In this exciting and fast-moving book, Dr. K.P. Yohannan shares how God brought him from his remote Indian village to become the founder of Gospel for Asia. With true stories and incredible statistics, K.P. will encourage and challenge you to examine your lifestyle in view of millions who have never heard of Jesus.
Click on the picture to order your free copy. |
|
|
The Problem Historically, the Western Church lost its grip on the challenge for world missions at the end of World War II. Ever since that time its moral mandate and vision for global outreach have continued to fade. Today the average North American believer can hardly pronounce the word “missionary ”without having cartoon
caricatures of ridiculous little men in pith helmets pop into mind —images of cannibals with spears and huge black pots of boiling water. Despite a valiant rear guard action by many outstanding evangelical leaders and missions, it has been
impossible for the Western missionary movement to keep up with exploding populations and the new political realities of nationalism in the Third World. Most Christians in North America still conceive of missions in terms of blond-haired, blue-eyed white people going to the dark-skinned Third World nations. In reality, all of that changed at the end of World War II when the Western powers lost political and military control of their former colonies. As the doors of China, India, Myanmar (formerly Burma), North Korea, North Vietnam and many other newly independent nations slammed shut on Western missionaries, it was natural for the traditional churches and denominational missions to assume that their day had ended. That, of course, was in itself
untrue, as evidenced by the growth of evangelical missions in the same period. But many became convinced then that the age of missions had ended forever. Except for the annual missions appeal in most churches, many North American believers lost hope of seeing the Great Commission of Christ fulfilled on a global scale. Although it was rarely stated, the implication was this: If North American or Western European-based mission boards were not leading the way, then it could not happen. Mission monies once used to proclaim the Gospel were more and more sidetracked into the charitable social programs toward which the new governments of the former colonies were more sympathetic. A convenient theology of mission developed
that today sometimes equates social and political action with evangelism. Many of the Western missionaries who did stay on in Asia also were deeply affected by the rise of nationalism. They began a steady retreat from evangelism and discipleship, concentrating for the most
part on broadcasting, education, medical, publishing, relief and social work. Missionaries, when home in the West, continued to give the impression that indigenization meant not only the pullout of Western personnel but also the pullout of financial and other assistance. Of the more than 70,000 North American missionaries now actively commissioned, only 5,000 are working
with the totally unreached hidden people who make up 70 percent of all the unevangelized people in the world. Ralph Winter, general director of the U.S. Center for World Mission, estimates 95 percent of all
missionaries are working among the existing churches or where the Gospel already is preached. So now western missionaries cannot easily go to the countries where most so-called “hidden people ” live
. About 3.8 billion of these people exist in our world today. Millions upon millions of lost souls have never heard the Gospel. We hear many cries that we should go to them, but who will go? The hidden people almost all live in countries closed or severely restricted to American and European missionaries. In India proper there are nearly one billion people — three times the population of the United States. Only 3.5 percent of these call themselves Christians. Although this figure reflects the official government census, a number of key Christian leaders who understand the situation believe the number of Christians is actually much greater than reported. Still, India, with nearly 500,000 unevangelized villages, is
undoubtedly one of the greatest evangelistic challenges facing the world Christian community today. If present trends continue, it will soon be the world’s most populous nation. Many of India’s 25 states have larger populations than whole nations in Europe and other parts of the world. The masses of India are starving because they are slaves to sin. The battle against hunger and poverty
is really a spiritual battle, not a physical or social one as secularists would have us believe. The only weapon that will ever effectively win the war against disease, hunger, injustice and poverty in Asia is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To look into the sad eyes of a hungry child or see the wasted life of a drug addict is to see only the evidence of Satan’s hold on this world. All bad things are his handiwork. He is the
ultimate enemy of mankind, and he will do everything within his considerable power to kill and destroy human beings. Fighting this powerful enemy with physical weapons is like fighting an armored tank with stones. The Solution When I stand before North American audiences in churches and missions conferences , people are astonished to hear the real facts of missions today. The frontline work of
