:

“The history of his resurrection gave a new direction to all their hearts, and, after the mission of the Holy Spirit, imparted new confidence to their minds. The powers with which they were endued emboldened them to proclaim his name, to the confusion of the Jewish rulers and the astonishment of Gentile proselytes.”

Our missionaries share experiences similar to historically persecuted Christians, and their faith strengthened because of adversity.

The day after Brother Lee, Liu Zhenmei, and their two boys were released from police custody, they traveled 4 hours from the city to a village they had been reaching. For months, they had been preparing to host a three-day youth camp for an unreached ethnic tribe.

The recent opposition would not deter them from taking the gospel to places it had never been before!

Many hearts opened to God’s grace and glory and experienced healing and freedom from past hurts. 58 young people attended the underground camp where they learned about the gospel, Jesus’ teachings, and principles of Christian living. Brother Lee and Liu Zhenmei taught them how to love their family and friends and grow in their relationships with one another and God. They challenged the young people to share the love they had received by expressing their love to their parents verbally and directly. It was a subversive message in a culture where kids grew up never hearing their parents say the words “I love you.”

On the fourth day, after the training camp ended, they invited the children’s parents to join them for a night of evangelism. 200 people attended the meeting, which lasted from 10:pm to midnight, ensuring safety from probing police. The indigenous missionary couple did not need another hindrance to their evangelistic outreach!

The kids wrote notes and letters to their parents, expressing their love and thankfulness to them. It was an incredibly touching moment. The gospel was preached, and tears of gratitude fell from everyone’s eyes. Entire families witnessed God’s love for the very first time.

The following day, Brother Lee and his wife and kids drove to a different village where they had planted a church for another evangelistic night beginning at 11:pm. Over 100 people showed up, and many heard the gospel and received Jesus as Lord!

Belief in Jesus breaks you free from worldly ambitions, alters your outlook, changes your aspirations, and sets you apart from the world in a way they find difficult to comprehend. The privilege of knowing your identity in Christ and the destiny to which he calls you form deep-seated faith in the face of difficulty. Even with the looming threat of doom and disaster, his kingship makes you a conqueror, and his victory ensures your triumph.

Undeterred by difficulty and danger, our compassion-filled, Spirit-led indigenous missionaries recognize this truth and make it their ambition to extend God’s kingdom to people and places where the name of Jesus is unknown. Despite persecution and physical limitations, they are committed to the cause of Christ.

I pray their example of radical devotion inspires you to join God on mission to the world, too.

Want to give to Within Reach Global missionaries? Visit our Donate Page or use the form below.

Photo by tommao wang on Unsplash

The post Jailed Chinese Missionaries Preach Boldly After Their Interrogation appeared first on Within Reach Global.

Last week, the Within Reach Global Thai Outreach Team traveled down to the Thailand and Myanmar border. The purpose of the trip was to work alongside our ministry partners along the border and encourage their ministry efforts. We wanted to help initiate a gospel-centric outreach that met the tangible needs of hurting people, too. The team encountered numerous people who have been seriously impacted by Myanmar’s ongoing war. The images they saw and the things they experienced were heartbreaking. They visited a children’s home of 25 kids (soon to have 25 more) from Buddhist or animist families. The children are between the ages of 10 and 15 years old. These children were given the opportunity to have a safe space away from the tragedies of war. They are receiving a menial education as they reside together, far from their families. Many of them have lost loved ones along the way.

The kids our team encountered were scared, shy, and overwhelmed because familial ties were broken and their entire world turned upside-down. All hope seems lost through the eyes of these little ones. Military attacks continue relentlessly, and everything is uncertain.

Imagine your kids in this situation. It would tear you apart. This should cause Christ-tethered compassion to rise up in your heart and mine.

Driven by compassion, we supplied the children with the blankets, mosquito nets, and mattresses you provided. Your generosity was felt. For the first time in months, the kids have a blanket to stay warm during lonely nights and hope to know that someone cares.

But that’s not all you helped provide. We also brought Bibles in the Karen language so that they can learn God’s word. This is how you’re impacting people on the other side of the world. Thank you so much for your generosity!

