Have you ever wondered if campaigns like Finishing the Task really work? (See the Finishing the Task “list” of unengaged, unreached peoples at…
http://www.finishingthetask.com/downloads.html
But when you look at the map of unengaged, unreached people groups…
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1gTIxmstra1VPtoJR-H89bntX40E&ll=-3.81666561775622e-14%2C21.723867999999925&z=1
You can’t help but notice that the list of larger unengaged groups is smaller than it has ever been before (since people started researching these questions). I suppose one might venture the question, “Does FTT CAUSE this outreach to happen?” The truth is, no Kingdom outreach occurs in a vacuum. Certainly, outreach itself happens because of many promptings. But still, sitting there in the small group workshops, hearing researchers, mapmakers, and mobilizers share testimony after testimony of how God has worked in their midst, I have to admit — it’s inspiring. Last year, I remember the pastor of a Korean church in Texas raising his hand to say, “I will endeavor to help our church make a difference among 10 of these unengaged groups.” At the time, I remember thinking, “Does this man really know what he’s getting himself into?” But this year, that same man brought back 9 other members of his local church. Over the past year, they’ve started work in two places too sensitive to mention here on the web, in each case focusing on the previously-unengaged. And the plan sounds so reachable — to add one additional people group per year over the next 8 years. I sat at their table. I talked face to face with their members. They are grappling with the complexities. But they are also buckling down to find answers. And through God’s power, it’s happening.
Yes, I sometimes wonder how one would ever find some of the smaller groups. And yes, sometimes it feels soooooo American to make a list, check it twice, then start sending a group to each line until there are people there who have embraced Christ. But then I lean back in my chair, shake my head, and wonder, if not this, then how? Would this church in Texas have gotten so sacrificially involved in traveling to the other side of the world for the sake of the Gospel? I guess. Maybe. But — how would they have figured out where to go? And even more importantly, what would have prompted them to do so?
At the end of the day, I conclude once again, if we believe that God wants us to make disciples of all nations (Duh — Matt. 28:19-20), then, if not this, how? If not FTT, then what?
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