A Piece of Kake

          Last week during my regular work out at the Cuyahoga Falls Natatorium, I took the time to notice the grandeur of the place. High ceilings, expensive equipment, spacious locker rooms, several pools, and even a childcare center met my eyes. As I passed fellow exercisers, I marveled at the irony of the American fitness industry. While we spend a fortune each year to work off extra weight, millions across the globe starve as they live on less than a dollar a day. I shuddered as I realized it costs about a dollar a day to belong to the Natatorium. This is the same amount that Gospel for Asia requests from donors to support native missionaries.

            I just finished Revolutions in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan and found it a quick but convicting read.  Yohannan tells how he founded Gospel for Asia, an organization that supports native missionaries in the 10/40 Window, which is home to most of the world’s unreached people groups. At sixteen, he became a street evangelist in his native India through Operation Mobilization, an organization run by George Verwer, who spoke at the 2005 Xenos Summer Institute. After eight years of walking from village to village, spreading the gospel to many who had never heard it, Yohannan was offered the opportunity to study at a Bible college in the U.S. He accepted and moved to Texas.

 

            Yohannan was astonished at American affluence, including the wealth of many Christians. He became convicted about sharing the needs of Asian missionaries with the resource-rich churches of the West. Meanwhile, his studies revealed that discipleship was missing from his evangelistic efforts in India. Native missionaries needed to help plant churches so new believers could grow in their faith. He wrote to a missions director he knew in India, shared his burdens, and started speaking to churches about supporting native evangelists.            

          To make his request for support more tangible, Yohannan suggested setting aside a dollar a day in order to send in $30 a month. This goes directly toward the $90-180 it takes each month to support a native missionary in the 10/40 Window. These missionaries are Asians who accept Christ, often as a result of missions work, and want to give their life to spreading God’s word. They train intensively for three years at one of the many Bible colleges Gospel for Asia has established. Once in the field, they target the most unreached people groups, often found in small villages where no one has ever heard the name of Jesus.             

          Yohannan makes a strong case for focusing American resources on supporting native missionaries, rather than sending more Westerners. While he isn’t against Western missionaries in Asia, he reasons that our time and money can go further because native missionaries are already acclimated to the culture, speak the same or a similar language, and live at the same level as the people they seek to reach, at $1-3 per day. Due to the work of earlier Western missionaries, indigenous leaders have been raised and are capable of continuing the work. Because their work is a full-time job and the people they serve are so impoverished, outside support allows them to continue building the Kingdom.           

          Yohannan referred to the U.S. as “a nation asleep in bondage.” While we may not have a church building or extravagant programs, we do need to prayerfully consider what sacrifices we can make to give to missions. The author notes that many American Christians are very generous, but lack of involvement in the Body of Christ often leads to unawareness of needs and opportunities to help. If we truly value and practice Body Life, let’s challenge each other to get involved in missions by attending the monthly prayer meeting, giving financially, and taking the Perspectives course. There’s a prayer meeting this Saturday, Nov. 17^th at 8:30 a.m.            

          There is much more to Gospel for Asia’s work and convictions, so I recommend reading Revolution in World Missions. You can request a free copy at their Web site: www.gfa.org.

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