Most of these kids had never heard the gospel before our team arrived.

The Bibles we provided empowered the leader of the home to share stories from God’s word and introduce these precious kids to the love of God.

But the list of needs goes on for miles. Thousands of people still need shelter, food, and clean drinking water.

While we desire to meet all of these physical needs, more than ever we want to address their spiritual deficit. We want these people to meet the Savior of the world: Jesus!

Your prayers and generosity in providing for underprivileged and forgotten people do not go unrecognized. We encourage you to pray that God continues to raise many Christians from around the world who will help these lost and hurting unreached peoples.

The post Blessing Tribes In The Conflict Zone appeared first on Within Reach Global.

But before we jump into a new year, we want to pause and remember what God did in and through us in 2019.

Isaiah 26:12 describes what really took place in 2019: “All that we have accomplished, You have done for us.”

These words ring true in our hearts. God somehow chooses to use our feeble efforts and inabilities to reveal His glory in and through us. We are simply jars of clay that house all-surpassing power.

With that thought in mind, here are some of the highlights of what God did through the ministry of Within Reach Global in 2019.

Our local missionaries and foreign staff shared the Gospel to 1,700 people from 120 villages. 19 unreached people groups were impacted by this witness. We saw 105 recorded healings—a powerful testimony of God at work to reach the unreached!

To start a giving plan or to continue your donations in 2020, please visit our Donate page here.

Download the PDF of the Within Reach Global Year in Review here or click the image below.

The Rock Outreach Center

• Visited The Rock outreach center
• Experienced severe persecution
• 1 church multiplied to 4 churches
• 450 people from 20 villages heard the Gospel

New HQ: Chiang Mai, Thailand office

• First office since the founding of WRG in 2008
• The office serves 7 outreach centers in Southeast Asia
• New staff and interns joining
• Center for hosting short-term trips and teams

Missions Pulse Podcast

• Tagline: Know God’s heart. Join His mission.
• Viewers/listeners inspired to join WRG
• Thousands of YouTube watch-time hours and engagement
• Subscribe on YouTube
• Visit the website

Gospel-Loaded MP3 Players

• Voice of the Martyrs partnership
• Gave away 2,400 Gospel-loaded mp3 players
• Healings and salvation happened through mp3 content

Chinese Student Outreach

• Regular outreach to university students
• Reaching unreached people groups in the urban setting
• Relational discipleship changes lives

WRG Missionary Convention

• Theme: Colossians 1:27: “Christ in You The Hope of Glory”
• Gathered in Thailand for security purposes
• Time of refreshing, strategy, and renewed vision
• Focused on disciple multiplication movements (DMM)

2020 Focus

• Continued focus on the vision of reaching unreached people groups
• Growth of staff and interns
• Upcoming short-term mission trips

We are so thankful for your faithful prayers and financial support! You are a rope-holder, lowering us down into the goldmine of souls in Southeast Asia.

Without your generosity, there would be little impact. In fact, your generosity creates redemption and transformation.

Thank you for continuing to link hearts and hands to reach the Gospel-deprived people groups of the 10/40 Window!

To start a giving plan or to continue your donations in 2020, please visit our Donate page today.

To donate by check, make your check payable to “Within Reach Global” and send to:

Within Reach Global
P. O. Box 1591
Prescott, AZ 86302

We are so grateful for your monthly giving. May God bless you back richly this new year!

The post 2019 Year In Review appeared first on Within Reach Global.

However, have you ever considered coming to this exotic country to share the Gospel with unreached peoples? Have you ever wondered if maybe God is calling you to move to Thailand?

Here are 7 reasons why you should purchase a plane ticket and make the adventurous move to the amazing Southeast Asian country of Thailand.

