Are there hard people groups to reach with the gospel? Are
there impossible groups? Are there mission fields that are just too hardened to
receive any gospel impact?
The answer to the first question is "Yes," but, of
course, the answer to the second and third questions is "No." It
might seem that way though. From an American mindset, with the acts of
terrorism and the hype about Muslim inroads and potential takeover of society,
there seems to be some skepticism or even pessimism that Muslim people can be
reached - either here in our country or in the regions of the world where they
dominate. It seems that Muslims are so deeply and so fanatically entrenched in
an ideology that is so utterly opposed to Christianity that there is no hope
for them.
My pastor just returned from a trip to the Netherlands,
where he was ministering in an Arabic church. The members are primarily Syrian
and Iraqi immigrants and refugees - people who have relocated due to war or
other reasons. Many of them have passed through difficult times and hard
challenges, but somewhere along the line, they got saved. These
"hopeless" people heard the gospel and embraced it, and they are now
redeemed - part of God's family and our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Two of you ladies are working in Muslim-dominated countries.
You have seen these stories happen over and over again - God's work of
redemptive grace. You know of dozens of men (close to 200, if I remember
correctly) who are training and preparing to reach their own people with the
gospel. One of my friends is at this moment on a trip to an African country
with a strong Islamic influence - another "hopeless" location. But in
the past year that a new medical clinic has been in operation, many thousands
of people have heard the gospel, and nine have been gloriously saved.
No people group is impossible to reach. God is "not wishing
for any to perish but for all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). God
has people everywhere that He is drawing to Himself. Does that include Muslim
countries? Yes. Does that include Catholic countries? Yes. Does that include
countries dominated by animism or any other false religion? Yes. Does that
include secular countries that think they no longer need God? Yes. Does it
include countries that are so refined and advanced that they think they can
improve on their own? Yes. It includes rural areas that are still unreached,
and it includes urban areas ridden with poverty and crime. It includes young
and old, rich and poor, powerful and insignificant, educated and ignorant. God
can reach all of them.
"For the word of God is living and active and sharper
than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and
spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and
intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
You know this. You are there. You have seen it happen. You
have been involved in God's work of sharing the gospel, and you have seen
people saved and lives changed.
Those stories may not happen every day. You might go for
weeks or months without seeing anyone saved, but it does happen. I think of the
stories of pioneering missionaries - those who opened new countries to the
gospel. Some of them worked for years without ever seeing a convert. Some lost
their lives without ever seeing any fruit. That doesn't mean God wasn't working
through them. Their labors were part of His plan, and gradually people were
saved, churches were started, and lives were changed.
From time to time, it seems there are countries where God
does a tremendous work in a very short amount of time - when there are
widespread conversions of large percentages of the population. Those situations
are exciting, but they are not the normal. In most cases, the work is much more
gradual, but it does happen. What you do today matters for eternity. "Let
us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow
weary" (Galatians 6:9).
If you don't see scores of new converts, faithful growth of
new Christians, or establishment of new churches, be patient. Endure. God is
doing His work, and He will continue doing it for His honor and His glory. Some
day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, some to the mighty God
they had never acknowledged before, and some to the God whose love and
salvation they have embraced. Many of those converted people will be from hard
countries, "hopeless" people groups, and "impossible"
cultures. God can call them, and God can save them.
God is saving Muslims and Catholics. He is saving those
caught up in animism and syncretism. He is saving those mired in secular
humanism and those deceived by dead denominations. He is saving atheists and
agnostics. No one is beyond the reach of God's love or of His power to save.
"Worthy are You to take the book and to break its
seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every
tribe and tongue and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9). May God help you
this week to make progress in reaching the particular people to whom He has
called you to present His gospel.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holtmember at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
Archived letters: www.dearmissionarylady.blogspot.com.
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
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