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MARCH 5, 2020

World Missions

GROWING A HEART FOR THE NATIONS: AACF WORLD MISSIONS EXPLORATION EXERCISE

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God’s ultimate goal in the world is to make his glory known to among every nation, people group, and language, and to save a people unto himself that will worship and enjoy him forever (Gen. 1:26-28; Revelation 7:9-17). Thus, it is also the ultimate goal of every Christian to join with God in this endeavor; to live as “ambassadors for Christ,” as triumphant voices by which God makes his appeal to the world to be reconciled to him (2 Cor. 5:16-21). We are called to participate in this missionary task by raising high the banner of the good news of Christ and taking it to the ends of the earth.

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In Romans 10:13-15 the apostle Paul says,

“for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

The lesson here is two fold: first, Paul’s stream of transitive logic lays out the tragic and rightly convicting reality that people will not be saved without hearing the good news. The approximately 2 billion people in our world who have little-to-no access to Scripture and have never heard the name of Jesus will spend eternity apart from him if they do not hear the gospel preached and trust in it for salvation.

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Second, Paul’s string of rhetorical questions in reverse outlines the hope-filled path toward completing the missionary task: send people to preach so that people hear and believe. All Christians have a role in either sending or going for the purpose of making God’s glory known among the nations.

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Paul’s questions give us a model for thinking practically about our individual roles in this missionary task. We must ask, “who are those who have not believed? who are those who have never heard? who are those who are preaching to them? and how can we send them?” If we do not ask these questions, our sending and praying will be ungrounded and unfaithful.

In asking these questions, we connect our calling from God to “go and make disciples of all nations” to real faces of those who still live in spiritual darkness, as well as real avenues to sending and going. Being empowered by the Holy Spirit to be used by God to complete his task of spreading his glorious message of redemption in Christ to all nations is our highest goal and greatest joy; as we reflect on how we have personally “tasted and seen that the LORD is good,” let us intentionally seek ways we can share all we have in Christ with those all around the world who have never heard his name (Psalm 34:8).

THE EXPLORATION EXERCISE: HOW TO

STEP 1: ASK

Step 1 involves choosing a people group or country. Ask these diagnostic questions to help you focus in on a country or people group to research.

  • What people groups or countries do you care about?

  • Do you know any missionaries personally, or do you know of any missionaries/people who have been/ people who want to go on overseas missions?

  • Does your local church send or support missionaries? Does your local church provide opportunities to serve on short/long term missions teams?

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STEP 2: EXPLORE

Conduct research on your country or people group. Ask these four questions:

  • What is the political, social, cultural, spiritual condition of the country? (Current events or specific needs of the country? e.g. Japan suffers from deep relational poverty, high rates of suicide, shame based culture).

  • What are the social and cultural conditions of the church in that country? (Is there freedom of religion? Are there prominent competing religions or world-views? Is there intense persecution? Prominent forms of false teaching (e.g. prosperity gospel in many countries in Africa)?)

  • Assess the country/people group’s access to the gospel using the Joshua Project (joshuaproject.net). How many Christians? Percent of population? Growth rates/change over time?

  • What sending organizations are on the ground in the country? Who are the missionaries on the ground? what ministries are active in the country? how are they addressing the needs of country (e.g. Feed My Starving Children, addressing material poverty by providing food while also building relationships between people and local churches through which sharing the gospel is possible)?

Also gather photographs, maps, articles, news, and whatever other material that might be helpful in your sending/going.

STEP 3: PRAY

Use the information you’ve collected and write out a list of specific things to pray over for the country/people group. Pray for these things daily. See the list below for example prayer lists.

STEP 4: ACT

Make practical steps to involve yourself in God’s work in the countries or people groups.

  • support the health and propagation of the local churches in your country/people group.

  • support missionaries who on the ground financially and through prayer. join their prayer lists, sign up for their updates.

  • explore options through sending organizations or your local church to go yourself (avoid short “voluntourism” trips).

  • organize prayer meetings for your country/people group.