missions in Asia has been taken over almost completely by indigenous missionaries. And the results are outstanding. Believers are shocked to learn that native missionaries are starting hundreds of new churches every week in the Third World, that thousands of people a day are being converted to Christ, and that tens of thousands of well-qualified, spiritually able men and women now are ready to start more mission work if we can raise their support. Although half the countries in the world today forbid the Western missionary, now the native missionary
can go to the nearest hidden people group. For example, an Indian  can go to Nepal with the Gospel; North Americans cannot. Western missionaries seldom are effective today in reaching Asians and
establishing local churches in the villages of Asia. Unlike the Western missionary, the native missionary can preach, teach and evangelize without being blocked by most of the barriers that confront Westerners. As a native of the country or region, he knows the cultural taboos instinctively. Frequently, he already has mastered the language or a related dialect. He moves freely and is accepted in good times and bad as one who belongs. He does not have to be transported thousands of miles
nor does he require special training and language schools. In India, which no longer permits Western missionary evangelists, more church growth and outreach are happening now than at any point in our history. China is another good example of the new realities. When the communists drove western missionaries out and closed the churches in 1950, it seemed that Christianity was dead. In fact, most of the known leaders were imprisoned, and a whole generation of Chinese pastors was killed or disappeared in
communist prisons and torture chambers. But today communication is open again with China, and 40,000 to 50,000 underground churches reportedly have sprung up during the communist persecution. The number of Christians now has grown to an estimated 100 million —50 times the size of the Church when Western missionaries were driven out. Again, all this has happened under the spiritual direction of the indigenous church movement. Through an indigenous organization in Thailand, where  more than 200 native missionaries are doing pioneer village evangelism, one group personally shared their faith with 10
,463 people in two months. Of these, 171 gave their lives to Christ, and six new churches were formed. Over 1,000 came to Christ in the same reporting period. Remember, this great harvest is happening in a Buddhist nation that never has seen such results. Documented reports like these come to us daily from native teams in
almost every Asian nation. As a general rule, for the following reasons I believe it is wiser to support native missionaries in their own lands than to send Western missionaries. First it is wise stewardship. According to Bob Granholm, Executive Director of Frontiers in Canada, it costs between $25,000 to
$30,000 per year to support a missionary on the mission field. While this may be true for ministries like Frontiers, OM, YWAM and a few other organizations, in my research with more traditional agencies, the cost may be much higher. According to an executive of one of North America ’s largest mission boards, it costs today between $50,000 and $80,000 per year to keep an average American missionary family on the field. With even a modest inflation rate of 7%, this cost will be
as much as $100,000 in just a few years. During a recent consultation on world evangelism, Western missionary leaders called for 200,000 new missionaries by the year 2000 in order to keep pace with their estimates of population growth. The cost of even that modest missionary force would be a staggering $20 billion a year. When you realize that in 1996 North American Christians contributed just over $2.5 billion for missions, we are facing an astronomical fund raising effort.
There has to be an alternative 2. In India, for only the cost of flying an American from New York to Mumbai, a native missionary already on the field can minister for years! Unless we take these facts into account, we will lose the opportunity of our age to reach untold millions with the Gospel. Today it is outrageously extravagant to send North American missionaries overseas unless there are compelling reasons to do so. From a strictly financial standpoint, sending American missionaries
overseas is one of the worst investments we can make today.
Second, in many places the presence of Western missionaries perpetuates the myth that Christianity is the religion of the West. Bob Granholm states,“ While the current internationalization of the missionary task force is a very encouraging development, it is often wiser to not have a western face on the efforts to extend the Kingdom.” This is why the native evangelist, who comes from the native soil, is so effective. Have Asians rejected Christ? Not really. In most cases they have rejected only the trappings of Western
culture that have fastened themselves onto the Gospel. This is what the apostle Paul was referring to when he said he was willing to become “all things to all men ” in order that he might win some. When Asians share Christ with other Asians in a culturally acceptable way, the results are startling.
