The last word Jesus gave His followers was to go and make disciples of all nations. He did not suggest we share his teachings or tell us to share only with people who are not too different and not too set in their ways.
His love and teachings know no boundaries. He commanded us to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” But how are we doing with that goal? After all, we’ve had about 2,000 years. We’ve probably made good progress by now, having this sharing the gospel thing nailed down, right?
Unfortunately, no!
The truth is only 1 out of 1,800 Christians serve as cross-cultural missionaries. That’s roughly the same odds as a U.S. high school basketball player ending up on an NBA roster. It happens, but it is not common. There are only about 400,000 missionaries worldwide.
Almost 97% of all missionaries go to places where the people are primarily Christian, like the United States, England, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Certainly not all of the people in these countries are Jesus followers, but they have numerous opportunities to hear the Good News, attend a Christian church, or talk with a believer. These missionaries are doing amazing work, but there are still about 6,000 people groups that have no access to the Good News.
Forty percent of the world’s population have still never had a chance to know the person and story of Jesus.
Of the over two billion Christians on earth, only 12,000 Christians are living among people who don’t have any Bibles in their language and will probably never meet another Christian.
The task is unfinished but there is great hope. We know it is possible to complete. One day, there will be people from every tribe and tongue and nation in heaven.
That is why we are diligently working to raise up a generation to go to those 3 billion people with the story of Jesus. This generation is ready and the gospel is worth it. We can’t wait to for you to be a part of this work.