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COLLECT YOUR RESEARCH HERE: TINYURL.COM/AACFWORLDMISSIONS

EXPLORATION RESOURCES

Below we’ve gathered a collection of resources to aid exploration.

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FOR INFORMATION ON COUNTRIES AND HOW TO PRAY

International Mission Board

Joshua Project

Operation World

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FOR INFORMATION ON PERSECUTION

Open Doors USA

Voice of the Martyrs

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SENDING ORGANIZATIONS

Mission to the World

Cru

Operation Mobilization

OMF International (East Asia)

Japanese Evangelical Missions Society (Japan and Brazil)

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OTHER ARTICLES AND RESOURCES

5 Things to Consider When a Missionary Asks You for Money

David Platt on Praying for the Nations

Making Your Life Count: The Greatest Missions Letter Ever Written -- John Piper

Praying for the World: A Resolution Worth Making

Should Missionaries Focus on Unreached People Groups? Yes.

There’s More to Missions Than Unreached People Groups

Why You Should Consider Canceling Your Short-Term Mission Trips

ORDAINED MEANS: HOW TO PRAY FOR THE WORLD

Though our hearts may break and despair for the unreached people of the world, and though we in our human finitude have such limited reach and meager strength to complete the daunting task before us, we can have hope in believing that our infinite and omnipotent God (1 Tim. 6:15-16), who created, guides, and sustains all things (col. 1:16-17), who holds all people in his sovereign hands (Job 12:10), who ordains means to his glorious ends (Ephesians 1:3-14), and who cannot fail to carry those ends out (1 Thess. 5:24), has a plan for and is already working in those areas that have yet to be reached with the gospel by human feet. So let us join in the work with him by prayer.

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TOPICS TO PRAY ABOUT

  • Pray for God’s name to be hallowed among all people, for His will to be done, and for His kingdom to come (Matthew 6:9).

  • Join with the prophet Isaiah in saying, “Here I am! send me,” (Isaiah 6: 8); Ask God, “where would you have me go, what would you have me do?”

    • for courage to surrender and for boldness to obey his call to missions.

  • Pray for missionaries around the world who are faithfully preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

  • Pray for the local church at home to be faithfully equipping and sending missionaries.

  • Pray for the sending organizations that are mobilizing people for the nations.

  • Pray for outward perspective, heartbreak for the unreached, daily renewed conviction, and passionate good works that aid the spread of the gospel among the nations.

  • Pray for specific countries, their needs, and for the gospel to take root in the hearts of many.

    • for specific current events, disasters, political unrest, wars, famine.

  • Pray for the local churches of the world.

    • for the gospel to be preached, treasured, and lived out in everyday life

    • for 1 Timothy 3 caliber leaders to faithfully shepherd God’s people.

    • for growth and church culture that gives rise to more and more churches.

    • for the local church to be a light in the darkness.

  • Pray for the killing of sin and the trusting and treasuring of the gospel in the hearts of all people.

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Also refer to this article by David Platt on how to pray for the world:

  • Pray for the unreached among the nations

  • Pray for the persecuted among the nations

    • Ask God to strengthen persecuted believers that they might hold fast to the hope God gives, to know the depth of God’s love for them, to experience boldness and strength from the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the gospel faithfully.

    • Pray for persecutors to see and come to know Christ through the lives of those they are persecuting, and for justice (Acts 4:23–30; 2 Timothy 1:8–14).

  • Pray for the poor among the nations

    • Plead for provision of food for the hungry and for safe drinking water for the thirsty.

    • For medical provision for children and adults suffering and dying of preventable diseases.

    • For refugees who have been separated from their homes due to natural and moral disasters.

    • For the church to give generously, sacrificially, and cheerfully to the poor (Deuteronomy 15:7–11; Proverbs 3:27–28; Matthew 25:34–40; James 2:15–17; 1 John 3:16–18).

  • Pray for orphans and vulnerable children among the nations

  • Pray for the enslaved among the nations

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Let’s join in with what God is doing around the world, not acting by our own power or initiative but by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, all because our God is much too glorious to keep silent about and the gospel is much too sweet a gift to keep to ourselves.

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AACF USC Core Team

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