 But this does not mean we do not appreciate the legacy left to us from Western missionaries. While I believe changes must be made in our missionary methods, we praise God for the tremendous contribution Western missionaries have made in many Third World countries where Christ was never before preached. Through their faithfulness many were
won to Jesus, churches were started and the Scriptures were translated. These converts are today’s native missionaries. Silas Fox, a Canadian who served in south India, learned to speak the local native language Telugu and preached the Word with such anointing that hundreds of present-day Christian leaders in Andhra Pradesh can trace their spiritual beginnings to his ministry. I thank God for missionaries like Hudson Taylor, who against all wishes of his foreign mission board became a
Chinese in his lifestyle and won many to Christ. I am not worthy to wipe the dust from the feet of thousands of faithful men and women of our Lord who went overseas during the times of men and women like these. The Contrast A friend in Dallas recently pointed out a new church building costing $74 million. While this thought was
still exploding in my mind, he pointed out another $7 million church building going up less than a minute away. These extravagant buildings are insanity from a Third World perspective.
The $74 million spent on one new building here could build nearly fifteen thousand average-sized churches in India. The same $74 million would be enough to guarantee the evangelization of a whole state —or even some of the smaller countries of Asia. If we had used these funds to support Native missions, we could have fielded an army of evangelists the size of a major city. The further our leaders wander from the Lord, the more they turn to the ways of the world. One church in Dallas spent several million dollars to construct a gymnasium “to keep our young people interested in church.” Many churches have become like secular clubs with softball teams, golf lessons, schools and exercise classes to keep people coming to their
buildings and giving them their tithes. Some churches have gone so far from the Lord that they sponsor yoga and meditation courses —Western adaptations of Hindu religious exercises. If this is what is considered mission outreach at home, is it any wonder the same churches fall prey to
the seductive philosophy of Christian humanists when planning overseas missionary work? The United States has about 5,000 Christian book and gift stores, carrying varieties of products beyond my ability to imagine —and many secular stores also carry religious books. All this while more than 4,000
of the world’s nearly 6,500 languages are still without a single portion of the Bible published in their own language! In his book My Billion Bible Dream, Rochunga Pudaite says, “Eighty-five percent of all Bibles printed today
are in English for the nine percent of the world who read English. Eighty percent of the world’s people have never owned a Bible while Americans have an average of four in every household.” The United States, with its 400,000-450,000 congregations or groups 2, is blessed with over one million
full-time Christian workers, or one full-time religious leader for every 230 people in the nation. What a difference this is from the rest of the world, where nearly three billion people are still unreached with the Gospel. The unreached or “hidden peoples ”have only one missionary working for every 500,000 people, and there are still 1,750 distinct cultural groups in the world without a single church among them to preach the Gospel. These are the masses for whom Christ wept and died.
In Asia today, Christ is still wandering homeless. He is looking for a place to lay His head, but in temples “not made with human hands.” Pride? Ask the average person why the Lord destroyed Sodom, and he or she will cite the city’s gross immorality. Ezekiel, however, reveals the real reason in chapter 16,verses 49 and 50:“Behold, this was the iniquity
of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.” Part of the sin of pride is a subtle but deep racism. As I travel, I often hear innocent-sounding questions such as, “How do we know that the native church is ready to handle the funds?” or,“ What kind of training have the native missionaries had?” For some reason, many North Americans have come to believe that a missionary is only someone from the West who goes to Asia, Africa or some
other foreign land. Not so. When a former Hindu Brahmin crosses the subtle caste lines of India and works among low-caste people, he should be recognized as a missionary just as much as a person who goes from Detroit to Calcutta. So, are native missionaries prepared to carry on cross-cultural evangelism?
