7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged."8Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."
And, that can be a cry of our heart - to be willing to be used by God, desiring to be obedient as He calls and as He sends. It's the sense of a divine assignment. He wants to use us as vessels through which His love and truth can be expressed. As we grow in Christ, I believe He gives us a greater desire to serve and an increased love for others, including a burden to see those who do not know Him come into the saving knowledge of Jesus. And, He equips us to do His Kingdom work! Our response to the call of God? "Here am I! Send me."
Jesus said in Matthew chapter 28 that...
18 "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
It's called the Great Commission, and we are all called to be participants in that work. And, there is a new study out that tracks some of the progress in the work of missions world wide.
ChristianityToday.com reports on that new study, released by The Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary showing that Christians sent out approximately 400,000 international missionaries in 2010. The CSGC reports that "of the ten countries sending the most missionaries in 2010, three were in the global South: Brazil, South Korea, and India." Other notable missionary senders included South Africa, the Philippines, Mexico, China, Colombia, and Nigeria.
The United States still tops the chart by far in terms of total missionaries, sending 127,000 in 2010 compared to the 34,000 sent by No. 2-ranked Brazil. But, if you examine the data differently—in terms of missionaries sent per million church members—Palestine, which is in a sense considered a country by the U.N. even though it has no geographical borders, comes out on top at 3,401 sent, followed by Ireland, Malta, and Samoa.
The 10 countries that sent the most international missionaries in 2010 were home to 32 percent of the world's church members but sent almost 73 percent of all international missionaries.
The country on the face of globe receiving the most missionaries in 2010? The United States, with 32,400 sent from other nations.
"The 'top nine' receiving countries were home to only 3.5% of the world's non-Christians but received more than 34% of all international missionaries," notes the CSGC. "All nine have Christian majorities, and they were home to over 34% of the world's Christians in 2010." The countries receiving the most missionaries per million people are overwhelmingly in Oceania and the Caribbean and have majority Christian populations. Samoa, at the top of the list, received more than one missionary for every three non-Christians. None of these top 10 countries was less than 90% Christian and only three were less than 95%.
By contrast, "The ten countries with the most non-Christians in 2010 were home to 73% of all non-Christians globally. Because many of them restrict or deny missionary access, however, they received only 9% of all international missionaries," notes the CSGC. The lion's share are in China, India, and Nigeria, where "large numbers of home missionaries also work among non-Christians."
This is a study that can help us to get a handle on how God is at work throughout the world and how the gospel is being propagated. And, it can motivate us to be in prayer for the nations of the world. There are tools available that can help identify how to pray for the nations by name - Operation World comes to mind - it is a fascinating guide to the spiritual climate and the sociological trends in nations throughout the world. You can also go to the website, OperationWorld.org. Today's nation is Japan.
One area in which we can pray is for the development of creative strategies that can penetrate the barriers that are preventing the entrance of missionaries into these countries that do not allow international missionaries. There are those who will enter a "closed" country by other means, such as their occupation. People will accept teaching jobs in foreign nations with the expressed purpose of sharing the gospel, but they don't go in as a missionary, per se. And, you can see people that reside in some of these closed nations who have a heart to share Christ who are trained to share the gospel in difficult political situations, such as North Korea or China. There are missions organizations who do not send missionaries into these challenging neighborhoods, but are devoted to supporting and equipping their efforts. Steven Kim and 318 Partners are examples. I would be willing to say that the CSGC survey does not include these more clandestine methods of sharing Christ.
And, while we are concerned about the world at large and for people of all nations to come to know Christ, I believe we're called to reach the world around us - the people with whom we interact each day. We can pray for sensitivity to the Holy Spirit as He provides opportunities to share Christ's love and for boldness to proclaim His truth. And, as He leads, there may be an open door for you to "GO" and share the message of salvation through Jesus.
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