Moving Forward in Missions During Unprecedented Times – How to Reach the Unreached Without Boarding an Airplane –

Do you have a heart for the world? Are you a missionary, a church leader who supports missionaries, the staff of a missionary sending organization, or simply a local believer who wants to see God glorified among every tribe, people, nation, and tongue? Have you found your desires now confused and thrown into chaos due to the pandemic that has swept our entire globe?

So much has been happening in our country the past few months. Due to the current global pandemic, our country and our world have been experiencing events never seen by this generation. The effects have impacted almost everyone on the planet. The number of ways that our local and global situation has caused hardships is too high to count. Almost every individual, business, and organization must now re-think what they are doing and how to adapt to make things better for their lives and the lives of employees. And what if God is doing something big through this re-thinking process? What if He is using complete unrest to challenge us to “think different” about missions? What if His heart for the nations has not changed but where He sends us to reach them has?

I work in full-time ministry with missionary sending agencies, and my organizations—along with hundreds of others—have not been immune to the impacts of the global pandemic. Missions organizations as well as local churches have all been affected as they have scrambled to adjust to being missional without traveling and without social interaction, which were the main ways for ministries to reach people before all this began. This has caused ministries and other organizations to re-write their ministry plans and implement new innovative ideas to share Jesus with people. As time goes on, quarantines and lock downs are slowly lifting, allowing ministries to begin taking steps back to a somewhat “normal” ministry routine. It is becoming evident, however, that things will never truly return to normal, or at least, not for a very long time. Most mission organizations still have restrictions in place: travel suspended indefinitely for missionaries and employees; no in-person trainings or orientations; restricted and cut financial budgets due to an unknown economy; the list goes on. Things have certainly changed, and it seems as though they will not completely return to “normal” anytime soon.

So, what do missionaries, churches, and ministries do with themselves until that time? While so many things are changing in our world, there is one specific opportunity that could be taken advantage of during all this change, particularly in the mission world. It’s time to think about those we haven’t been paying attention to or simply didn’t know about. It’s truly my belief that due to this global pandemic and much unrest, we now have a wide open door to reach the thousands of unreached people who have come from the ends of the earth to our North American cities as international refugees, immigrants, international students, and business people.

Our cities in North America are full of international peoples. If you believe that God is in charge of the world and is in control of His people, then you must believe that He manages the movement of all his created people in the world (Acts 17:26). Throughout history, and up to present day, we have seen thousands and thousands of peoples come from the hardest-to-reach areas of the world and land in our local cities. With missions agencies and organizations restricting travel for missionaries outside the country indefinitely, the government still limiting international travel, countries not allowing Americans to enter, and missionaries that are just sitting around waiting to travel again and return to “normal” (if that actually ever happens anytime soon), I would say that this is an epic opportunity to turn our attention to the unreached people groups that are living right now in our towns and cities such as Afghans, Syrians, Rohingya, Bhutanese, Burmese, Saudis, Indians, and more.

An Unreached People Group is an ethnolinguistic group that is less than 2% evangelical. In practical terms, an unreached people group is lacking access to the gospel because of a lack of churches or Christians among them who can clearly communicate the message.[1] For years missionaries and churches have been trying to find ways to go and reach the unreached. However, right now, we are restricted in being able to go to them. So perhaps God is turning our attention to the fact that He has already brought many here?

Let me first address current missionaries. Since I work with mission sending agencies specifically, I see current missionaries in a few different categories. First are missionaries who have decided to stay in their countries of missional service and not return to North America. They are living cross-culturally while dealing with the global effects of a pandemic. Second are missionaries who returned to North America when the pandemic first hit, before travel restrictions were imposed. Third are missionaries who were appointed and preparing to launch to their ministry assignments around the world when the pandemic hit, causing them to be put on hold. They find themselves simply waiting around, not knowing when or if they will be able to actually board an airplane and move to another country to begin their ministries. These missionaries remain in North America with unanswered questions and unknown timelines. For the sake of this article, I concentrate on the missionaries that fall into the second and third categories. While I recognize and admire the missionaries that have remained in their host countries, I want to draw your attention to the missionaries who have returned to North America, and those who have yet to leave North America to begin their ministry.