The answer is yes, and with great effectiveness! Most of the native missionaries we support, in fact, are involved in some form of cross-cultural evangelism. Often, GFA evangelists find they must learn a new language, plus adopt different dress and dietary customs. However, since the cultures are frequently neighbors or share a similar heritage, the transition is much easier than it would be for someone coming from the West. They are Asians, many of whom already live in the nation they must reach, or in nearby cultures just a few hundred miles from the unevangelized villages to which they will be sent by the Lord. The situation in world missions is expressing only when you think of it in terms of 19th-century Western colonialism. If the
actual task of world evangelization depends on the “sending of the white missionary,” obeying the Great Commission truly becomes more impossible very day. But, praise God, the native missionary movement is growing, ready today to complete the task. Christians need to learn that they are not giving their money to native workers, but God’s money to His
work overseas. Making a sacrifice for one of the unknown brethren — supporting his work to a strange people in a strange place, using methods that are a mystery to you —does take humility. But supporting the native brethren must begin with this kind of commitment to humility and must continue in the same spirit. Christians in the West must abandon the totally unscriptural idea that they should support only white missionaries from America. Today it is essential that we support missionaries going from south India to north India, from one island
of the Philippines to another, or from Korea to China. Unless we abandon the racism implied in our unwritten definition of a missionary, we never will see the world reached for Christ. While governments may close the borders of their countries to Western missionaries, they cannot close them to their own people. The Lord is raising up such an army of national missionaries right now, but they cannot go unless North Americans will
continue to support the work as they did when white Westerners were allowed. Heaven and Hell It is painful to think about hell and judgment. I understand why preachers do not like to talk about it, because I don’t either. It is so much easier to preach that “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life ”or to focus on the many delightful aspects of “possibility thinking ”and the “word of faith ”that brings health, wealth and happiness. The grace and love of God are pleasant subjects, and no one more
beautifully demonstrated them than our Lord Jesus. Yet in His earthly ministry, He made more references to hell and judgment than He did to heaven. Jesus lived with the reality of hell, and He died on Calvary because He knew it was real and coming to everyone who doesn’t turn to God in this life. Believers are willing to accept the concept of heaven, but they look the other way when they come to
passages about hell. Very few seem to believe that those who die without Christ are going to a place where they are tormented forever and ever in a bottomless pit where the fire is not quenched, where they are separated from God and His love for all eternity without any chance of return. If we knew the horrors of the potential judgment that hangs over us —if we really believed in what is coming —how
differently we would live. Unfortunately for millions in the Third World, it will be too late unless we can reach them before they slip off the edge into eternal darkness. The millions of Asians who are dying and going to hell are people for whom Christ died. We say we believe it —but what are we doing to act on that faith? Without works, faith is dead. Real Christian mission always is aware there is eternal hell to shun and heaven to gain. We need to restore the balanced vision General William Booth had when he started the Salvation Army. He had an unbelievable compassion for winning lost souls to Christ. His own words tell the story of what he envisioned for the movement: “Go for souls, and go for the worst.” Humanitarian Aid A balanced New Testament message begins not with the fleshly needs of people, but with the plan and
wisdom of God —“born again” conversion that leads to righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Any “mission ”that springs from “the base things of the world “ is a betrayal of Christ and is what the Bible calls “another gospel.” It cannot save or redeem people either as individuals or as a society. We preach a Gospel, not for the years of time alone, but for eternity. The only trouble with half-truths is that they
contain within them full lies. Such is the case with this declaration issued at an international missionary conference:“ Our fathers were impressed with the horror that men should die without Christ; we were equally impressed with the horror that they should live without Christ.” Out of such rhetoric —usually delivered passionately by an ever-growing number of sincere humanists
within our churches —come myriads of worldly social programs. Such efforts really snatch salvation and true redemption from the poor —condemning them to eternity in hell. Of course, there is a basic truth to the statement. Living this life without Christ is an existence of horrible emptiness, one which offers no hope or meaning. But the subtle humanist lie it hides places the accent on the welfare of this present physical life. What few realize is that this teaching grew out of the influence of nineteenth-century humanists the very same men who gave us modern atheism, communism and the many other modern philosophies that deny God’s sovereignty in the affairs of men. They are, as the Bible says, “anti-Christs.” Modern man unconsciously holds highest the humanistic ideals of happiness, freedom and economic, cultural and social progress for all mankind. This secular view says there is no God, heaven or hell; just one chance at life, so do what makes you most happy. It also teaches that “since all men are brothers,”
we should work for that which contributes toward the welfare of all men. This teaching —so attractive on the surface —has entered our churches in many ways, creating a man-centered and man-made gospel based on changing the outside and social status of man by meeting his
physical needs. The cost is his eternal soul. The so-called humanist gospel —which isn’t really the “good news ”at all —is called by many names. Some argue for it in familiar biblical and theological terms; some call it the “social gospel ”or the “holistic gospel,” but the label is not important.
