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.

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.

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.

The world we live in is not a fair place. Not everyone gets the nice home, the picket fence, the freedoms and health care and the equal opportunities.

And not everyone gets Jesus.

Sadly, not everyone gets Jesus. #missions #unreached
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It might have been politically incorrect to pass out candy to the first row while neglecting the entire congregation, but it was the perfect portrayal of the great imbalance of global missions.

So here’s what happened.

I had just flown around the world, from Thailand to America, and after over 30 hours, I finally arrived in Spokane, Washington. I was exhausted yet impassioned, on a mission to challenge and inspire the Western Church to remember the plight of the unreached world. It was my birthday, July 27, 2017, and after the worship session at Victory Faith Fellowship, I was given a sliver of time to compact 20 years of missions experience into 5 minutes.

I told a story of Bright Eyes, our Within Reach Global local missionary, ministering to 1,000+ orphans and underprivileged children among 74 villages. But I don’t think anyone remembered the story. It was hard to pay attention in such a strange and chaotic environment.

You see, before the Thursday night service began, I gave 2 ushers a stealthy mission. I handed them 3 bags of candy that I had purchased at the Dollar Store, explaining that they should only pass out the goodies to the first row. They should not, under any circumstances, share with anyone else in the congregation.

I stood on the stage and announced that I had a gift for “everyone” at church that night. I watched the smiles form on the 200 faces in attendance. “Ushers, can you please pass out the gifts?” I requested. I continued my story about Bright Eyes, about orphans and church planting and unreached people groups. Simultaneously, like clockwork, the ushers passed out the candy, but only to the first row.

I paused midway between my missionary narrative. “Has everyone received a gift yet?” I asked. Hands raised all over the auditorium—except for the first row! “Ushers, please, can you pass out the gifts I brought?” I requested again. And just as planned, the first row received even more candy while everyone else was overlooked.

Again, the service was interrupted as I asked if everyone had received a gift. Ecstatic hands waved, eyebrows scrunched, and confusion fell over dozens of faces. Again, the ushers loaded up the front row with more goodies while good-hearted people in all succeeding rows were explicitly ignored.

I only give the first row candy just like the #Church only gives the reached world #Jesus.
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I continued telling stories from Southeast Asia—about The Cliff outreach center and orphans and unreached villages. And 5 times, the candy was given to the first row of church folk while the rest of the congregation was forgotten.

The pastor grew frustrated. A murmur of hushed whispers and awkward giggles traveled around the church. Finally, I stopped mid-sentence.

“Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once?” I quoted Oswald J. Smith.

“This imbalance is outrageous and intolerable! Why is it that we have so overlooked millions and millions of people, willfully allowing them to live and die without Christ? Why do we keep selfishly stuffing ourselves, hoarding the Gospel message from those who have never heard it before?”

There was a hush across the room. The truth of the reality of the great imbalance of global missions was made known. The light clicked on. It was a visual interpretation of the plight of unreached people groups throughout the 10/40 Window.

Why do we keep stuffing ourselves, hoarding the Gospel from those who have never heard?
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I stepped off the stage and the service continued, and I prayed that my presentation did not fall on deaf ears.

But the question remains: Church, are we listening to the heart of God for all nations? Are we doing all we can to see Revelation 7:9 come to pass—every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne of God?

For 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 of Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?

Lord, send out more workers into the ripe harvest fields of the world!

The post I only give the first row candy just like the Church only gives the reached world Jesus appeared first on Within Reach Global.

The Kingdom of God is advancing around the world, permeating every alcove and cranny of the earth.
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We care about this, you and I—Christians who love Jesus and want to see the glory of God revealed in our world. Hence justice ministries and food pantries, foster care programs and outreach among 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? Because the media blasts inundate us at every turn with messages of racial tensions, war rumors, overt sexuality, and declining spirituality. 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 which 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, 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 that all men, women, and children be 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!”

“God, pour Your Spirit into this deep well! Your waters raise me to a broad horizon!”
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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 Jerusalem’s and Judea’s, from our Samaria’s 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 or Dallas or Boston is as meaningful to God as Kingdom ministry in Bangkok or Beijing, Copenhagen or Cairo.

Geographical coordinates are a trivial notion. God dwells outside restraints of time and space.
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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.

To love the things of God—to adore God Himself—is to care about the things He cares for.
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Queue and enter the unreached world.

I believe that it is high time we as global Christians realize 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, 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; as you rise to recognize a broader horizon, you come to understand the heart of God more thoroughly. Because to say that you love the Kingdom of God—even God Himself!—is to say that 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.