1. THAILAND IS BEAUTIFUL

The first thing everyone notices upon arriving in Thailand is the country’s incredible beauty. Flowers pour over parks, islands, gardens, trees, and can be spotted growing and blooming year-round. Waterfalls cascade down luscious mountains, crashing over ginormous rocks in the forests and jungles, and rush along the rivers into cool ponds. Elaborate, architectural temples stand on nearly every street. Night markets are filled with lights, handicrafts, and vibrant colors. Thailand is a beautiful country! There are elephant tours to take through the jungle, mountains to hike, rivers to raft, sunsets to watch, and islands to discover. If you love exploring God’s beautiful creation, listen for Thailand calling your name!

7 Reasons to Come to Thailand on Missions: 1. Thailand is beautiful! If you love exploring God’s creation, listen for Thailand calling your name!
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2. THE THAI PEOPLE ARE KIND

Thai people are some of the kindest and most hospitable people in the world. Being rude, loud, and visibly angry is a no-no in this culture. They greet people with a smile and a bow with their palms pressed together called the “wai.” They open doors for people and are quick to offer a helping hand. Honor and respect are deeply rooted in their culture, and they openly give honor where it is due—sometimes even when it is not deserved. The Thai language is soft and gentle and makes anyone who learns it sound the same! If you enjoy cross-cultural interactions with people, the Thai welcome you with arms wide open and broad smiles!

7 Reasons to Come to Thailand on Missions: 2. The Thai people are kind, welcoming you with open arms and broad smiles.
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3. THAI FOOD IS DELICIOUS

Whether it be a plate of mango sticky rice, spicy Thai curry, fried noodles, or fried chicken with Thai herbs, your tastebuds will rejoice when landing in Thailand! There is a perfect combination of spicy, sour, sweet, and salty in nearly every dish. The products they use are generally fresh and organic, not processed like those typically found in Western countries. Cities offer plentiful vegan and gluten-free restaurants as well as incredible international cuisine. If you love to eat pizza, you’ll find an Italian or American pizzeria just around the corner! Ocean and island resorts offer freshly cooked seafood at good prices. Fruit is literally falling off the trees everywhere in Thailand and there are some fruits only found in Thailand! The options for dining are vast and tasty in the country. There is no need to have the food phobia that some foreign countries (like China) can give to its international visitors. In fact, you may find that Thai food is better than anything you have ever eaten!

7 Reasons to Come to Thailand on Missions: 3. People often find that their tastebuds rejoice when landing in Thailand.
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4. THAILAND IS ONLY 0.75% REACHED

According to the eSTAR Foundation, the percentage of Christians in Thailand is only 0.75%. Just check out this article from Christianity Today. 0.75%  is a tragic number, meaning most Thai people spend their entire lives and their eternities separated from God. 95% of Thailand is Buddhist and filled with an abundance of temples, idols, and spirit houses. Monks walk the streets in the mornings collecting alms from people trying to earn merit. Most Thai have never had a chance to hear the Gospel or to choose Jesus. Maybe God is calling you to Thailand for such a time is this to sow Gospel seeds into the hearts of these lovely people. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are so few. There are grandmas, orphans, students, businessmen, monks, and people from all walks of life here who are looking for a friend to show them what real Hope is. Maybe YOU are that friend.

7 Reasons to Come to Thailand on Missions: 4. Most Thai have never had the chance to hear the Gospel or to choose Jesus.
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Thai people are looking for a friend to show them real Hope. Maybe YOU are that friend.
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5. THAI PEOPLE NEED RESCUE AND HOPE

Thailand is a hub for human trafficking, has an abundance of orphans, is filled with AIDS-ridden, homeless drug addicts, refugees, and a terribly high suicide rate. If you feel called to social justice causes and Christian missions, Thailand is the place to come! There are villages in need of good medical treatment, orphans needing arms and hearts to love them, women needing rescue from human trafficking, and homeless people needing someone to show them they have value and purpose. Universities are also filled with students who are under immense pressure—so much pressure, in fact, that the stress often leads to suicide. They need someone to show them hope and help them find their purpose in life. There are millions of disadvantaged people needing someone to teach them a trade and hire them for work. Refugees flood into Thailand, displaced and needing a new beginning. Maybe God is calling you to Thailand to help heal the sick, care for the dying, bind up the brokenhearted, see captives set free, bring hope to the hopeless, love the unloveable, and meet practical needs. In the midst of doing this, He will work miracles, the Gospel will be taught, and many people will enter His eternal kingdom. Are you willing to be His vessel of rescue and hope?

