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.

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.

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.

We believe God wants to encounter each woman in the 10/40 window with His unconditional love.
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This blog will give insight into 7 ways to pray for the women of the 10/40 window. We pray that you won’t only read this blog, but afterward, get off social media and onto your knees and cry out to God for these precious souls. Ask Him how He may want you to be involved. 

Today, ask God how He may want you to be involved in reaching the women of the nations.
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7 Ways To Pray For The Women of the 10/40 Window

1. They will be Seen As Valuable

Most countries in the 10/40 window believe that women have less value than men and that it is a “curse” to be born a woman. In some countries that means her father will have to pay a nice dowry (money, property, jewels) to a man to marry her one day. In other countries, it means she must never be allowed to study, but must always tend to the fields, food, and children. In some countries that means she may be one of many wives and discarded of without cause or justice. Yet in other countries, it is “blessed” to be born a woman, because that means the family can always have a source of income—prostitution. 

Most countries in the 10/40 window believe that women have less value than men.
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I have seen and heard “unthinkable” stories of how women are treated here.

I have fed a woman in India who had no nose, no eyes and burn scars all the way down her body due to a “bride burning” (the husband was not satisfied with the dowry and burned her). Statistically, this happens to 1 woman every hour in India. 

I have seen widows on the dirty streets with their children because they now have nowhere to go and no one to take care of them. Their parents had already done their “duties” for these women, and why would the in-laws keep them around? 

A university student in China once told me that her grandparents would walk her next to the river, hoping that an “accident” may happen so that her parents could try to have a son (the one-child policy was in place when she was born). She said it was normal for “accidents” to happen to girls from her village. 

I have talked to women in prostitution (most were forced into it), who are just seen as pleasure objects to men. The men do whatever they want to them. Many of these women are also forced to have abortions.

Why treat women like this? Most societies in the 10/40 window are without the Gospel, and these cultures have never been taught the value of women. For example, I had a pastor come to me after a women’s ministry training one day, and he said, “I now realize that my wife is not just the mother of my children, but that she is also my wife. She can also help me do ministry so that I am not alone. God did not want men to be alone.” The truth had never been taught to him like that before!

It seems simple, but many places just need to be taught the basic truths about the value of life, and the purposes God has for women. Please pray that old, set-in-culture-mindset ideas and traditions that have been inhumane towards women will be stopped, and the truth that all life–women included–is valuable and should be treated that way. 

Pray that old, set-in-culture-mindset ideas that have been inhumane towards women will be stopped.
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2. They will be Rescued and Protected

Human trafficking is an immense evil in the world today. Due to sin, poverty, lack of education and awareness, greed, natural disasters, and lack of value in societies, millions of women from the 10/40 window are trafficked for sex around the world. They could be given away by their parents to a “fake” monk or “lying” businessman in hopes their child will have a good education and better life. Some parents may even sell their daughters in order to get enough money for the rest of the family to survive! Some women are tricked by fake boyfriends that cause them to fall in love with them. Some are kidnapped. Some take “fake” jobs. Some are orphans who age-out of the orphanage and have nobody to care for them. 

There are endless heart-breaking stories. Each story has a face behind it. Each face is a life. Each life is someone God created and loves. 

Please pray today for the millions of women trapped in human trafficking to be rescued. Also pray that communities will desire and make methods/laws in how to protect their women. 

Please pray today for the millions of women trapped in human trafficking to be rescued.
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3. They will have Resources to Provide for Their Children, That Keep Them Near Their Children

In many countries, families caught in poverty do not have much opportunity to live together year-round. The mother and father have to take jobs in cities or other communities in order to provide for their family. They are called “migrant workers”. The children are left with other relatives or close friends in the villages. It is extremely hard for the children to have a distant relationship with their parents. Oftentimes, their dads find other mistresses and soon only the mother is the one to care for them.

Please pray for the mothers to find jobs and good income near their children, and that these women will stay strong if they are left as the sole income-makers. 

4. They Will Have Healthy Childbirths

Many women in the 10/40 window live extremely remote, without access to health care. Therefore, if there are complications in childbirth, often both the mother and the baby will die. In some countries, the healthcare is so bad, that it would not help to be near a hospital anyways.  

Please pray for the women to have healthy pregnancies and deliveries. Also, pray that transportation and good healthcare will continue to increase in availability. 

5. They will be Loved by Their Husbands

Domestic abuse is ever-present in the 10/40 window. Husbands get drunk and beat, sometimes murdering their wives. Usually, there is no justice for her. I have even seen the splattered body of a dear Chinese woman after she was murdered. 