You can tell the humanist gospel because it refuses to admit that the basic problem of humanity is not physical, but spiritual. The humanist won ’t tell you sin is the root cause of all human suffering. The latest emphasis of the movement starts by arguing that we should operate mission outreach that
provides “care for the whole man,” but it ends up providing help for only the body and soul —ignoring the spirit. Because of this teaching many churches and mission societies now are redirecting their limited outreach
funds and personnel away from evangelism to something vaguely called “social concern.” Today the majority of Christian missionaries find themselves primarily involved in feeding the hungry, caring for the sick through hospitals, housing the homeless or other kinds of relief and development work. History already has taught us that this gospel —without the blood of Christ, conversion and the cross
—is a total failure. In China and India we have had seven generations of this teaching, brought to us by the British missionaries in a slightly different form in the middle of the last century. My people have watched the English hospitals
and schools come and go without any noticeable effect on either our churches or society. If we intend to answer man’s greatest problem —his separation from the eternal God —with rice handouts, then we are throwing a drowning man a board instead of helping him out of the water. To keep
Christian missions off balance, Satan has woven a masterful web of deceit and lies. He has. While it appears to be a rational and logical statement, I disagree with it. A man ’s stomach has nothing to do with his heart’s condition of being a rebel against the holy God. A rich American on Fifth Avenue in New York City or a poor beggar on the streets of Bombay are both rebels against God Almighty, according to
the Bible. For all people, the only way to become a child of God and inherit His kingdom is to repent from sin and humble ourselves before the Lord. The result of this lie is the fact that, during the last hundred years, the majority of mission money has been invested in social work. While there are some mission organizations who have kept evangelism and church planting as their priority, others have neglected and sometimes even ignored evangelism and church planting. Lie number two: Humanitarian work is mission work. This lie is the tragedy of all tragedies. It is one of the most serious misunderstandings of all time. It has caused millions to die and go to hell without
hearing the real Gospel of Christ. This lie is taught and spread almost daily in TV specials and mail-outs, as Christian organizations ask for funds to meet only the physical needs of man. The average church member unthinkingly drops a few dollars in the mission offering plate, trusting that the missionaries “out there ”are involved in saving the 3.8 billion unreached souls. But in most cases, he or she is being horribly
deceived. With all their social efforts, such mission representatives are simply making a doomed man feel a little better before he goes into an eternity of suffering. Lie number three: Social work is not only mission work ,but it is equal to preaching. Death and the grave are in this statement. Luke 16:9-23 tells us the pitiful story of the rich man and Lazarus. Of what benefit were the possessions of the rich man? He could not pay his way out of hell. His riches could not comfort him. The rich man had lost everything including his soul. What about Lazarus?
He didn’t have any possessions to lose, but he had made preparations for his soul. What was more important during their time on earth? Was it the care for the “body temple ”or the immortal soul?“ For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” ((Luke 9:25). It is a crime against lost humanity to go in the name of Christ and missions just to do the social work and yet neglect calling men to repent —to give up their idols and rebellion — and follow Christ with all their hearts. Substituting a bowl of rice for the Holy Spirit and the Word of God will never save a soul and will rarely
change the attitude of a man’s heart. Anyone who has ever done social work will explain to you what I mean. Even Jesus rebuked the multitude because He knew their hearts. Many followed Him only as long as it looked as if they would get a free Lunch I am not saying the rich churches of America should stop spending billions of dollars to meet human needs both here and abroad. Yet we must realize we will not
even begin to make a dent in the kingdom of darkness until we lift up Christ with all the authority, power and revelation that is given to us in the Bible. I first learned this horrible truth about the ineffectiveness of humanitarian aid in the late 1970s at a north
India survey expedition before we first went to preach. Throughout the Indian churches, the various mission hospitals and schools of north India are well known. My coworkers and I eagerly looked forward to visiting some of these missionaries and seeing the local churches. We especially wanted to meet the believers in the villages near these famed mission stations. To our amazement we could not find a living
congregation anywhere. There were hardly any believers at all. The surrounding villages were as deep in spiritual darkness as they had been two hundred years ago before the missionaries came. We were shocked to find after eighty to one hundred years of constant mission work, and after an investment of millions of dollars in these areas, few, if any, living, New Testament churches existed. As I have traveled
throughout India and many other Asian nations, I have seen this same scenario repeated over and over. Feeding programs can save a man dying from hunger. Medical aid can prolong life and fight disease.