7 Reasons to Come to Thailand on Missions: 4. Thai people need rescue and hope. Are you willing to be God’s vessel of rescue and hope to those living at-risk?
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6. THAI CHRISTIANS NEED BIBLICAL TRAINING

Maybe you are reading this blog thinking, “I am not really an evangelist. I am more of a Bible teacher.” Well, that’s perfect! The nearly 1% of Christians in Thailand desperately need good Bible training and discipleship. They need people to come and live amongst them and train them in Biblical literacy, prayer, the work of the Holy Spirit, and methods and techniques in leadership, evangelism, and discipleship. A major dilemma in Thailand is that the Bible is translated using the Thai Royal Language, which is harder for a Thai to read than for English speakers to read the King James Version. They need trustworthy and solid Bible teachers to train them, give them resources,  and encourage them to be spiritual leaders in Thailand. It is a lot easier for a Thai to reach other Thai than for a Westerner to reach Thai. Maybe God is calling YOU here to help raise up Christian Thais to reach their own nation for Christ.

7 Reasons to Come to Thailand on Missions: 4. Thai Christians need Biblical training. Maybe God is calling you to Thailand to train up Thais to reach their own nation for Christ.
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7. THAILAND IS AN EASY ACCESS POINT TO OTHER NATIONS

Thailand is strategically located right in the middle of South Asia and is within a 4-hour flight to China, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Burma. All of these countries are also filled with Gospel-deprived people. Thailand is a place of religious freedom offering an excellent base for many missions organizations and ministries that not only can reach out to Thailand but also the surrounding nations. Another wonderful fact about Thailand is that it is often a tourist destination for people from these nations to come, which gives the opportunity to reach them without even having to leave the country. Maybe you feel God has called you to China or to Burma, but you cannot live there right now. Come to Thailand and reach the Burmese refugees or Chinese exchange students, and then fly in and out of those countries on short but strategic mission trips. The options of reaching the 10/40 Window and unreached peoples in and around Thailand are limitless. All you have to do is obey God’s call and buy the plane ticket.

After reading these 7 reasons why you should move to Thailand for missions, you may be wondering how to get involved. Within Reach Global has many opportunities for you to get connected. You can take part in our mission trip opportunities or move here as a staff member. We pray that after reading this blog, God will speak to your heart about getting involved missionally in this amazing country!

The post 7 Reasons to Come to Thailand On Missions appeared first on Within Reach Global.

In October, we will celebrate ten years of God’s faithfulness through the ministry of Within Reach Global.

We have shared the Gospel with thousands of unreached peoples, seen hundreds of salvations and baptisms, discipled new believers, planted over 25 churches, and established eight outreach centers.

All this, God accomplished through weak and unassuming vessels—the founders and missionaries serving in foreign fields.

But when we look out at the ripe fields encompassing the homes of unreached and unengaged people groups, our hearts burn for more to come to salvation.

Why has the global Church so overlooked nearly three billion people, unwilling to share God’s grace and glory with those on the fringes of our evangelistic efforts?

The answers are, of course, nebulous. But we confidently contest that the unfinished task is merely a matter of priorities.

Did you know…

• Christians gave $677 billion (96.8% of total Christian giving) to pastoral ministries (mostly in Christian nations);

• $20.3 billion (2.9%) went to “home missions” in the same Christian nations;

• $2.1 billion (.3%) went to the unevangelized non-Christian world (this is different than “unreached”);

• An estimated $450 million was designated toward unreached peoples.

What do these statistics mean in real time? The $450 million given to missions among unreached peoples—only 1% of total Christian giving—went to ministry among unreached people groups. That is only .001% of the $42 trillion income of Christians. Better stated:

For every $100,000 that Christians make, they give $1 to the unreached.

(To see more statistics regarding the missions and the unreached, Check out The Traveling Team here.)

