Gospel Work Where Christ Is Not Known
In a day when you can jump on a plane and get to most places in the world in under 48 hours (under pre-COVID travel conditions), or simply log on to the internet and talk with people on the other side of the planet, it’s difficult to believe that there are approximately 3.2 billion people in the world who are still categorized as unreached. If you’re unfamiliar with that term, here’s what we mean by unreached:
Unreached peoples and places are those among whom Christ is largely unknown and the church is relatively insufficient to make Christ known in its broader population without outside help.
To think of several billion people in that category is not easy to swallow, particularly given their spiritual standing before God. Scripture teaches that, apart from hearing and responding to the gospel, all people stand guilty and condemned before God (Romans 1:18–32; 3:9–20; 10:14–17), destined to face his eternal wrath (Mark 9:47–48; Revelation 14:11). In light of this sobering reality, you might think that churches would be directing a significant amount of their money and workers toward getting the gospel to those who are unreached. But, sadly, you would be wrong. This begs the question of how can we support gospel work where they do not know Christ?
The Great Imbalance
Currently, the percentage of missionaries sent to unreached people groups is only about 3% ! The percentage of missions money directed toward reaching them is only about 1%! This is what we’ve referred to as “The Great Imbalance,” which you can hear more about in this recent conversation on the state of missions in the world. Even if unintentionally, we sometimes ignore the hardest to reach peoples and places in the world.
There are a number of reasons for this Great Imbalance, and some of the contributing factors are complex. However, one thing should be clear: it needs to change. One of the ways that we at Radical want to address this Great Imbalance is by locking arms with churches in order to support indigenous believers. We partner with churches that are making disciples and multiplying churches among the world’s hardest to reach people and places. This initiative is called Urgent, and we’d like to invite you to join with us in this great work.
Urgent United
Radical has identified and is aiding followers of Christ in twelve of the hardest to reach places in the world. And you can be a part of this mission.
Individuals and churches can partner with Radical by giving to Urgent. This help supports these faithful followers of Christ in their work. Another way to partner with us is by joining Urgent United—a group of individuals united in their purpose of regular, faithful giving toward this urgent mission—through a monthly recurring gift. By joining Urgent United, you can be a part of fueling biblical and effective efforts to make disciples among the 3.2 billion unreached people around the world. Due to various barriers with reaching the unreached, many will never have the opportunity to physically go to these places. However, that does not mean we must remain unengaged. Urgent United is your way to directly involve yourself in supporting the work on the front lines.
Jesus commanded his church to make disciples of “all nations” (Matthew 28:19), and that includes the people groups that are hardest to reach. Due to persecution, poverty, geographical isolation, or some other factor, help is hard to find. Believers who are seeking to make disciples in these hard-to-reach places often receive little or no assistance from other Christians. We would consider it a privilege to partner with you as we support their difficult yet crucial work to answer
Go to urgentneeds.org for more information. For questions regarding church partnerships, email us at [email protected].
Radical exists to equip Christians to be on mission.