Would you take a moment to pray about and consider the people you, your church, or your organization were planning to move overseas to reach? Now, do a bit of research and investigate: are any of those people already here in North America? For example, you can move to Senegal to reach the Wolof people or you can move to New York City and enter a community of over 30,000 Wolof people who now make their home there[2]. This is the case in almost every major city in North America.

You might have been aware of unreached people groups existing overseas. However, when those people from unreached people groups leave their villages, cities, and countries and come to North America, they are still unreached. Just because they land in North America does not mean they are now automatically “reached.” Even though they are now across the street from us instead of across the world, they will still never have the incredible opportunity to hear the gospel or experience the loving community of the Church unless someone is intentional and willing to share with them and love them. The incredible thing about it is the fact that we can now share with them and love them without ever getting on a plane or boat to leave our country. We simply cannot afford to misunderstand this incredible opportunity before us, especially in our current global situation.

In a time that missionaries have come back from host countries, and others are still waiting to go but don’t know when, there is an opportunity to reach the nations, even though so many missionaries and mission organizations have unanswered questions and are waiting for the world to go back to “normal.” Can I please implore you all, as well as the Church and all mission agencies to see unreached peoples in North American cities as a priority? There is no need to sit around as missionaries waiting on things to return to “normal.” There is no reason not to continue mobilizing missionaries to reach the unreached when everything can continue with a simple strategy change that implements a focus on international refugees, immigrants, international students, and business people who now live among us from unreached people groups and places. If God has called missionaries to reach lost Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Tribal peoples, then we must realize that a global pandemic is not an excuse to sit back and do nothing, because missions can happen among the unreached right here in North America. As you consider this, could I also pose a question? What if one of the reasons for limiting travel and social movement at this present moment is God’s way of helping us see that the unreached are right down the street?

Click to view this graphic provided by Global Gates. While it doesn’t cover the complete picture of the nations in North America, it does capture a big part in allowing you to see that there is an overwhelming percent of unreached peoples living in hundreds of cities across North America. The work among unreached peoples in North America is crucial, and now, more than ever, we have a missionary force that has returned home as well as those who are waiting to go who are primed and ready to begin or continue their ministries among the nations locally. Could I propose that while you wait for answers on launch dates or return dates that you seriously consider turning your focus and attention to the need for ministry among people groups right here?

Now, to speak to mission sending organizations and missional churches: you would do well to create a plan to emphasize the need among the unreached in North America cities and communities. Missions agencies and organizations do not need to stop what they are doing and wait for “normal” conditions to continue what they were doing before. Perhaps 50 years ago, a global situation such as the current one might cause ministries to come to a halt. However, there are no excuses now. Missions to unreached peoples is no longer just something that happens overseas. Missions to the unreached now happens overseas and in North America. If this realization is not understood at this point, then what will it take? Missions organizations and local churches now have an incredible opportunity to mobilize, support, and send missionaries to reach people that have never been reached before who now live right in their own back yards.

Churches in North America have had a growing focus on unreached people groups, but it seems that the focus only concentrates on those outside North America, without an effort to acknowledge the peoples from the unreached groups and places right next to our churches in our own cities, towns, and neighborhoods. Mission organizations are similar. For the most part, mission organizations have done well in their mobilizing and sending of missionaries to unreached outside North America. However, if mission organizations do not see the opportunity to reach the same unreached peoples living right here in North America, they will pass up an incredible God-given opportunity to be effective and to see the gospel reach those it never has before. In light of the current global pandemic situation, there is no possible way for churches and mission organizations to turn a blind eye to the need for mobilizing and sending new and current missionaries to reach unreached peoples without going very far. Again, to change this, it will simply require some discussion and a small change of strategy.