These staggering numbers are overwhelming. Our heart in sharing this reality with you is to inform you that the Church’s misplaced priorities are evident in these statistics. If we genuinely desire to see the return of Christ, we will turn our eyes toward the ripe harvest fields of the earth, publicize the name of Jesus, and play our part in finishing the Great Commission task.

What does that mean for us at Within Reach Global?

We need more harvest hands! We need more missions giving directed toward those waiting for a witness of the Gospel. We need prayer warriors to stand in the gap and implore the Spirit of God to open eyes to the Gospel.

Jacob and Betsy Smith, along with their four children just arrived in Thailand after many years of ministry in South Africa. They served at Impact Africa, helping grow the amazing ministry taking place on the African Continent. Less than a year ago, they felt the Holy Spirit rekindling their zeal for the unreached world. These long-time American friends have now joined us as our new operations directors.

We believe that God’s timing is perfect, and expect to see many new breakthroughs and open doors as we dream together.

Jacob will be helping us create a better structure to host the move of God in and through the ministry of Within Reach Global. We believe we must get better before we get bigger. This new structure will enhance short-term teams, empower long-term missionaries, and open new doors to serve among the unreached people groups we are targeting at Within Reach Global.

Please pray that God will continue to bless our relationship with unity and vision. At the end of the day, we desire to honor God and reach unreached people groups. We want to see many more names written in the Lamb’s book of life! Join us in prayer and giving on this matter.

The post Within Reach Global Has a New Operations Director appeared first on Within Reach Global.

We want to be dream-makers and vision-instigators!

Within goal in mind, we host bi-annual missionary conventions for our local missionaries. We gather everyone together from all our outreach centers, worship together, pray for one another, speak into their lives, and launch them into the ministries God has called them to. 

Our recent missionary convention was a powerful time of learning and growing together. We reviewed our vision and mission:

Vision: Our vision is to honor God by reaching unreached people groups in the 10/40 Window with the Christian gospel.

Mission: We accomplish our vision by trailblazing to places where there is no presence of the gospel, discipling, training and partnering with local believers, establishing outreach centers, planting churches, and releasing church plants to reach their own people groups.

We heard testimonies of God’s greatness and spent time in His presence. We taught about the Father heart of God, of our identity as sons and daughters, the armor of God, renewing your mind (based on the book, Switch On Your Brain), and Holy Spirit refilling and refreshing. Everyone had a wonderful time and felt refreshed for the next season of ministry.

Our local missionaries are our heroes. We believe that God will use indigenous missionaries and ministers to bring revival in Southeast Asia. Please pray with us.

To support one of our outreach centers, click here. 

To support one of our local missionaries, click here. 

The post Vision at Our Local Missionary Convention appeared first on Within Reach Global.

As we entered the Kemu village, Lorna saw an old woman sitting by the corner of a stilted house. An elderly man welcomed our visiting American team to join them in his home. We sat on short stools, fanning ourselves because of the humid heat; our hosts offered us bananas and mangoes.

Our local missionaries introduced us to the host family. For a number of years, they have been traveling to kemp villages, sharing the Gospel message with everyone in the village. This unreached tribe heard the story of Jesus for the very first time through the testimonies of our local missionaries. They spend time teaching them the word of God, eating meals with them, working the fields with them, and regularly pray for the sick. Their missionary examples opened the eyes of the locals; they now believe that Jesus’ name has a the power to heal.

As we sat on the outdoor porch of the stilted home, Lorna’s attention fell upon a middle-aged Kemu woman sitting in the corner. She would not join the conversation and did not join us even when our hosts called her to his side. Lorna wondered why. She decided to pull up a short stool and sit beside the woman. She found out that the woman was the host’s older sister. She was only there to visit that day—a perfectly providential moment in time!

Lorna began sharing the Gospel message with her. But she was unresponsive. For nearly two hours, Lorna continued chatting with the woman about everything under the sun. Through the simple conversation, Lorna found out the reason she didn’t want to get up: she could not walk well! Just a few minutes on her feet brought unbearable pain in her knees. She had remained in this physical state for well over a year. She was unable to work in the fields. She could do nothing but sit or lie down. The boredom and pain on her face was evident.

