I find the work(research, analysis) of Justin Long, of ‘The Network for Strategic Missions, quite remarkable on this subject. You would think the situation is quite well defined, all the mission agencies should just work on mobilizing more and more people to these un-worked fields. Hmmm? I thought so too.

While looking for material to read on missionary work recently, I came across an old post by David Sherbrooke on The Network for Strategic Missions blog, I think I find in it many key insights to what is happening with regards to our actual progress with taking the Gospel to the remaining Unreached People Groups of the world. The article titled ‘How new missionaries choose their country of service: do we need a change?‘ examines reasons why far less than 10%(actually 2% is quoted) of serving missionaries go to places that are regarded to be unreached, while at least 90% serve and continue to be sent to places where the church is already established.

David Sherbrooke thinks that overt self-consciousness on the part of  prospective missionaries(which he terms “The Zeal for Me”) is a major problem, in his words:

Trying to seek our own self fulfillment, a spin-off of modern psychology, is contrary to the most basic concept Jesus taught His disciples. “He knew that the only path to true fulfillment lay in denying self. The only way to find truly abundant life is to throw your life away for Jesus’ sake.” The vast majority of new missionaries today simply go where they want to serve, and do what they want to do adding to the masses, today still ninety percent, serving in already reached peoples. “The biggest hindrance to the missionary task is self. Self that refuses to die. Self that refuses to sacrifice. Self that refuses to give. Self that refuses to go.” I would add to this: self that refuses to go where few if any missionaries are serving.

Then he went on to give cogent reasons why ‘Most New Missionaries End Up Serving In Well Evangelized Countries Rather than Unreached People Groups?’… And wow that was really enlightening, if I could summarise it here I would have, though it’s a long read but it’s very well worth your time to read the original article.

This beautiful article contains many balanced pointers to positive approaches and the way forward. I also went through the thread of discussion that followed as readers, including serving missionaries and Justin Long himself, shed more light on the existing situation and shared more ideas. One commenter which I find particularly remarkable was Thomas Johnson, a missionary in francophone Africa who brought in another perspective by a related issue to the discussion. I guess another great part of this article, is the wealth of references cited in the endnotes.

Here is the link again. Enjoy! How new missionaries choose their country of service: do we need a change?

The bottom line is that, if the great commission is going to be accomplished, we all need to leave our comfort zones and doing our own thing, and begin to go and cater for those dangerous, indesirable places where the gospel is needed and lacked most. Probably enough analysis to start with has been done, the problem and the solution stare us in the face, but where now are the people who will go!

I’m suffocating in my own space
Trapped in it’s sheer vastness;
I’ve framed with many dreams, walls of a kind,
But they are far too porous with so many doors,
Behind which are just more questions.
So I’m groping to steady myself in the darkness,
And all I am catching is thin air.

I could live-on on the brink of true experience
Imprisoned by my slumber and afraid to snap out
Of this nightmare of spiritual death.
Or I could just ask The One who claims
That He can turn on The Light.

© 2010, Poem by Tee Akindele

No one can accuse or condemn me
For He is all: My judge, witness and attorney
I’ve trusted all my life to Him
Give to me everything
Without Him I’m yet nothing.
I’m absolutely all for Him.

In the most terrible thunder groan
I hear His friendly undertone
And confidence buoys within me
In the fiercest stormy wave
I only know His soothing motherly rock
What greater assurance could you give me?

He is the greatest being
Yet chose me to dwell in
If I must boast, I’ll boast of Him
So I’m greater than the world
For He’s as much my Friend as He’s The Lord
What a victory! What a victory!

Here it’s dark and raining
But soon I’ll be where He is unfailing
I won’t stop here… not now… not ever
There I’ll be as He is
And enjoy eternal bliss
O yes, keep me faithful… faithful forever.

© 2002, Tee Akindele

37% responded in the affirmative that Internet churches are Biblical. The majority of supporters in this group felt they were to complete the Great Commission by any means… and that… if two or more are together in His name, then Jesus is there. 32% were “unsure” about this new way to worship. Those that had heard about it felt, as long as sound doctrine was being preached, Internet churches were Biblical. Many expressed that these new “churches” were not to be a substitute for the physical church unless the worshiper is unable to attend a physical church. Others believed that true fellowship requires physical contact. As one believer stated, “We need to be in fellowship with other believers. These relationships are established at our local churches.”