Many times screams penetrate the night-time air, floating into my window. 

Most women I have talked to in the 10/40 window EXPECT their husbands to cheat on them. 

Most men have never been given the teaching or example on how to love their wives. Most have never even been taught women have value too. 

Please pray that the men will learn how to love their wives. Please pray for the women to open up their hearts to forgiveness and healing in their marriages. 

6. They will have a Chance to Hear the Gospel

Most women in the 10/40 window have never had a chance to hear the Gospel. They have no idea that Jesus loves them unconditionally and wants a deep relationship with them. Therefore, they go through a life filled with shame and trials, all alone. As a church, most of us don’t see their lives as valuable enough to go share the Good News of Hope with them. If they’re wearing a hijab, many in the church are even afraid of them and turn the other direction. Yet, they are each created by God for eternal relationship with Him. He wants to redeem them and love them forever. 

God wants to redeem the women of the nations and love them forever.
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Please pray that the women of the nations will have a chance to hear the Gospel before they die. Maybe He will even use YOU to take the Hope to them!

7. They will Become Courageous Disciple-Makers

After hearing the Gospel and being discipled, please pray for the women of the 10/40 window to be brave in following Christ. Many of them are highly persecuted by their families, communities, and husbands. Some are even martyred for their faith.

Many Christian women in the 10/40 window are highly persecuted, and sometimes martyred.
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Women have the opportunity to teach their children about the love of Jesus and raise them to be godly examples, who will become the leaders of the communities one day. Please pray for wisdom and patience as they raise their children within societies that have not had the light of the Gospel. 

Please also pray for them to be courageous in sharing the Good News with those around them, and teaching them how to know Jesus. Pray that these daughters of God will be bright lights for His kingdom in these very dark places. 

Pray that these daughters of God will be bright lights for His kingdom in these very dark places.
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The post 7 Ways to Pray for the Women of the 10/40 Window appeared first on Within Reach Global.

There once was a fisherman who went out to sea. He loved catching all kinds of fish and tried to catch as many as he could each day. However, his Father had given him a dream to find a new species of fish that had never been discovered before. 

The man fished for weeks, months and years and caught boat-loads of different fish along the way. Each fish he caught brought him great joy and excitement! But he didn’t stop with those; he continued after the dream to find that NEW special species of fish.

People praised him for the many fish he would catch and even tried to encourage him saying, “You’ve done enough. Take a rest now.” They would say, “You’ve caught more fish than anyone we have ever known! You’ve made your Father proud.” But the man KNEW the dream His Father placed within him to find that undiscovered fish, so he didn’t give up. He would sail out to dark, scary, untraveled places of the sea, and at different times of the year and day, searching for that special fish. 

The man KNEW the dream of his Father to find that undiscovered fish.
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One day, he pulled up the net and inside sparkled a beautiful, colorful fish he had never seen before. He excitedly went and looked through fish classifications and found that it had never been discovered! He couldn’t contain his great excitement!

He carried the fish home to his Father, who joyfully declared: 

“This kind of fish has never entered the gates of our home before! Well done, my son!” 

All of those living in the house danced and rejoiced! They gave it a name and branded it with the Father’s identity. 

After the celebration, everyone expected the fisherman to retire or settle, since he had completed his Father’s dream. What they didn’t know was that his Father’s dream had now become his own. He responded:

“How can I settle now that I’ve experienced the deep satisfaction of finding and bringing a new species of fish to my Father and seen His joy? There may be more out there in that big, deep sea. I am not going to stop now. I won’t stop searching till the day I die.”

What people didn’t know what that his Father’s dream had now become his own.
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In the same way, our Father God has given us a dream to find unreached people groups and bring them into His kingdom. It may take weeks, months and years. We will have to go to untraveled, dark and dangerous places. People won’t understand why we don’t give up the search when we’re bringing so many people into the kingdom of God already. They may think we are doing “enough”. Each of those people we bring home to our Father IS exciting! But we desire to bring Him someone from a people group that has never entered the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven before. We can imagine the angels rejoicing, 

“THIS people group is new! No one sings in this language around the throne yet! Let’s mark him/her with the Father’s identity! Hallelujah!”

Even after we see a new people group become children of God, how can we stop and retire? The Father’s dream has become our own. There are still too many unreached people hiding in dark places, needing to be brought into the Light of our Father’s House.

We desire to bring a new people group through heaven’s gates to our Father.
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Unreached people are hiding in dark places, needing to brought into the Light of our Father’s house.
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How about you? Will you join us in seeing our Father’s dream become true to see every nation, tribe, and tongue found and brought through the gates of heaven?

