by Nate Hinton
Let me start with a sweeping preface. Scripture is a missionary text at its core. It’s about the creator GOD, reaching across a divide of sin and rebellion, redeeming all mankind for the glory of his Name. The Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20) is more than a “by the way…” teaching of Christ. It was His final exhortation to the church before leaving this earth. It deserves our central focus, because missions is about God Himself. It is about expanding and thickening God’s glory in the earth. My friend Dick Brogden once said, “the central question for our churches is not how big the church is, but where does the church NOT exist and what are we doing about it?” As John Piper said, “missions exists because worship does not.”
I think the most fundamental question to answer is…WHY is it that you do missions? The answer to that should, but does not automatically, determine the ministries we support, and ultimately, effectiveness towards completing the great commission.
As a missionary, I would guess that many, if not MOST, of our supporters give resources, spend time praying, or at least read our updates because, for various reasons, they are interested in us or care about us as people. We are glad for that, thankful for that, but to be honest, I think they should be DOUBLY excited, triply excited, to get behind the MINISTRY we are involved in because it is all about expanding the GLORY OF GOD among the unreached peoples of the earth (I say “expand” because Luke 19 says that if his followers won’t praise Him, the very rocks will cry out! Let’s look at a few of the key missions texts throughout scripture to explore further!
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Mt. 28:19-20
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Gen 12:1-4
“My one ambition is to proclaim the gospel where the name of the Messiah is not known, so I don’t build on someone else’s foundation.” Rom 15:20
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Mt 24:14
…and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. Rev 5:9
In reading the above verses we see that the idea of ALL nations or peoples is a really big deal! For this reason we believe that reaching the UNREACHED is a really big deal also.
Unreached and Unsaved are totally different things:
“Unreached” (and “least reached” for that matter) means that, at this time, there is insufficient availability of the Gospel within a reasonable distance, within the framework of their own language and culture. Essentially, it means there is no way of them being saved today, short of a sovereign visitation of God” (Kim Harrington). Thinking of these groups in terms of people groups, rather than just a massive number of people, is important because the Gospel does not easily spread beyond cultural/linguistic group barriers from one to another. Because of this, missionaries (or ones who reach across cultural/socio/linguistic barriers with the Gospel) will always have a job this side of heaven! Reaching the unreached (and least reached) MUST be a priority for ALL believers today.
“But wait a minute, aren’t the lost, the lost? Why should we prioritize one group over another?”
While it is true that one soul is no more valuable than another, the main issue is that up to 4000 of the “Nations and Peoples” from the above verses are still unreached today after 2000 years of “Great commission activity!” It is no wonder that the term “Great Omission” has been used all around missionary circles! Imagine the shame Hudson Taylor felt when a new Chinese convert raised the question, “how long ago did you say Jesus died??? NONE of my ancestors had ANY idea.”
The main problem is that we spend the vast majority of our resources building on the foundations of others, while the unreached remain just that…unreached. While a lot of good work is being done, the great commission is being obeyed with feet seriously dragging on the stuff we DON’T WANT, or find difficult to do (or even don’t know how to do). It IS difficult…almost impossible, unless we change the way we do things.
In spite of lots of hype about large numbers coming to Christ around the world, the fact is that 25% of the world which historically has had little or no access to the gospel, (made up of mostly Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists) has not changed, and is not projected to change, unless something changes in the way we do things. The reasons for this are many, but the following statistics surely have something to do with it:
- “Only 2-4% of Christian Missionaries go to serve the 2 billion least reached”
- “Of foreign mission funding: 87% goes for work among those already Christian, 12% for work among already evangelized, but Non-Christian, 1% for work among the unevangelized and *unreached people. (Baxter 2007, 12)
One example to think about; For many churches, the bulk of their “Missions” involvement consists of sending short term teams, at high cost, to “easy” places, to do work that often can easily be done by nationals. If we are honest, this is more about discipling those in the church than outside it. (While there is certainly a place for short term “missions”, the least evangelized of the world will not be reached in such a manner.)
We work with Africa Inland Mission and our board has recently been going through the challenging and painful process of re-evaluating priorities, strategies (and especially resources) with regards to reaching the unreached. Much work done in the past is being phased out or passed on to national churches, in favor of pulling up stakes and moving on to less reached areas. While it is NOT without painful pruning and huge costs, American churches need to find ways to follow suit with regards to the ministries they may have supported for decades. How many churches have I talked with who have no idea what is going on in some of the ministries they have supported for a long time. Although, they never intended to stagnate growth by creating dependent ministries, this is often what has happened.
Mission organizations and Churches alike must realize that “dying to self” is not just the call of individual missionaries. If we are going to be obedient to accomplish the GREAT COMMISSION, it is going to take sending the best people, with sacrificial giving, to the hardest places, for long periods of time. There is no short, fast, easy way.
I hope that I have not just sounded like a wet blanket up to this point. Some great news is that there are many amazing organizations backing some incredibly godly men and women, in some of the hardest places, reaching the hardest to reach peoples on earth. Along with them, are thousands of committed workers and churches who serve in critical support roles of those serving the unreached and still others working to mobilize and send all those workers. All these do not overshadow the millions of givers and prayer warriors such as yourselves, who work extremely hard in many tough environments locally and yet give generously. Missionaries in the hardest places depend on the support of their home churches more than ever, and not just in finances. We give thanks for you!
Beyond all that…
All glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think! (Eph. 3:20)
We serve a great GOD, and He IS at work!
Consider that in AD 100 there were 12 unreached people groups for every congregation of believers, and now there is 1 unreached people group for every 1000 congregations! (Winter et al., 3) Surely there IS hope to finish the job!
It is impossible to do a topic like this justice in such a short space.
If anyone is interested in learning more, I HIGHLY recommend looking into taking the Perspectives Course from perspectives.org. Also, the following websites are very helpful…
http://www.aboutmissions.org/links.html
The people who walk in darkness WILL see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil…Isaiah 9:2-3
Your Turn
What are some things that you are doing, or things you think we could do together as ministers and ministries, to reach the unreached???
Nate and Heidi Hinton started in Ministry with the FCA in Fosston, MN in 1998. They have been serving with AIM since 2004, and are transitioning into a new role within AIM called TIMO. TIMO is a two year training program for a lifetime of ministry. Multi-national teams are placed amongst the least reached peoples of Africa with the goal of planting an indigenous, self supporting and perpetuating church in that context. Over 50 such teams have already been planted. Nate has the responsibility of surveying and setting up all the logistics for each new team location, while Heidi manages finances for the organization. TIMO plants teams all over Africa, and has lofty goals of planting up to 10 new teams each year! Check out the website http://timo.aimint.org to learn more.
The Hintons are still in need of practical and prayer support as they just returned to their base in Tanzania. If you or your church would like to get involved with the Hinton’s ministry in some way, please let them know at nate.hinton@gmail.com.
