"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." -Matthew 28:18-20
Last night we heard a man by the name of Andy Kampman (of EveryEthne) speak about going out to reach ALL the nations--the unevangelized, the unreached, and the unengaged. To fully grasp the intensity of this talk, you have to understand that Andy is 110% sold out for Jesus and full-heartedly believes that when Jesus said, "Therefore go and make disciples of ALL NATIONS..." He meant it. He strives towards obeying that command and believes that Jesus' name will be heard in ALL the nations, to people of every tribe and tongue. Andy and the team of EveryEthne's intense passion for Jesus to be known to every single person in this entire world is exhilarating and contagious--which it should be.
He told us a story about two of the EveryEthne team members who wanted to go to the unengaged (meaning, the people who have not ever heard the name of Jesus, do not have any followers of Jesus, and have no way of knowing who Jesus is). They prayed and were sent to the Mappila people of India, who have 8 million people in that city alone (to make it more attainable, that's 2.5 x the size of Iowa). 8 million people and not one person who believes in Jesus. One thing Andy kept mentioning was that we don't need permission to go; wherever you feel Jesus leading you, you go. No ifs ands or buts about it. Anyways, while he was talking about their trip to India it hit me--8 million people and not one single believer. 8 MILLION people!! Growing up in a country where Jesus' name is known, it's sometimes hard for me to grasp the concept that not one single person in the 8 MILLION population has heard of or knows the name of Jesus. Now, I have been abroad and have done missions in other countries so I'm not that naive. I just so easily put that thought on the back burner of my mind.
"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" -Romans 10:14-15
Often times I forget to pray for the nations, pray that Jesus would send us, pray that I would constantly have a willing heart to GO; I allow myself to become so consumed with the business of life and get wrapped up in things that do not matter or things I think matter but in all honesty, have no worth in terms of the Kingdom. Did you know there are only about 1 billion people out of 6.8 billion people who are true followers of Christ?? That means there is 5.8 billion people who, as of now, will not be eternally praising our Father in Heaven. Ever since Jesus saved me, I have had a passion to out into the nations and love people with Christ's love so that they may know Him and enter His Kingdom. But where has that passion of mine gone? If it's a passion of mine, then why am I letting it slip away? Why have I allowed other things start to take over the true desire of my heart? Why have I not prayed more diligently for the lost people whom Jesus loves so dearly? It breaks my heart to realize that I have let other things calm my passion to reach the nations. Thankfully, Jesus brings people like Andy and the team of EveryEthne to speak truth into our lives and spark that passion into a flame.
The whole time Andy was speaking, I kept praying, "Jesus, you're sending me to Africa in 2 months. Please turn this flame into a wildfire and give me the courage and strength to face difficult situations so that YOU may be known among the people in Africa." And here it is; this passion of mine has been coming to life for the past few months and I haven't even given it time to settle in that God's blessing me with an amazing opportunity to reach his lost people in Africa. See, I've never been the one to be scared or back away from an adventure--especially ones that involve leaving my comfort zone in America to go to another country. However, each time I've gone to another country, I've gone through some sort of mission organization and have gone with a team. This time, I (thankfully) have one very passionate and beautiful friend, Morgan Gascho, with me to go into the nation with. Jesus is such a smart guy! He has strategically placed Morgan and I together to do work for His Kingdom. Morgan and I are very similar in a couple areas of our lives-- we both love loving people, talking to people, and doing random, crazy, adventurous things and we're both not afraid to give our lives for the sake of the Gospel. I think we both have this view that whatever happens is supposed to happen since Jesus is in full control of our lives, and if we're in line with following His will, we'll go wherever He leads, no questions asked.
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." -Ezekiel 36:26
So here's my whole point to all of this. I'm ready to take the unbeaten path. After hearing Andy and the EveryEthne team speak, the passion that I've had for so long is burning higher now. It's His people in every nation and tribe and tongue. It's burning for His lost and hurting and broken people to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, to walk side by side with Jesus. It's burning to do something greater, to not waste the precious time Jesus has given me on Earth. I pray in God's will that it continues to burn higher and higher and higher. I'm ready to roll, Lord.
"And they sang a new song:
'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for
God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth... Worthy is the Lamb, who was
slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and
honor and glory and praise!" -Revelation 5:9-12
and they will reign on the earth... Worthy is the Lamb, who was
slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and
honor and glory and praise!" -Revelation 5:9-12
Highlighted words will take you to a few helpful websites:
EveryEthne (EveryEthne's homepage. Check it out)
Mappila (Joshua Project. Stats and information about the Mappila people)
Pray for the Nations (Operation World. Has a new tribe, people, nation, etc to pray for every single day. AMAZING!)
His people (Joshua Project. Different stats on unengaged people groups all around the world. Super duper website)