The post The Parable of the Unreached People Group Fisherman appeared first on Within Reach Global.

Jesus’ plan all along is for us ALL to work together in sharing the Gospel to every nation, tribe and tongue. Satan is terrified that if we all get together 100% in our roles for missions, that we actually WILL fulfill the Great Commission. So he brings disconnect.

Satan is terrified that if we all get together…that we actually WILL fulfill the Great Commission.
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Since I am writing from the missionary perspective, here are 10 practical ways that family, friends, co-workers, and the church back at home can support and partner with us as we share the Gospel to the whole world.

1. Believe Supportively

All missionaries experience God’s love, then His call to spread the Gospel to the nations. It’s a call that grows up so strong within us, that we can’t think of anything else but getting out to the nations. The world is dying without Jesus, and every day we stay, the realization of souls dying without even having access to the Gospel breaks our hearts. We need the church to believe that the call and power of God within us is enough to stake money, time, and prayers on.  It’s risky for us to go, and it’s risky for you to support. On both sides, we battle doubts and lies from the enemy. We need you to believe that God can do impossible and amazing things through us, and that you get to be part of it. We need you to believe in the dreams the Holy Spirit spoke to our hearts, and encourage us in those dreams. 

You get to be part of the amazing and impossible things God does through us on the mission field.
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2. Pray Powerfully

Prayers put daggers in the heart of the enemy. We don’t need people at home to pray weak prayers for us like, “And God, remember ____. Bless him/her.” We are on the “front lines” in countries where the Gospel has either never been taken or is not well-known.

It’s like living in a dragon’s cave and pulling people out of his tail daily. It takes risk, courage, creativity, and love. Sometimes we get wounded, and sometimes we get paralyzed by fear. Sometimes we battle sleeping as we hear the dragon’s deep breaths as chants from mosques, temples, and nighttime screams. Sometimes we get tempted to let go of people as the dragon roars doubts, lies, and discouragement in our faces.  Sometimes the dragon pulls out temptations of our forsaken family, country, possessions, and old life ways and dangles them between our faces and those chained to his tail, causing a great distraction.

To be a missionary is like living in a dragon’s cave and daily pulling people out of his tail.
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We need powerful prayers from you! Not just short, last-thought on a prayer list prayers. We need to be prayed for as sons and daughters on the front-lines of battlefields are prayed for. I encourage you to adopt some missionaries to battle for in prayer—prayer for faith, encouragement, continued vision, strategy, health, wisdom, protection, and harvest reaping. Then we can celebrate in joy together during the harvest!

3. Contact Frequently

Once missionaries get onto that plane going to our new host countries, we leave all familiar relationships behind. Usually, for the first 6 months, churches and friends stay in contact. After those first months, “out of sight, out of mind” becomes reality. Your lives move on in the process of normal busy life. Even when we contact you or send out newsletters, we often never receive responses (no wonder so many of us stop doing it). A simple “Like” on FaceBook is not connection.

We rely on God for relationship in ways we only said we believed and sang about in our home countries, but we also get lonely. It’s a deep, aching loneliness. We long for contact with friends and churches back home. Then we visit our home countries to big applause and you all saying how much you think of us. Honestly, it’s hard to believe if we never hear from you while we are away. One simple email or quick Skype call a month can make a huge difference in a missionary’s life. Regularly connecting with us is one of the most important ways anyone can support us while we are on the mission field.  You don’t have to be some of our past besties to connect, but you will become some of our dearest friends now. You will also reap in the joy of the harvest due to your deep connection to us and the mission.

One simple email or quick Skype call a month can make a huge difference in a missionary’s life.
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4. Give Sacrificially

We realize that there is a disconnect between giving and missionaries. We don’t want to beg and plead for your money. We dislike it so much, that often we go without needed things just so that the $20 our testimonies get out of you can pay for transportation to an unreached village.

Here is a personal testimony:

I got 3 checks/cash donations the whole 7 weeks I was home over the summer. Later, I had to plead on the internet for money to fund leadership trainings and outreaches all over Nepal and Bangladesh, and even use some of my moving countries money to see those happen. If only you knew how far your money was going to reach the nations, you would joyfully give up the iPhone 9 or 10 or whatever number there is now to pay for the Gospel to be presented in an unreached area.

We wish you knew what you’re sowing into the nations. Even when we tell you, the enemy and flesh often cause a disconnect. Just as Jesus applauded the widow for giving everything she had, we are looking for those of you who lovingly sacrifice whatever you can give to fund the Gospel going to the world. We don’t want guilt money. We desire loving, sacrificial gifts that have a passion for God and the nations behind them.