The remaining 31% answered a firm “No.” They believed the assembling of Christians was to be taken literally and if personal physical contact is removed how can believers develop the proper relationships needed to fulfill the Great Commission. “John 1:14 says ‘the Word became flesh’, and Hebrews says not to forsake assembling together. Physical contact is important,” was one poller’s response. Others wondered how believers could take communion, be baptized or pray and support one another if strictly through the Internet. “You cannot build a proper relationship with someone you don’t know and there is also no accountability,” another commented.

I have come across some online churches, take for instance, Internet Christian Church by Pastor Rick Domaschk, which warmly welcomes new members with the following : Whether you belong to a church or not, we would like to invite you to JOIN OUR WORLD-WIDE ONLINE CONGREGATION and register as a new member today. Many of the tools you need to enhance your spirtual growth in Christ Jesus are available to you right from the church website. The site features links for a web-page translator, video sermons, musical videos and a TV channel for kids.

Another website I visited which is clearly pro Internet Churches is internet-churches.com, This one welcomed visitors with the following message: Internet Church is slightly different than the modern day brick and mortar churches. In these churches, only the Pastor and the Preacher/Teacher can go up to the microphone, which is safely set up on stage… With the advent of the Internet church, now every pew-sitting born-again can access the world via the Internet right in their home. Discovering that there is quite a difference of opinion of the meaning of scriptures among these pew-sitting born-again Christians who have their computers hooked up to the Internet. We can post things about the Bible from our homes, ask questions, give opinions and interact with other Christians all over the world 24/7/365 and not just on Sundays and Wednesdays… Overall, we believe that the LORD God of Israel is DELIGHTED with the Internet Church and with the electronic Bibles. Click here and give it a try.

The site apparently had some serious campaigning on this new concept. Catchy phrases and article subjects like: Preach Jesus! Not Church; Dismantling The Religious Machine; Escape From Churchianity; Lost in Church? etc. were prominent in the website.

La Familia is a mafia group, that lays claims to being followers of Jesus. Their notoriety as one of Mexico’s most violent gangs began in 2006, but according to time.com (http://bit.ly/4oM5D8, June 19, 2009), the effort to forge their own religious sect is more recent and is probably the most ludicrous news I have come across in a long time.

As described in the Christian Science Monitor(http://bit.ly/773Oy0)… They hand out Bibles to the poor in the rural foothills of the state of Michoacán. They forbid drug use, build schools and drainage systems, and declare themselves the protectors of women and children… What began as a self-declared vigilante group doing “the work of God,” now is seen as the nation’s most violent criminal group.

India: Sex Trafficking and HIV Statistics

I extracted the following statistics from an article in the August issue of Lausanne World Pulse, by Jasmine May, a Christian woman working with her husband in Asia to establish an aftercare home for girls rescued from sex trafficking.

• There are between 2.5 million [Ministry for Women and Child Development, Government of India] and 15 million [Human Rights Watch] prostituted people in India.
• 50% of women in Mumbai’s brothels are believed to be HIV positive [World Health Organization 2001].
• 200 women and girls enter the sex trade in India every day, 160 of whom do so under coercion [United Nations Centre for Development and Population Activities].
• In a recent study in Mumbai, 90% of adult women currently being prostituted said they had begun sex work prior to age 18. This suggests that most were either born into brothels or sold into sex slavery [Justice & Care, 2009].
• With customers demanding younger girls, the average age of girls in the brothels continues to go down—currently it is at 14, with girls as young as eight being trafficked for sex.

More World HIV/AIDS Stats

• People with HIV/AIDS, 2009: 38 million
• People dying in AIDS-related cases, every minute: 4
• Newly-infected with AIDS, every minute: 5
• Children under 15, infected with AIDS: 2.3 million
• Children under 15, newly-infected, daily: 1,000
• Children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS: 15 million (mostly in sub-Saharan Africa)
• A child loses a parent to AIDS: every 15 seconds
• Children orphaned by AIDS globally, 2010: 25 million

Source: http://bit.ly/8iTzV5