Saturday, December 1, 2007

1.85 Billion

I remember speaking to a man in the jungles of Guyana while I was leading a mission trip. I will never forget him because of the look on his face. It was the look he gave me after I explained why our team was in his country. We were there to tell people about Jesus Christ, and how He came to save us. The man just stared at me in silence as I spoke to him through an interpreter. Eventually, I realized this was becoming a very one-way conversation, and I asked my friend, the interpreter, why is this man not responding to anything I am saying? My friend laughed, and immediately explained to me that he is listening intently because he has never heard of Jesus, God, or the Bible.

Apparently my friend already knew this information, and that is why he laughed. Now I was the one staring. He continued on to say that most likely no one in this village of more than 1,000 people have heard the Gospel message.

Have you ever met someone who has never heard the message of Salvation? You can rule out the majority of people in North America, because most have been exposed to the Gospel in some measure. Yet, as of the summer of this year, there are 1,850,402,000 people who are considered unreached. In other words, they have never heard of Jesus Christ, not even one time, or how they can be saved through Him.

You may not think we are saturated with Christianity here in North America; that is until you come with one of our Global Infusion teams to see the effect of Islam on a Middle-Eastern country like Egypt, or the Hindu domination in India.

A number like 1.85 billion people who have never heard the Gospel can be overwhelming. You may ask yourself what can you, as just one person, do to lower that number? What can you do as a Christian to reach those in other countries who may have had brief exposure to the plan of salvation, but have not made that commitment? If you are reading these words, then God wants to speak to you about reaching the world for Him.