Let me address one point that you may be thinking about at this point, which is financial funding. You might be saying, “I agree with this,” but financial giving is down, and our churches and organizations are restructuring budgets. I want to let you know that I hear that and understand it, and I would probably feel differently about it if I wasn’t in the position I’m in. However, one of my roles as I serve within a couple of mission sending organizations is Pre-Field Coach, or Ministry Preparation Coach. I have coached over sixty missionaries in the past 6 years, which has included coaching individuals to raise their full financial support before leaving for the ministry assignment, making sure they are completing the right training, helping them navigate all the details of preparation, and walking with them through the ups and downs of the support raising and preparation journey.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have coached half a dozen new missionaries. These are missionaries who were appointed right before the pandemic and started raising their support right in the thick of lockdowns and global fear. In the past five months, I have watched one of them become fully funded and the rest make significant progress in their funding. Current donors may not be giving right now to churches and mission organizations, but God is still sending out missionaries, and individual believers still understand the command and vision God has given us all to reach His people. They are willing to give toward that vision, even during a global pandemic. The fear of a lack of financial funding of missionaries should not be a reason for churches and mission organizations to put everything on hold. In my experience, I have not seen this to be a legitimate factor, especially among newly appointed missionaries. That means that new missionaries can be mobilized, raise their funding, and be sent to the unreached without leaving North America.

You might be reading this and find that you don’t fit into one of the categories I mentioned above. If that’s you, I would assume you are just now finding yourself in a place where you are seeking what it might look like to be a missionary among a certain people or group or do a certain type of ministry. Maybe it was just at the time that this pandemic started that you were feeling God calling you into missions, but now you’re confused on what to do since it seems there are no options to go overseas or start a new ministry. While things have certainly changed with many people not moving about the globe, there has never been a better time to consider engaging people cross-culturally right now in your own city or cities near to you. I would argue that just about anything you could do as a missionary cross-culturally outside North America is now possible to do among the nations within the borders of North America.

Reaching out in love and friendship and sharing Jesus with our international neighbors is not only a Biblical idea, but God has a plan and a purpose for bringing them close to us. I have often thought that because the unreached are so hard to reach around the world, maybe God moved them right to us so that we have no excuse to reach them. My fear is we will just come up with new excuses during this time. Even now you might be thinking of international people you know or that you have seen at the store. You might even know other internationals such as coworkers, neighbors, or those you have seen at the park. Those people might be Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or even animistic. However, they are all in need of Jesus, and the opportunity that we have in front of us to share the love of Jesus with them is easier now than ever.

Before I continue, I do want to emphasis something. Ministering to unreached people groups is hard. That is why so many of these groups have remained unreached around the world (visit joshuaproject.org to see for yourself). There is little difference in reaching unreached peoples with the gospel here as compared to being a missionary and moving to their country and trying to reach them there. The only major differences that I can see are that the unreached are now functioning in your home culture, as opposed to their own, and they live close to you instead of in a village only accessible by boat or a 24-hour airplane ride. Those who come to live here from unreached groups and areas of the world bring with them their original culture, worldviews, religious beliefs, experiences, and families. In a way, they bring a piece of Afghanistan or Somalia with them when they come.

As missionaries overseas, you must learn the language, understand the culture, and find contextualized ways to introduce them to Jesus and see gatherings of believers started. I do not want to surprise you, but this is the exact same process that you will need to go through as you reach them here in our North American cities. It’s not an easy ministry task, but I assume you would agree that it’s a crucial one. If you choose to engage the unreached here, which I hope you do, you will find that you must balance the comfortableness of living in your host culture, while also learning to bridge and adjust into their foreign culture.

For example, my wife and I live in an apartment complex close to a community of refugees. We live in our home like most other Americans. However, when we visit the home of a Somali, Afghan, or even a Rohingya family, we enter a completely different culture, country, and world. In the homes of our refugee friends, we usually sit on the floor with no furniture. They cook and feed us no matter what time of day it is because of their immense hospitality. We eat with our hands, and we try food that we would probably have never eaten in our lives, because we just are not quite sure what it is. We listen to their stories of how they slaughtered a cow and sheep in their apartment and back yard (which we had to advocate to the apartment management about) for their celebration for Eid (a Muslim celebration). In most cases our new friends do not have a high level of English language. This creates an opportunity for us to begin learning some of their language, but it also gives us the opportunity to teach them ours. It also gives us the opportunity to share with them simplified stories of Jesus, such as how He loves us despite the things we have done, or how He is our refuge and safe place. When we leave, they send us off with sacks of food and energy drinks, which we did not really want, but we take them out of respect and kindness. We then return home to our home, melding back into our familiar culture.

