Go Beyond

This is my fourth installment of practical ideas for personal growth in the New Year. Today’s ideas focus on stretching your horizons to consider the plight and needs of the world’s remaining unreached people groups. Make this your year to pray, give and go beyond. Do more than you ever have for God and His purposes.

Open your eyes. | Ask God to enlarge your vision of the world. When you listen to the evening news or read a newspaper, listen and look for the mention of people groups. Remember that many people groups have yet to hear or read the gospel of Jesus Christ. Visit PeopleGroups.org to learn more about a particular people group, including their status of evangelization. And, visit the Wycliffe Bible Translators website to learn about their work to provide access to Scriptures to everyone in the language they understand best.

Get on your knees. | The 10/40 Window is an area of the world that extends from 10 degrees to 40 degrees north of the Equator, and stretches from North Africa across to China. This rectangular shaped window is home to the largest population of non-Christians in the world. 10/40Window.org provides online prayer guides to help you focus your prayers on the people groups still waiting to hear the good news about Jesus. Pray daily for unreached peoples.

Move away from the table. | Skip a meal or that cup of expensive coffee once a week and give the money to missions. Let the absence of food remind you of people who are still hungering for the Bread of Life. Use your time of fasting to pray for those who have little or no access to the gospel.

Get a clue. | More Christians were martyred in the 20th Century than in the previous nineteen centuries combined. Visit the Voice of the Martyrs website and subscribe to their newsletter to stay informed about the persecution of believers today. Add the persecuted church to your prayer list. We must pray for the persecuted church every day. Read my posts filed under the Persecution category in the sidebar.

Break the silence. | Share your personal story with others about how you came to faith in Jesus. And, learn how to use the Scriptures to guide others to faith in Christ. Look for opportunities to turn conversations to spiritual matters. Read my posts on the Four Calls to Evangelism to learn more about our responsibility to share the good news about Jesus Christ.

Roll up your sleeves. | We must not only share the gospel, we must also show the gospel. Live incarnationally — be Jesus with skin on. Be careful how you live because you are the only Jesus some will ever see. Do more than say “God loves you” — demonstrate God’s love to others through practical acts of kindness.

Dig into your pockets. | Only two cents of every dollar given by American Christians goes to support overseas ministries. Yet, it is estimated that Americans spend as much as 40 billion dollars on their pets. Imagine how many more people would have access to the gospel if we spent as much on missions as we do on our pets. Give sacrificially to missions.

Pack your bags. | Short-term volunteer missions initiatives are a great way to put yourself in a context where you will experience God working in and through your life in ways you never imagined. You will come home with a greater appreciation for and understanding of what it will take to finish the task of global evangelization. If your church does not mobilize teams for international travel, investigate opportunities through organizations like Innovative Mission Opportunities. This organization does a great job of leading teams to work with unreached peoples in the 10/40 Window.