Housing projects can make this temporary life more comfortable —but only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can save a soul from a life of sin and an eternity in hell! In few countries is the failure of Christian humanism more apparent than in Thailand. There, after 150 years of showing marvelous social compassion, the Church still makes up only one-tenth of one percent of the entire population. Self-sacrificing missionaries probably have done more to modernize the country than any other single force. They gave the country the core of its civil service, education and medical systems. Working closely with the royal family, the missionaries played the crucial role in eliminating slavery and keeping
the country free of Western control during the colonial era. Thailand owes to missionaries its widespread literacy, first printing press, first university, first hospital, first doctor and almost every other benefit of education and science. In every area, including trade and diplomacy, Christian missionaries put the needs of the host nation first and helped usher in the twentieth century. But today virtually all that remains of this is a shell of good works. Millions have meanwhile slipped into eternity without the Lord. They died more educated, better governed and healthier —but they died without Christ and are bound for hell. The Gospel and Social Changes If the pure Gospel had been preached in China and India in the last century —instead of a watered-down
version of the Sermon on the Mount —I’m sure that freedom and prosperity would prevail over much of Asia today. Indirectly, the real Gospel produces more social change than all the efforts of the world combined. The various humanist gospels are really mankind’s pitiful efforts to find a shortcut to heaven while still on this earth. Just before China was taken over by the communists, one communist officer made a revealing statement to a missionary, John Meadows: “You missionaries have been in China for over a hundred years, but you have not won China to
your cause. You lament the fact that there are uncounted millions who have never heard the name of your God. Nor do they know anything of your Christianity.
But we communists have been in China less than 10 years, and there is not a Chinese who does not
know ...has not heard the name of Stalin ...or something of communism ... we have filled China with our doctrine. “Now let me tell you why you have failed and we have succeeded,” the officer continued.“ You have tried to win the attention of masses by building churches, missions, mission hospitals, schools and what not. But we communists have printed our message and spread our literature all over China. Someday we will drive you missionaries out of our country, and we will do it by the means of the printed page.” Today, of course, John Meadows is out of China. The communists were true to their word. They won China and drove out the missionaries. Indeed, what missionaries failed to do in a hundred years, the
communists did in ten. One Christian leader said that if the church had spent as much time on preaching the Gospel as it did on hospitals, orphanages, schools and rest homes —needful though they were —the Bamboo Curtain would not exist today. The tragedy of China is being repeated today in other countries. When we allow a mission activity to
focus on the physical needs of man without the correct spiritual balance, we are participating in a program that ultimately sends people to hell. Meet some of the Missionaries One native missionary we support in northwest India, Jager, now has evangelized 60 villages and established 30 churches in a difficult area of the Punjab. He has led  hundreds to Christ. On a recent trip
to India, I went out of my way to visit Jager and his wife. I had to see for myself what kind of program he was using. Imagine my surprise when I found Jager was not using any special technology at all —unless you want to call the motor scooter and tracts
that we supplied “technology.” He was living just like the people. He had only a one-room house made of dung and mud. The kitchen was outside, also made of mud —the same stuff with which everything else is constructed in that region. To cook the food, his wife squatted in front of an open fire just like the neighboring women. What was so remarkable about this brother was that everything about him and his wife was so truly
Indian. There was absolutely nothing foreign. I asked Jager what kept him going in the midst of such incredible challenge and suffering. He said,“ Waiting upon the Lord, my brother.” I discovered he spent two to three hours daily in prayer, reading, and meditating on the Bible. This is what it takes to win Asia for Christ. This is the kind of missionary for which our nations cry out.
