Our hearts and prayers are with you as we continue to struggle in our country with the Covid-19 pandemic and racial tension. We had hoped that this virus would be ending by now and that life would return to normal, but that is not the case. Here in Florida, the cases keep increasing each day. In our country, we see people clash and struggle, and we lament the awful hatred and violence between races. Yet we trust that God is with us. He is growing us up and He is helping us become more like Jesus!
God’s heart has always been one of compassion for all peoples of the earth. From His call to Abraham in Genesis 12: 1-3 (“I will bless you…and all peoples of the earth will be blessed through you”) to the giving of the Great Commission in Matt 28:18-20 (“…go and make disciples of all nations (peoples)…) to the scene before God’s Throne in Revelation 7:9 (…from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”), God’s love for every person has been made clear. Steve and I were encouraged and reminded of this as we studied World Missions for the past 5 weeks in an online seminary course with Cru’s Institute of Biblical Studies.
It was fascinating to see how God has built His church starting with the Apostles and Paul, continuing with persecution and the spread of the church by displaced believers, and being carried to all the countries of the world by great missionaries like William Carey and Hudson Taylor. In our day, we see that though the Gospel has penetrated many countries, there are still thousands of “people groups” within nations that have never yet had a chance to hear about Jesus and His great love for them. It is estimated that there are still 6,700 people groups who are still unreached. This is the great task before us as the Body of Christ.
We are so thankful to be part of reaching the world for Christ through Cru. As of May 27th 2020, the Jesus Film has been translated into 1838 languages covering nearly 98% of all people, which means many of these unreached groups now have a chance to see and hear Jesus in their heart language. Please pray for the unreached peoples to respond to God’s amazing love for them with faith as they hear the Good News!