What I Learned From Working with the Unreached

When I began training to serve among an unreached people group, I read so much about cross-cultural service I genuinely thought I was prepared for the challenge. But when I finally arrived on the field, it quickly became clear how little I understood. 

The people felt so different from me that I wondered if I would ever be able to truly connect with them. I will never forget those early days of thinking: “How am I going to do this? What am I doing here?” I had no idea where—or how—to begin.  

I understand more now, but I also know there will always be challenges to serving among the unreached. And along with those challenges, I’ve learned there are also wonderful blessings for those God helps persevere.

THE CHALLENGES ARE REAL 

As I began to serve among a hard-to-reach group, learning to understand them was not easy. Their culture, their ways of  communicating, the hidden cues behind their behavior, and the unspoken rules everyone seems to know except the outsider were all unfamiliar to me.

It became even harder whenever I assumed I knew enough and stopped truly listening. Or  every time I let judgment take the lead and started seeing people as projects instead of simply loving them.  

There were also the common difficulties of being far from family and close friends, the extra effort it takes to work with a cross-cultural team, and the uncertainty of outcomes. I also faced the indifference of the people I was trying to reach, and my own desire to see immediate fruit after every little effort.  

And what about fear? More than once, fear was my first reaction to the unknown. Walking through a small town that did not feel entirely safe. Driving up a remote mountain in the middle of the night. Been threatened at gunpoint for the first time. Facing these fears was hard.

In all of these challenges I found a common thread: they were often rooted in my own selfishness. Each one revealed something about my heart. Before I could face the  obstacles around me, the Lord had to do a deeper work within me.

THE BLESSINGS ARE REAL TOO

Over time, what once felt like setbacks became stepping stones, shaping me in ways I did not expect and opening my eyes to beauty I had not seen before. And in every step of obedience, God provided far more than I needed—again and  again.  

What I once saw as obstacles eventually turned into reasons for gratitude. Looking back on three years among the unreached, here’s part of a prayer I wrote prayer as a reflection of all my heart has come to see—and give thanks for:

• Thank you for the mercy that has met me fresh every morning.  
• Thank you for teaching me to wait on you, rather than respond out of fear or impulse.  
• Thank you for slowing me down to notice differences, for teaching me to value them, and for revealing more of yourself through them.
• Thank you for showing me that there is strength in unity, and that it makes us more like you.  
• Thank you for pushing me out of my comfort zone just to show me how clearly you speak into every fear, and how tightly you hold me along the way.
• Thank you for showing me just how mistaken my own understanding can be.  
• Thank you for reminding me that I do not belong to myself, and that all of me is really all about you.  
• Thank you that your love knows no boundaries and is foreign to no place.  
• Thank you for strangers who became friends, friends who became brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters who became a team—and a team that  became family. Thank you for your global church.  
• Thank you for the months and years, for sustaining me when I wanted to give up, and for the truth that wherever you are will always be home.  

THE GREATEST BLESSING IS CHRIST HIMSELF

Among all the challenges I faced, the greatest obstacle was my own selfish heart. And of all the encouragements I experienced, the greatest was Jesus’ own example of emptying himself for us (Philippians 2:4-8).

The greatest reward? More of Jesus himself. As John Piper says: “If you live gladly to make others glad in God, your life will be hard, your risks will be high, and your joy will  be full.”