Ambition into Action
Early into Jesus’ ministry he quickly became popular. Amazed at his teaching and miracles, large crowds flocked to him bringing their sick for healing. Then, Mark tells us, Jesus suddenly went missing. When the disciples eventually found him, praying in a solitary place, they enthusiastically told him, “Everyone is looking for you!” Surely this was his chance to go back and have a big impact. Jesus, however, had other ideas, “Let us go to the nearby villages so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” (1)
Reasons to be cheerful
This pioneering mission statement of Jesus soon became Paul’s declared ambition: ‘to proclaim the gospel where Christ was not known’ (2). It’s a yearning that has continued to resonate with God’s people through the centuries. Few events in church history are as stirring as the ambitious missionary movements of the 18th and 19th centuries. These began with the Moravians going to the West Indies, followed by William Carey to India, David Livingstone to Africa and Hudson Taylor to China . Thankfully the modern missionary movement is alive in our generation as the Holy Spirit continues to send out increasing numbers of unsung pioneers.
Today there are many reasons to be encouraged. More prayer for the nations has been mobilised in the past 30 years than ever before. As a result God is sending more workers to go to the unreached than ever before, and more Muslims have bowed the knee to Jesus in the past 25 years than in the whole of history. However, there’s still much to do. As a Frontiers community our ambition is to continue to go where Christ is still not worshipped.
The Top 100
A few years ago field workers in Frontiers prayerfully created a list of the top 100 Priority Peoples and Places where few, if any, are making disciples (3). The gospel will only go as far as people are willing to travel, so we’re mobilizing and praying for the Lord to lead new teams to take up residence in those places. However, it’s a huge challenge for young people with limited cross-cultural experience to move to remote areas in places like Somalia and Sumatra, Baghdad and Bukhara – where they don’t speak the language and where their presence doesn’t make sense to locals. They need to be prepared well.
Trained and Equipped
Jesus dedicated three years to preparing a group of unschooled disciples to ‘Go into all the world’. He invited them to be with him, to watch him heal the sick, drive out demons, raise the dead and teach with authority. When they were ready to take matters to the next level we read that he spent a short time with them in the classroom before sending them out to practise what they’d seen him doing (4). Only following this hands-on training and receiving the Holy Spirit were they ready to take on the task of reaching the ends of the earth.
Today, being an ambassador of Christ to the nations presents many unique and complex issues, challenges and questions to wrestle with. For instance:
How can I learn the heart language of the people when there are no language schools?
How do I share about Jesus in a way that makes sense to my hearers in their culture?
How do I raise an encouraging home team who will support me in prayer and finances?
How can I live in peace when my teammate is annoying me?
How can I stay physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy when I go?
Being with Christ, keeping in step with the Holy Spirit, and quality, focused training is vital as we prepare people for fruitful lives overseas. Importantly, it also gives them the best chance to stay and persevere for the long-term goal of seeing communities impacted for Jesus.
Please pray for us as we continue to prepare this next generation of workers to obey our master Jesus and make disciples among all nations.
Footnotes:
1. Mark 1:32-38
2. Romans 15:20
3. See our Priority 100 Prayer app on your phone app store
4. See Matthew 10:5-20, Luke 9:1-6 and Luke 10:1-11