Four years ago we began supporting a native missionary and 30 coworkers who have started a mission only a few miles from the hospital. His staff has grown to 349 coworkers, and hundreds of churches have been started. Another native missionary, one of his co-workers, has established over 30 churches in
three years. Where do these brothers live? In little huts just like the people with whom they work. I could give you hundreds of stories that illustrate the fruit of such dedicated lives. It is like the Book of Acts being written once again. In seven years of itinerant preaching our lives read like pages from the Book of Acts. Most nights we
slept between villages in roadside ditches, where we were relatively safe. Sleeping in non-Christian villages would expose us to many dangers. Our team always created a stir, and at times we even faced stoning and beatings. The mobile Gospel teams I worked with —and often led —were just like family to me. I began to enjoy the gypsy lifestyle we lived, and the total abandonment to the cause of Christ that
is demanded of an itinerate evangelist. We were persecuted, hated and despised. Yet we kept going, knowing that we were blazing a trail for the Gospel in districts that had never before experienced an encounter with Christ. One such village was Bhundi in Rajasthan. This was the first place I was beaten and stoned for preaching
the Gospel. Often literature was destroyed. It seemed that mobs always were on the watch for us; and six times our street meetings were broken up. Our team leaders began to work elsewhere, avoiding Bhundi as much as possible. Three years later, a new team of native missionaries moved into the area under different leadership and preached again at this busy crossroads town. Almost as soon as they arrived, one man began tearing up literature and grabbed a nineteen-year-old missionary, Alex Sam, by the throat. Although beaten severely, Sam knelt in the street and prayed for the salvation of souls in that hateful city. “Lord,” he prayed, “I want to come back here and serve You in Bhundi. I ’m willing to die here, but I want to come back and serve You in this place.”  Many older Christian leaders advised him against his Decision, but being determined, he went back and rented a small room. Shipments of literature
arrived, and he preached in the face of many difficulties. Today over 100 people meet in a small church there. Those who persecuted us at one time now worship the Lord Jesus, as was the case with the apostle Paul.
This is the kind of commitment and faith it takes to win north Indian
villages to the Lord Jesus. The breadbasket of India, with its population of 15 million, is dominated by turbaned Sikhs, a fiercely independent and hardworking people who have always been a caste of warriors. Before the partition of India and Pakistan, the state also had a huge Muslim population. It remains one of the least Evangelized and most neglected areas of the world. Moses Paulose, who is today one of the native missionaries we sponsor. Millions of poor, uneducated fisher-folk live along the thousands of islands and endless miles of coastal backwaters in Asia. Their homes usually are small huts made of leaves and their lifestyles are simple —hard work and little pleasure. These fishermen and their families are some of the most unreached people in the world. But God called Paulose and his family to take the Gospel to the unreached fishing villages of Tamil Nadu on the East Coast of India. I remember visiting Paulose’s family. One of the first things he discovered when he began visiting the villages was that the literacy rate was so low he could not use tracts or printed materials
effectively. He decided to use slides, but had no projector or money to purchase one. So he made repeated trips to a hospital where he sold his blood until he had the money he needed. But the tragedy behind all this was the secret starvation Paulose and his family faced. I heard his wife comforting the children and urging them to drink water from a baby bottle in order to hold off the pangs of hunger.