Missionaries desire loving, sacrificial gifts that have passion for God and the nations behind them.
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I once read something that said how God is looking for martyrs to share the Gospel: Some in the going, and some in the giving. It takes both. We want a deep partnership with you, as “martyrs” for the sake of the Gospel, to see the whole world saved. 

5. Remind Consistently

Did you know that one of the best ways to support us on the mission field is to be an ambassador of sorts for us? We leave for months or years, and people forget about us. Our personal supporters soon jump to the newest missionary about to go to the mission field, the newsletters don’t get mailed out, and nobody knows they can visit us here. If we have a few people back home decide to support us by reminding people to give when rent-time comes, to pray when we go to a new village, to email and encourage us, and so on….it would be an enormous blessing to us. Maybe God is speaking to some of you now to support a missionary by being a go-between and reminder of the mission that the church sent out.

6. Visit Obediently

Sometime you may want to come and see the faces you pray for, how we live, and join in the mission overseas for a short time. It is a great joy and encouragement for us to have visitors from “home” (especially when you bring us home ‘goodies’ too!).  It helps you to see what you’re praying for and giving to, and it helps us to feel better understood. If you feel the Spirit nudge you to come visit us, please obediently do it. It also helps those we reach out to realize that we are NOT the only Christians in the world. Your visit will many times confirm the words we have been teaching. 

If you feel the Spirit nudge you to go visit your missionary, please do!
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7. Help Creatively

Did you know that you can help us plan and strategize for reaching the unreached people groups, from home? We may be the ones on the ground overseas, but through your involvement and prayer, God could give you amazing ideas and dreams into how to reach the people groups we are with daily. This isn’t only our mission. This is the churches’ mission. God wants to use you and your talents that He gave you to see the whole world saved. It could also be that you find some creative way to raise support for us and our people groups, leadership trainings, travels, and gifts to the communities we serve. We also desire to see you excitedly using your creativity to partner with us in reaching to the uttermost parts of the earth. What a fun, helpful, important way to support missionaries!

We love seeing you excitedly using your creativity to partner with us in reaching to the uttermost.
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Reaching the unreached isn’t JUST the missionary’s mission. It’s the churches’ mission.
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8. Listen Compassionately

Missionaries are not superhumans. We see things no one should ever have to see—bloodied dead bodies, kids die from AIDs, violent and unjust abuse of women, and unspeakable things. We experience trauma—natural disasters such as earthquakes, police interrogations, constant loss of dear friends, us or our children being extremely ill with strange diseases, and so on. Yet, we are expected to always have it together and be the strong ones for everyone else. If we start spilling out all of our pains to those of you back at home, we are often preached to or told we should just stay home for a while. We also don’t want to scare you away from going to the mission field. So most of the time, we just don’t speak of our traumas and the ugly side of mission work. We know and believe deeply that God is with us. We have seen Him do Acts-like miracles and felt His tangible presence. Yet, we are still human and feel the effects of what we see and experience. However, experiencing those injustices is also part of what puts that fire and desperation in us to keep going. We see the paths of killing, stealing, and destroying the dragon is leaving amongst the nations, and even though we get injured, we can’t give up. We are warriors for the kingdom.

One of the best ways to support us is to simply listen with compassion about how we are really doing. Not judging. Not trying to relate—most of you can’t, and that’s ok with us. Not being worried something is desperately wrong if we burst into tears, but glad to be a compassionate ear. We are always giving out; it’s nice to have someone simply care and listen to us for us for a few minutes. 

9. Celebrate Enthusiastically

Imagine leaving all you know and love to go to a new culture, then spending months sounding stupid while learning the language, all to introduce Jesus to people who have never heard of Him. Then, breakthrough! Someone gets saved! You are so excited that you can’t sleep for days, and joyfully tell people back at home…to one little “amen”.

We know that all of heaven is rejoicing when a new language and tongue calls upon the Name of Jesus. What a joyful sound!  If we are really partnering together in the Gospel efforts as we say we are, then there should be an enthusiastic celebration from home too. We want you to see the fruit of your sending, prayers, finances, and rejoice at what God is doing.

Missionaries want you to see the fruit of your sending, and REJOICE at what God is doing.
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10. Join Courageously

After years of support and prayer for us on the mission field, God may call you to join the harvest fields amongst the nations. Maybe you came and visited us and saw the faces of the millions of unreached. Those faces haunt you while you drive to work, and you just know that you’re supposed to make that courageous move overseas to join us. One of our greatest prayers and desires is that as people witness our brokenness over the lost and faith in God, that one day they also will answer the call to be sent to the ripe harvest fields. The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. Who wants to join us?

