lessons from India

What if I were to tell you that in India there are over 400 million who have not even heard the gospel? What if I were to tell you that in the Middle East, there are over 175 million unreached unengaged people? Do those numbers surprise you?

They do me.

When one considers that there are more lost people in these parts of the earth than there are actual people in the United States it puts the world's darkness in perspective. This is why I believe it is absolutely essential for a church like ours that is serious about embracing the Great Commission cause to put energy and resources where they are most effective. One part of the answer is to support the missions efforts of the IMB- the largest missions sending organization in the world. The mission of the IMB is to plant churches around the world but especially in the places where the gospel has not yet reached. Another part of the solution is to support other para-church organizations that God is raising up to fill in the gaps that are not a part of the IMB strategy. Global Action, as an example, does not have the same priority of planting churches, but has developed a simple philosophy of connecting resources to national leaders who have ministry ideas but who don't have the means to accomplish them.

It is those kinds of missions objectives that Kyle and I were able to see up close and personal on our trip to India.

Like the ministry in Calcutta that cares for children in the slum near the convent founded by Mother Teresa. This ministry of Global Action not only cares for the physical need of the poorest of the poor in the slum, but they also give these children an education and teach them of the love of Christ. This is a ministry that is truly having an impact on the physical and spiritual needs in this dark and desperate place. You get the sense as you are observing this ministry that these are the places to which Jesus would be drawn.

Or like the evangelical church in which I was privileged to preach that is positioned right smack dab in the middle of the Calcutta slum surrounded by hordes of beggars, trash dumps, card board houses on sidewalks, and scattered Hindu temples and shrines. I was surprised when over 200 people filled the church, enthusiastically worshiped for over 2 hours, shared testimonies and sang with great joy and gave praise to God.

Or like the conference Kyle and I attended for young pastors in Ranji who are proclaiming the gospel in a part of India that has very little Christian presence. We sat with them all day in a small hotel in this city of about 500,000 as they listened intently, took notes and enthusiastically shared what Christ is doing in their churches. One gets the sense that even in the places around the world where there are very few Christians, God is at work. The Spirit is moving. And in those places where He is at work, we want to join with Him.

All of us have a mission. All of us who call upon the name of Christ are missionaries in our mission field. We are all given the responsibility of loving all people to Christ and helping them on their journey with God and others. But in addition to the mission field that we all live and work in every day, we also have an even greater responsibility to take the gospel where it has not yet been proclaimed. To take His commission seriously is to ask ourselves "where has this gospel not yet been proclaimed?" and "Who will proclaim it if we do not take the responsibility?" If we are to "make disciples of all the nations" we must take a decidedly proactive approach. There is no greater joy or greater objective that any of us could commit.

We are to have a local impact AND a global impact. That is the purpose we are all given and it is a purpose worth giving our lives to accomplish. This is just one of the lessons God has taught me in my trips to India and the Middle East.