So no, it is not an easy task. Reaching the unreached is hard and there are many obstacles, but if you were thinking about reaching them overseas, could you not simply do it here during this time of uncertainty and global change? Would it not even be worthwhile to give your time and efforts to the unreached here to begin with, before launching (or re-launching) overseas at some point as a way of learning and preparing and taking this incredible opportunity that God has given us? Thousands and thousands of these peoples are waiting for an American or Canadian friend. Most people in North America never give international neighbors the time of day. I have personally talked with international friends who have said they have never been invited to the home of an American or had an American visit them. We would do well if we could step out in faith and boldness, drive across our city, and be Jesus in the lives of those that God has brought close to us. I think that God would truly bless our efforts for His glory.

Our international neighbors (whether refugees, international students, immigrants, or international businesspeople) are looking for loving friendships and just want to be welcomed warmly. They are just like us. They have the same fears and questions we do about our global pandemic situation. They enjoy the same sports, tv shows, and activities we do. My wife and I have had refugee friends to our home and let them create their own pizzas. We’ve taken one group of refugee friends on a hike and another group to the Grand Canyon. We help them learn English, and during the pandemic we are engaging with refugee friends online and through virtual calls. Stories of Jesus are still being shared and international friends are still asking for our help and requesting that we come visit their families in the midst of it all. Jesus is now being shared with these people who have never heard of Him or ever knew that He is their Savior.

Now, can I ask you a final question as an individual or family? What will you do now? Where will you go from here? Would you be willing to take steps out in faith and boldness to engage the unreached in your city? Would you be willing to move to a different city or state (which is a relatively short and easy move as compared to moving overseas) in order to live close or among a community of international peoples so that you can be the one that introduces them to the love of Jesus?

Can I also ask a final question to you as a church or mission organization? How will you respond to this time in our world? What would it take to turn more of your strategy and focus to reaching the unreached in North American cities? What steps could you take now to begin mobilizing and sending new and current missionaries to the unreached peoples that live in our North American cities?

There are several ministries that have begun work among unreached peoples in many North American cities, and still, there are many cities that have no work started among the unreached peoples who have moved there. Some of the active ministries today are already working in close partnership with sending agencies to make the connection to unreached peoples extremely easy in North America. If you are a ministry leader, maybe your own church or organization currently partners with some of these groups, and you might just need to ask. If your church or organization doesn’t partner with any, or if they have not yet grasped the importance if this type of ministry, you might want to consider having a conversation with the right leaders to get the ball rolling on having them implement a plan and strategy for reaching unreached peoples in North America. Most churches and organizations are already adapting their ministry plans and strategies due to the global situation, so now is a perfect time to add this into their new ministry approach.

Maybe you are not with a missionary sending agency at this point and you are simply interested in what it might look like to join the work among the unreached full-time or as an entrance ramp into cross-cultural ministry. My suggestion would be to find an organization that is directly working among unreached peoples in North America or connect with a sending agency that has partnered up with local ministries in North American cities.

If you do not know where to start to look for training and opportunities, a couple of recommended places to start with are:

International Project – New York City, New York

Internationalproject.org

Global Frontier Missions – Clarkston, Georgia

Globalfrontiermissions.org

Go to Every Nation (GoTEN) – Phoenix, Arizona

Goten.org

Global Gates – New York City, New York

Globalgates.info

If I can be of any assistance to you, your church, or your sending organization as you consider how you will implement this new focus and strategy, or about how to connect with churches and organizations that are already working in North American cities, please feel free to contact me at my email listed below.

Written by: Jordan Smith 2020

JordanS@go28.org

About the Author: Jordan and his wife Maaika live in Phoenix, Arizona where they serve with Go to Every Nation (GoTEN). They are actively engaging international refugee peoples from five main focus regions in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Jordan Also works as a pre-field coach for new missionaries and is a mobilizer with United World Mission, which he has done for over 7 years.

[1] Global Gates https://globalgates.info/upg-2-2/

[2] https://unreachednewyork.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Senegalese-Profile-Final.pdf