The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. Who wants to courageously join us in reaping?
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The post 10 Practical and Powerful Ways to Support Missionaries appeared first on Within Reach Global.

With new year’s resolutions swirling around everyone’s mind, I’d like to encourage you to set eternity on the forefront of your decision-making. Placing yourself within the panorama of God’s epic redemptive salvation plan will cause you not only to make a lot of decisions but make the proper decisions. 

What really matters? Are your desires at the epicenter of your resolutions or do God’s desires take precedence? Are you living each moment for the Kingdom of God and His glory? These are questions we should all be asking at the commencement of a new year.

Beginning with the end in mind (Revelation 7:9) will help you make the right decisions today. Our God is a missionary God. He is passionate about all nations (people groups, tribes, ethne). And although conversation about the unreached world in the 10/40 Window is rarely on the tip of our tongues, these ten resolutions to consider might help propel you deeper into the heart of God.

With tons of resolutions in mind, here’s 10 New Year Resolutions for #Missions
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This article was originally written by Chuck Lawless and appeared on the International Mission Board website. See the source article including all original links here.

1. In my quiet time, I will watch for evidence of God’s heart for the nations.

If you look for it, you’ll find it throughout the Scriptures. Highlight texts whenever you see them. The God who called out Abraham to be a blessing to the nations (Gen. 12:1–3) is the God who deserves the worship of all the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations (Rev. 7:9–10).

2. I will pray for missionaries by name at least one day per week.

Maybe you already know a number of missionaries. If not, ask your pastor to help you connect with some for whom you can pray. Come regularly to withinreachglobal.org and like Within Reach Global on Facebook to learn about missionary stories, and then pray with intentionality. Sign up for the newsletter to receive specific updates straight from the heart of the unreached world.

3. I will learn about, and pray weekly, for unreached peoples.

Go to joshuaproject.net, and do some research. Prayerfully choose a people, and pray that the gospel gets to them. Consider this truth: you may be one of the few persons in the world praying for this group. (At Within Reach Global, we are targeting a number of unreached people groups. Please contact us if you would like to pray for our target tribes.)

4. I will learn about internationals in my community.

Missions begins at home, especially when God is bringing the nations to us. Talk to your pastor or local government officials to get demographic information about your community. Talk to the international student office at a local university. Find out who is around you. Get to know them. Share the gospel with them. Pray for them.

5. I will intentionally get to know my international coworkers and neighbors.

The nations may be right around you, but perhaps you haven’t slowed down enough to get to know them. Reach out to them. Invite them to your home. You may be surprised how open they are to spending time with you and talking about spiritual backgrounds.

6. I will plan to take a mission trip this year.

Most of us can go somewhere, even if it’s in the United States. Plan to set aside the dollars and time to be a witness among the nations. If you know you can’t go this year, plan to give financial support so someone else can go. Sacrifice so many might hear the good news. (Learn about short-term opportunities at Within Reach Global here.) 

7. I will listen to and read the news through a Great Commission lens.

As you learn what’s happening in the world, think about what might be happening spiritually in countries in the news. Pray for believers and missionaries there. Then, pray for the people there who don’t know Jesus. We are bombarded by a constant stream of media. Don’t be exasperated by the news—let it drive you to your knees. 

8. I will visit ethnic restaurants in my area to get to know internationals.

It’s great to go eat, but ask to meet the owners. Talk to your servers to learn about their background. Ask about their faith. Go there regularly, and get to know people in your community who may need Jesus. I think you’ll find many people willing to talk.

9. I will pray that my church pastors have a great passion for the Great Commission.

I’ve never seen a strong mission-minded church without a strong Great Commission pastor and staff. Churches seldom develop a passion that is not exhibited in the pulpit every Sunday. Pray for your pastor, and then follow his lead to the nations.

10. I will honestly consider and answer the question, “Is God calling me to be a full-time missionary?”

Every believer must ask and answer this question. Be open to God’s calling, and listen well through his Word, his Spirit, and his people. And while you’re praying this way, pray for your children and grandchildren to do the same.

I realize I’ve suggested a lot here. Don’t worry about accomplishing all of these goals, but at least start somewhere. Even one resolution toward missions is great if you’ve never had such a resolution in the past. Do something—and have a blessed and obedient 2018!

This article was originally written by Chuck Lawless and appeared on the International Mission Board website. See the source article including all original links here.

The post 10 New Year Resolutions for Missions appeared first on Within Reach Global.