REACHING the UNREACHED

Rev Anil Kumar Samuel, MMS ExCo Member. He is the Pastor-in-charge of Singapore Telugu Methodist Church. He believes that when we share Christ, we give hope.

A ministry colleague shared a story, sometime back, about one of the evangelists he knew who was sent to a certain village in North India. As this evangelist entered the village to share the gospel, he asked an elderly man who was seated at a main junction, “Hello uncle, have you heard about the Lord Jesus?” The elderly man, without a pause, replied, “There is no such person in our village; go and check in the next village.” Experiences like this portray the reality of unreached people and the need to reach out to them. Even after two thousand years, there are places around the world where people have not heard of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In its research, Joshua Project (https://joshuaproject.net/people_ groups/statistics) reported that there are 3.24 billion unreached people around the world. “When Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:16–20), he used the word “ethne”, which refers to people groups and not to geopolitical countries.” (Zane Pratt, Here’s What We Mean by Unreached People and Places, November 22, 2016.)

The Great Commission of Christ is as relevant to us today as it was in the first century. There is a need to mobilise people for missions, at both individual and church levels, under the framework of Christian discipleship. The whole church is called to preach the gospel to the whole world. Through this proclamation, people can hear, turn from their sinful ways, and be saved by Christ. This is God’s ultimate purpose for humankind.

We lose our God-given purpose when we lose sight of the lost. The world needs Christ.

Why is there a need to reach the unreached groups? We lose our God-given purpose when we lose sight of the lost. The world needs Christ. Those who are transformed by the gospel should share Christ with grateful hearts. “Unless someone intentionally crossed barriers of language and culture to bring them the good news of Jesus, they would remain lost in darkness.” (Zane Pratt, Here’s What We Mean by Unreached People and Places, November 22, 2016.) The mandate is given to the body of Christ, i.e., the Church. “For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16, NIV)

Many of us may wonder where the unreached groups are. Generally speaking, unreached people can be found everywhere in the world. To be specific however, unreached people are found both at the doorstep (in the urban and semi-urban contexts) as well as beyond the frontiers to where the gospel has not reached and where resistance to the gospel exists. Today, we find that people with certain ethnic identities, cultures, languages, and religions live together in our neighbourhood and the market place. Can we not safely say that the mission field is at our doorstep? Well, with this reality, which is getting clearer every day, the church is compelled to embrace missions at her doorstep all the more, apart from going beyond the church’s geographical locations.

The harvest is plentiful; the labourers are few. May the Lord open our eyes to see the unreached people groups. While the doors are wide open, we can impact someone for Christ. Some of you may be asking, “What can I do to reach the unreached?” We can pray, network, and exchange resources with like-minded agencies to strengthen each other towards strategic and sustainable missions. People are searching for hope and meaning in life. We can continue to be the channel to make a difference, with God’s help. What Christ commanded, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15), is still valid.

Would you respond to the command of Christ, to go and share His Good News? This could be at your doorstep (to a migrant worker, a maid, or a professional) or beyond the frontiers beyond which the gospel is not preached (an unreached people group). We could do it by going, sending and giving. With God we can do valiantly. May God bless us.