You can do this by sponsoring an outreach center or a local missionary through our Within Reach Global sponsorship program.

God wants to grow your horizon beyond that small blue orb of 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?

The post If you say you care about the kingdom of God then it’s natural to care about the unreached appeared first on Within Reach Global.

This has all been pioneer work, bringing the Message only to places where Jesus was not yet known.
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Enter the Within Reach Global local missionary team.

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This band of ragamuffin misfits and fiery church planters comprise of the most unassuming type: former AK-47-brandishing child soldiers, sons of voodoo witch doctors, foaming-at-the-mouth demoniacs whose demons have been exorcized, the poorest of the poor, and marginalized tribals.

But their stories did not conclude with hopelessness. Today these persecuting Saul’s-turned-Paul’s and impoverished untouchables cast the brilliant luminance of the Gospel of God’s grace and glory into regions that know nothing more than darkness. Their newfound passion: honoring God by reaching the unreached people groups of the 10/40 Window.

These persecuting Saul’s-turned-Paul’s cast the brilliant luminance of the Gospel.
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The following vignettes are modest glimpses of Within Reach Global outreach among peoples who have still never heard of Jesus.

Week after week, we strap on our hiking shoes and hit the precipitous mountain ranges where the unreached reside. Our indigenous missionaries serve among the Miao, Yi, Yao, Wa, Hui, to name only a few ethnic tribes. God’s love the motivating force behind our missional passion, we reach out to the poorest of the poor, the unreached, underprivileged, elderly, and orphaned. Many of these are the “left-behinds” abandoned by mother, father, son or daughter in search of the “Chinese dream” in urbanizing cities. Whole villages are unreached, clutched in the claws of an age-old dragon, forgotten and without a witness of the Gospel.

Of these regions, 19th-century missionary Robert Moffat said,

“In the vast plain to the north I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been—villages whose people are without Christ, without God, and without hope in the world.”

In other villages, among the Miao tribe, for example, there exists a shred of Gospel witness: old government-run churches where the presence of the Holy Spirit is no longer allowed to occupy. We visit these vast regions to kindle revival, spark true repentance, and cultivate spiritual growth.

The shoddy roads to these villages are a steep, slippery incline of mud and gravel. Come rainy days, these narrow paths become treacherous. Landslides are common and whole roads have disappeared into gaping valleys as the torrents rip tree root from rock. We have often dodged boulders and stones as they hurl from above to the roads we travel. Night travel—a necessary evil of arduous jaunts in China’s agrarian countryside—is a grave endeavor. With every step near sheer cliff, we pray God’s protection over our missionary team. That and courage. Missionary work of this sort is not for the weak of heart. But our missionaries are unwavering in purpose, thankful for God’s divine leading and the promise of protection.

We believe in faith in action, an expression of the holistic Christian Gospel. When we travel to these unreached regions to share the Gospel message we often bring rice, vegetable, spices, and basic necessities. Hearts open when we reach out in love by meeting physical human needs.

We believe in faith in action, an expression of the holistic Christian Gospel.
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This tribal grandmother takes care of her mute and deaf granddaughter. The child’s parents have abandoned her in search of a better life in the nearby county. Whenever we visit her we sense a spark of hope and joy arise in this elderly woman. It is natural for people to feel the love of God radiating from the body of Christ! We took this photo as we were leaving her dilapidated home. She didn’t want us to go and so she continued standing outside her house, begging us to stay longer. We promised to return and visit her.

It is natural for people to feel the love of God radiating from the body of Christ!
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This elderly woman lives alone in a ten square meter mud hut. Her poverty was evident, eating nothing but wild greens on a daily basis. Once while we were praying for and ministering to her, she suddenly fainted. We were alarmed, concluding that old age and her meager diet had weakened her body over time. We helped her to her bed, worshipping together around her bedside and reading passages of scripture. A single light bulb hung over us, casting faint light. But the light of the Gospel in the face of Jesus was radiant!

Upon further visits, we marveled that her strength slowly began to return. She now listens to God’s word and worship on an MP3 player that we gifted her. This small dose of generosity has been a lifeline to her. The last time we visited this granny she said “I am getting older and weaker. I’m not sure how much longer I have. I’m afraid that the next time you come back to visit me, I won’t be here anymore.” We pray for the seed of truth to bloom in her heart and pray that we will someday see her dancing on streets of gold.