There was not enough money in the house for milk. “Only God, our children, and my wife and I know the real story. We have no complaints or even unhappiness. We ’re joyfully and totally content in our service of the Lord. It is a privilege to be counted worthy to suffer for His sake....” In Nepal, one native missionary there served time in 14 different prisons between 1960 and 1975. He
spent ten out of those 15 years suffering torture and ridicule for preaching the Gospel to his people. Nepali prisons are typically Asian —literally dungeons of death. About 25 or 30 people are jammed into one small room with no ventilation or sanitation. The smell is so bad that newcomers often pass out in less than half an hour. The place where Brother P. and his fellow believers were sent was crawling with
lice and cockroaches. Prisoners slept on dirt floors. Rats and mice gnawed on fingers and toes during the night. In the winter there was no heat; in summer no ventilation. For food, the prisoners were allowed one cup of rice each day, but they had to build a fire on the ground to cook it. The room was constantly filled with smoke since there was no chimney. On that inadequate diet, most prisoners became seriously
ill, and the stench of vomit was added to the other putrefying odors. Yet, miraculously, none of the Christians were sick for even one day during the entire year. 3 Every year, dozens of native missionaries are beaten for preaching the Gospel. Some must be hospitalized
, and a few are even martyred for the sake of Christ. But they still go out, knowing the risks, their hearts burdened to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the lost areas of Asia. Native missionaries often must walk 10 to 15 miles to reach a single unreached village. Bicycles enable them to reach dozens. Every year Gospel for Asia buys several thousand bicycles, enabling missionaries to go farther, sooner. GFA’s
van teams are one of the ministry’s most powerful evangelism tools. Equipped with Christian literature, the life of Jesus film, a generator, and a megaphone, they travel from village to village, preaching the Gospel and planting churches. With a 60 to 80 percent illiteracy rate in many parts of the subcontinent, flip charts clearly communicate
the Gospel. These villagers listen eagerly as the native missionary explains about the Lord Jesus Christ. Often, right there on the street, they will receive Jesus in their hearts. Conclusion The debate among Western leaders about the future of missions has in the meantime raged on, producing whole libraries of books and some valuable research. Regrettably, however, the overall result on the
average Christian has been extremely negative. Believers today have no idea that a new day in missions has dawned or that their support of missions is more desperately needed than ever before. True, in many cases, it no longer is possible, for political reasons, for Western missionaries to go overseas, but American believers still have a vital role in helping us in the Third World finish the task. Now, in countries
like India, we need instead to send financial and technical support to native evangelists and Bible teachers. I am not calling for an end to denominational mission programs or the closing down of the many hundreds
of missions here in North America —but I am asking us to reconsider the missionary policies and practices that have guided us for the last two hundred years. It is time to make some basic changes and launch the biggest missionary movement in history —one that primarily helps send forth native missionary evangelists rather than Western staff. The principle I argue for is this: We believe the most effective
way now to win Asia for Christ is through prayer and financial support for the native missionary force that God is raising up in the Third World. How many are ready to live for eternity and follow His example into a more sacrificial lifestyle? How many
will join in the spirit of suffering of the native brethren? They are hungry, naked and homeless for the sake of Christ. I do not ask North Americans to join them —sleeping along roadsides and going to prison for their witness. But I do ask believers to share in the most practical ways possible —through financial sharing and intercessory prayer. You may never be called personally to reach the hidden peoples of Asia; but through soldier-like suffering at home, you can make it possible for millions to hear overseas. Today I am calling on Christians to give up their stale Christianity, use the weapons of spiritual warfare and advance against the enemy. We must stop skipping over the verses which read, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross, and follow me,” and “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple ”(Matt.16:24;Luke 14:33). Were these verses written only for the native missionaries who are on the front lines being stoned and
beaten and going hungry for their faith? Or were they written only for North American believers comfortably going through the motions of church, teaching conferences and concerts? Of course not. These verses apply equally to Christians in Bangkok, Boston and Bombay. It often takes around $60 to $120 a month to fully support a native missionary, but with as little as $30
a month, you can begin to help support one of these missionaries, sending him to an unreached village that is waiting to hear the Good News. Through your prayers and support, you can help him to effectively communicate the Gospel and establish local churches. Suppose you are the one who is
privileged to pray and support Simon Kujur as he serves in Bihar. Someday, in eternity, you will stand before the throne with Simon, his family —and the thousands who have came to know the Lord through his life and ministry! Today, God is calling us to become senders of missionaries who are waiting to go to these unreached villages. We have a God-given privilege to link our lives with brothers like Simon to see our generation come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. | 