During the drawn out conversation, Lorna learned that was an animist. She feared the spirit world, ever seeking to appease the gods through gifts, incantations, and sacrifices. But of all the gods she knew, she had never heard of Jesus before. Lorna proceeded to tell her the difference between her god and Jesus Christ, challenging her to seek the Truth. Lorna paused and asked the woman if she could pray that Jesus would heal her. She resisted. She explained that she was poor and had no money to pay our team for the prayers.

We came to understand that a number of cults frequented the village, collecting money from those who needed prayer for healing. After much convincing, telling her that our prayers were free and that the name of Jesus truly heals, the woman allowed us to lay hands on her and ask God for healing. Our local missionaries and visiting short-term team gathered round her and joined in prayer.

Immediately after our prayer, the Kemu woman stood to her feet! Lorna asked her to walk from one side of the porch to the other. She did! She gazed back at Lorna, smiled, then let out a joyous laugh. She said “I have no pain!” It was that simple! Jesus showed Himself as the Healer and Savior of the Kemu woman. She told Lorna: “now I believe that Jesus is a true God!”

When signs and wonders come, eyes are opened and hearts are softened! We must be willing vessels, obedient to every opportunity that God presents to us! The harvest is ripe. Will we willfully obey the commands of Christ and be light and salt to those around us?

The post The Free Gift of Healing for a Kemu Tribal Woman appeared first on Within Reach Global.

After years of missional labor, the hearts of a few locals opened to spiritual things; but without any form of Christian background, the Truth of the Gospel remained challenging to comprehend.

The Lahu people are animistic. Fearful of the spirit world, they worship animate objects, seeking to appease the wrath of the “hungry ghosts” who torment their families.

Because of their fear of the spirit world, they gravitate toward every kind of “god” out there, hoping that one might protect them. This causes difficulty for our local missionaries. When explaining Gospel truth, they readily “accept Jesus,” but merely as one more of their many gods. The cultural hurdles the must be overcome are superfluous and extreme.

In July, we traveled to 26 Tribes with a visiting American team. We joined Within Reach Global local missionaries on a day trip to the Lahu village.

A remarkable breakthrough occurred! Eyes opened. Hearts warmed to Jesus. Salvation arrived.

A young woman in her mid-thirties told us that her daughter had never stood or walked since birth. Doctors could not find a solution. She did not have the money to pursue other medical avenues. This pressure caused her husband to leave her after months of physically beating her. She was at her wit’s end. Seated on small, wooden stools, we gathered around her as the smoke of the fire pit billowed around the room, creating an inky atmosphere that perfectly portrayed her mental, emotional, and spiritual state. She began to cry. We hugged her and told her of a Father’s love—an unconditional affection she had never noticed before.

Suddenly, it seemed as if the shackles on her heart cracked in two and fell to the bamboo floor in her stilted home.

Her eyes closed and heart wide open, she asked Jesus to save her, to be the Lord of her life!

Her friend also gave her life to the Lord. The advent of salvation permeated the Lahu home, replacing sadness with joy, hurt with healing, powerlessness with potential. After reiterating the Gospel in detail, we baptized her and her friend, singing and praising God for the incredible breakthrough among an unreached people group.

As we write, our local missionaries continue to follow up on her, disciple her, and walk with her in her newfound Christian faith.

The Gospel is only good news if it gets there in time, they say.

God arranged a providential sequence of events that led to the salvation of a family in the forgotten hills of Southwest China, and we rejoice that her name was penned in the Lamb’s book of life.

To support the ongoing ministry efforts of our local missionaries at 26 Tribes outreach center, please give here. Pray that the Holy Spirit continues to soften hearts and open doors.

The post Salvation in an Unreached Lahu Village After Six Years of Outreach appeared first on Within Reach Global.

It’s a day that stirs our souls with passion for God’s glory and for those who have never heard of Him before.

Sunday, May 20 is recognized as the International Day for the Unreached. 

