When we flew to the 2004 wedding of my nephew Aaron Fudge in California, I had no idea of the mind-boggling spiritual challenge awaiting me there. Aaron, 23, and his wife Elizabeth are both deeply committed to Jesus Christ so I was not surprised when following the rehearsal pizza dinner they invited guests to their forthcoming one-bedroom apartment to pray for God's blessing and Spirit to fill them and their new residence. However I did not expect Aaron to give all his guests a book which he said had changed his life -- and which subsequently has transformed my own personal consciousness and commitment as well.
Titled Revolution in World Missions, by K. P. Yohannan, the 214-page book presents what I am now firmly convinced to be God's plan for most effectively fulfilling the great commission of Jesus Christ in our day. Moreover, the stories this book relates -- personal sagas of faithful sacrifice and suffering, dramatic tales of satanic opposition and divine deliverances, powerful accounts of supernatural kingdom results -- can best be compared to some modern chapter of the New Testament book of Acts.
Let me put these stories in context. Mission experts generally agree that about two billion people on earth today have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ. Of that number, 90% live in a rectangular-shaped area stretching from West Africa to East Asia called the 10/40 Window (from 10-40 degrees north of the equator). The inhabitants of these countries live under the dark spiritual clouds of witchcraft, spiritism, paganism and anti-Christian distortions of now-forgotten biblical revelation. This 10/40 Window encompasses the majority of the world's Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists. Since World War II and the end of western colonialism, most of these countries have barred the door to missionaries from outside. (For more specific details, click here.)
As a result of this and other factors, 85% of missionary activity from the West focuses on serving people living where the Christian church already exists rather than on taking the gospel to the two billion people who have not yet heard of Jesus Christ. In fact, because much mission funding goes to benevolent enterprises such as hospitals, schools and orphanages (all good works within themselves), less than one-half of one percent of Western mission dollars are spent directly on the church's highest priority -- specifically telling people who know nothing of Jesus Christ about the only Savior of sinners everywhere.
Within the 10/40 Window, a swath of land located 10-40 degrees north of the equator and stretching from West Africa to East Asia, within which live 1.8 billion persons who have never heard of Jesus Christ, spiritual darkness hovers most heavily over Asia. Every day, more than 80,000 Asians die without knowing about the love of God shown in Jesus Christ. In India alone, an estimated 500,000 villages have never heard the gospel. As a direct result of this spiritual darkness, millions in India daily live in hunger and abject poverty while multitudes die with no hope or assurance of everlasting life. A hopeless situation? If we think only in traditional terms of sending missionaries from the West, probably so.
But here is where God's wisdom shines most brightly! For within those Asian countries of India, Thailand, China, Korea and others live thousands of committed disciples of Jesus Christ who are eager to give their lives to evangelizing their own countrymen, even if that means being beaten, stoned or imprisoned by pagan opponents. This army of Christian workers has instant credibility since they are actually the neighbors of those whom they seek to reach. They do not need to learn a new language, to travel across the world or to support a scale of living measured by western affluence. Many live on about $30 per month.
More than 25 years ago, God impressed on the heart of Indian native K. P. Yohannan a vision for training and raising support for these dedicated "native missionaries." That is now the single task of the nondenominational missions organization Gospel for Asia (GFA) based in Carrollton, Texas, which sends 100% of missionary-support donations directly to the field. Through GFA, 14,000 native missionaries already serve in ten Asian countries and plant over 10 new churches every day. Through GFA, some 83 Christian radio broadcasts take the message of Christ to a potential audience of more than one billion souls.
GFA has the endorsement of such highly-respected organizations as Operation Mobilization and such individuals as David and Karen Mains (Chapel of the Air) and Erwin Lutzer (Moody Church, Chicago). It was a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) and it provides donors full accounting upon request. I have researched GFA to my own satisfaction and I am convinced that it is sound in integrity and management, scriptural as to gospel basics and of the Lord.
By personally sponsoring a native missionary at $30 a month, you can joyfully share in taking the gospel to people who have never heard it, in countries where Western missionaries cannot even go. I suspect that almost every Christian family in the USA, Canada, England, Australia and New Zealand is able to sponsor at least one native missionary -- and many families can partner with five, ten or even more. My wife and I have just committed to support several missionaries in Asia. GracEmail now goes to approximately 4,100 subscribers around the world. My dream, prayer and challenge is for gracEmail subscribers to underwrite at least 1,000 native evangelists through GFA, although only God will know if that prayer is finally answered.
To learn more, I urge you to visit Gospel for Asia's website. There you can watch the online video "The Call to Harvest," and obtain a free copy of the mind-boggling and heart-stirring book Revolution in World Missions. I have never known of such an opportunity as this for obeying Jesus Christ's commission, for effectively sharing eternal life through Christ with those who have never heard. We sometimes wonder about the fate of those who never hear the gospel. Far better to see that they do hear it -- for now as well as hereafter! Thanks to the vision and obedience of God's servant from India, K. P. Yohannan, and Gospel for Asia we can each have a part in doing just that.