MISSIONS

1   What is the Great Commission and where can it be found in the Bible?

Matthew 28:18-20 “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.”

2   What is a UPG (Unreached People Group)?

Usually, a large group of individuals who have a common affinity for one another because of their shared language, history, religious affiliation, ethnicity, residence, class or caste, geographical location, other specific situations, etc. or combinations of these.  According to the Joshua Project there are 17,423 People Groups in the world, with 7,410 Groups that are Unreached, meaning less than 2% of the population of 3.19 billion people in Unreached Groups are believers in Jesus Christ and the other 98% of the people have never heard the Gospel.  Other organization’s statistics indicate that as many as 4 + billion people have never been reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ out of a total population of 8 billion people worldwide!

3   What is the 10/40 Window?

The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude.  The 10/40 Window is called “The Resistant Belt” and includes the majority of the world’s Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists.  Today the 10/40 Window includes some countries that are close to 10- or 40-degrees north latitude and have high concentration of unreached peoples.  It is estimated that 5.11 billion people reside in the 10/40 Window and 69.5% of these people are considered unreached with a population of 3.09 billion.

4   What is the Great Commandment and where can it be found in the Bible?

Matthew 22:36-39 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  And who is your neighbor? Anyone you may ever meet in this world!

Do you as a Christian have a role in Missions?

The answer is a resounding “Yes”!  From the above questions and words of Jesus, missions are NOT just for missions’ pastors, missionaries and missions team members.  This is a call for all Christians to be directly involved in missions, by either learning, welcoming, praying, mobilizing, sending (supporting) or going (can be local, regional or worldwide while fewer are typically called to go worldwide).