Brother Liao is one of our new “Timothy’s”. His first encounter with the Gospel was when we shared about God’s glory during an Easter outreach. After a week of discipleship, he was baptized with the Holy Spirit! We strive to make disciples who live like Jesus. Our greatest desire is to see Him glorified through our lives despite the difficulties and challenges of being a Christian in this country. And so it is with our new Brother Liao. Every day we spend time together with him, praying, reading the Bible, sharing meals, and serving the Lord so that he might see the full life that we have in Jesus! We continue to hope and pray that he hears the call of God to minister alongside us in reaching the unreached.

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” 2 Timothy 2:2

One of the most life-giving outreaches at Within Reach Global is caring for orphans in the mountainous regions where we minister. Although most of them have lost their parents, they have found new hope after realizing that their Heavenly Father loves and cares for them.

Our prayer, one which we invite you to join us in praying, is that these children will grow in the love of God and bear lasting fruit. Please pray also that God will provide us with the finances and co-laborers to establish a “Father’s House” children’s home for these precious little ones.

There is not enough time to share all the incredible stories of God’s grace with you! We have been encouraged by the many testimonies of changed lives among these orphaned children. Many of them are growing in their spiritual lives and, even at a young age, are learning to preach the Gospel! These bold little prayer warriors are standing in the gap for people around them, finding deep joy in prayer, and crying out to God for the lost.

These bold little orphans are prayer warriors, crying out to God for the lost!
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In our China context, street preaching and overt outreach are highly illegal. Still, we often stand in the city square, singing worship songs and openly preaching the Gospel! When the Holy Spirit leads us into seemingly precarious situations, we have no choice but to gladly obey Him. We lay hands on perfect strangers and pray for their needs. Once while we were preaching openly on the streets, a police officer pushed his way to the front of the crowd. Initially, we presumed that we were in trouble and another long interrogation at the police station would soon follow. Instead, the police officer had come to hear the Gospel message! We prayed for him and for his family.

When the Holy Spirit leads us into precarious situations, we gladly obey Him.
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During yet another time of public street preaching, a middle-aged man came to the city square to hear the Gospel message that we were sharing. That day, he had been planning to commit suicide, but after hearing the message of Jesus he repented, burst into tears, and told us the depths of his difficult life journey. We ministered to him long into the evening. We are to be a light in the midst of darkness! Praise God for his grace!

We also regularly go to the hospitals to pray for the sick. This missional outreach has opened many doors for the Gospel to take root and countless lives have heard the Gospel for the very first time—many just in the nick of time as they lay on their death beds!

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

This is the advent of the Kingdom of God. God’s grace and glory know no boundaries.
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Our prayer is that you are encouraged and inspired to join us in reaching the unreached and taking the Gospel message to places that have never heard.

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.

And as Jesus is lifted up, men, women, and children are mysteriously drawn to Him only to find the source of true life.

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

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

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

Now, criss-crossing the mountain ranges, up we ascended, higher, 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, walk 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 along lofty elevations. The sporadic clucking of chickens and clanking of rice pots in these village settings startle birds overhead; a pig squeals, a water buffalo stirs beneath 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

 

“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

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

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 message before. We desire to see new disciples, churches planted, local leaders emerge, 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, 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 this little sister’s face in my big brother 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 on this: We, the body of Christ, carry around the all-surpassing power of the Kingdom in cracked and 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 the love of God?

These unreached regions—these places and peoples who have long been overlooked and under-prioritized—the time has come for them to find out about our Savior Jesus! If Revelation 7:9 is to come to pass—every nation and tribe and 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.

To hear more incredible stories of travels among the unreached, buy The Space Between Memories: Recollections from a 21st Century Missionary by David Joannes!

The post A short-term American team’s journey to unreached regions appeared first on Within Reach Global.

Our motto simply stated is this: Honor God. Reach the unreached.

So with that in mind, we encourage you to head on over to dayfortheunreached.org. There’s 2 reasons for this:

1. We want you to join the live Facebook event with David Platt and many others as they talk about the final frontier of missions: reaching the remaining unreached world.

2. For the rest of the year, make all 364 days matter for those who have never heard about Jesus. Make your newfound passion for the unreached a lifestyle.

Learn more about the 10/40 Window and the unreached world at Within Reach Global.

Join us in our deepest passion to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the uttermost parts of the earth and make sure that we see every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne of God in heaven. (Revelation 7:9)

Want to give financially toward reaching the unreached with us? You can donate here and join the Within reach Global Monthly Prayer and Financial Support Team here.

Let’s inspire the Christian world to link hearts and hands to make a difference in the world. People are waiting at the other end of our obedience.

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