We want to invite you to join the 90-minute LIVE broadcast that will begin at 5:00PM PST / 8:00PM EST

To watch LIVE, click here.

Believe it or not, 5 billion people on earth have no relationship with Jesus, including 2 billion who have never heard the gospel.

Check out the incredible facts about the unreached on Within Reach Global’s 10/40 Window page here.

Today is the International Day for the Unreached! Watch LIVE and join us in prayer here!
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They’ve never heard. Not once. And they have no access to the good news.

Of the nearly 12,000 people groups on earth, 7,000 are less than 2% evangelical (i.e., unreached people groups). Even more troubling is the fact that approximately 3,200 of these groups (i.e., unengaged-unreached people groups) have no believers working among them with a church planting strategy. Learn more here.

This reality burns in our hearts at Within Reach Global. We exist to honor God and reach the unreached. Do you care about those who have never heard of Jesus before? You might want to read this riveting article.

The above statistics are common knowledge in some evangelical circles and among the missionary community. However, it troubles us that so many Christians have little understanding about the reality of brokenness among unreached people groups.

Sunday, may 20, 2018, marks the International Day for the Unreached.

What difference will it make on Monday?

This is a question you and I need to answer. If we say we care about the things of God, it follows that we share His emotion and passion for those without a hope of hearing His good news. 

The Apostle Paul wrote,

“I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” (Rom 15:20-21, ESV).

Go with us to the unreached and unengaged. Learn more about Within Reach Global’s outreach centers and local missionaries.

Let’s join together to publicize the name of Jesus in regions largely left out of our evangelical priorities. 

The post International Day for the Unreached appeared first on Within Reach Global.

Most people believe that the dead continue living in the “afterlife” and need relatives to send things to them to make their afterlife better. People go to immense effort to keep the graves clean, “send” fruit, money, tea, and other beneficial things to the afterlife, seek the ancestors for wisdom, and do whatever they can to make sure that they please and take care of them in the afterlife.

Families believe that if they do not honor them, the ancestors will cause misfortune in their lives. However, if they fulfill their duties to the ancestors, blessings will follow the family. Almost everywhere in Asia, we can see people daily bowing down in front of shrines for the ancestors and burning incense for them, worshipping and honoring them. 

One of the things that we have heard many times from Chinese students is that they do not want to believe in Jesus because that would not be honoring to their family and ancestors. 

The truth is, they are right! People really DO continue to live after life on earth—either in heaven or in hell forever. The awful reality that many choose not to accept but also breaks the hearts of those who believe, is that all of their ancestors are in hell and that there is NOTHING they can do for them on earth to change their eternal existence now. 

The truth is, Asian people get it right! People really DO continue to live after life on earth.
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One of my Chinese friends excitedly accepted Jesus as her Savior, but a few days later came to my house with a question: “What about my deceased family members?” I winced, and painfully answered: “I think you know the truth about them.” She agreed with many tears, saying it wasn’t fair that they did not get to hear the Gospel. But a new desperation to tell all of her village about Jesus Christ began to grow in her. 

I was recently contemplating the whole cultural belief system, and the realization hit me of what the ancestors would say if they really DID come back to their families to give wisdom. 

The ancestors would most likely join our team as missionaries! They would plead with their families to believe in the name of Jesus Christ. They would want them to know the Truth of abundant and eternal life. 

The ancestors would plead with their families to believe in the Name of Jesus.
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Jesus gives the account in Luke 16:19-31 of a man who passed away and went to Hades, and miserably pleaded for some cool water to touch his tongue and that someone from the dead could go back and warn his family to repent. 

If ancestors could talk they would praise those of our friends who have believed in Jesus and often face persecution from their families, and would plead with their families to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. 

“Jesus said unto them, ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.'” John 14:6 

Our hope at Within Reach Global is that the Gospel will get to people before they become “ancestors.” There are still multitudes who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. This truth breaks our hearts and brings us to our knees, praying to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest field.

Will you be one to answer the call with a, “Yes”?

Our hope is that the Gospel will get to people before they become “ancestors”.
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