Interceding for “Unreached Peoples”

Using Joshua, God led the Israelites into Canaan. Through faith in God, they crossed the River Jordan on dry ground. The sturdy walls of Jericho fell without any assault. God also stopped the movements of the sun and moon, and helped them triumph over the allied armies of the five kings. Then He delivered the many tribes of Canaan one by one into their hands. Yet regrettably, there were still many lands not taken by the Israelites when Joshua reached an old age.

Jesus Christ is the executor of God’s plan and work of salvation. His stature and power far exceeds that of Joshua. He accomplished salvation, was resurrected and rose up to Heaven, and gave this command to the Church, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20) He also gave the promise of the Holy Spirit and authority, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) The commander of the grace of salvation has given us all manner of spiritual authority, and instructed us to preach the Gospel of the Heavenly Kingdom to the whole world so that all nations and peoples, through knowledge of the true light, may escape Satan’s power of darkness and return to the kingdom of the Beloved Son. Regrettably, there are still many who have not yet heard the Good News after the Gospel of the Heavenly Kingdom has been preached for over 2,000 years. To our Lord and Ruler of the Heavenly Kingdom, there are still many unreached peoples.

According to a survey by the Joshua Project, there are currently 16,656 different people groups in the world, of which 6,938 do not know the Gospel and are considered “unreached peoples”. They number some 2.88 billion, or around 41.9% of the world’s population. Most of these people groups are situated in the 10/40 Window, and are desperately in need of knowing and receiving God’s grace of salvation. In these many people groups and this vast population, each person’s heart is an impregnable stronghold. They are under the many potent controls of Satan, such as traditional religions, misleading idolatry, foul customs and backward rituals, self-delusional views of life, corrupt morals, erroneous values and deceptive views of eternity etc. To the Church, most of these people groups are like the Canaanites of yore: tough as the Anakite giants. Their hearts are as hard as the fortified walls of Jericho. How can we conquer the cities of unyielding hearts of these people groups? Paul has already given us the secret key, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) We should emulate the attitude and method of Paul’s evangelism, closely follow and rely on the Lord, fully submit to the Holy Spirit, put on the full armour bestowed by God, and continue to pray ardently. In this way, we will surely experience the triumph of the Lord.

To complement our Missions Week at the end of April, this month is the Church’s Prayer Month. This writer hopes in conjunction with everyone to learn to intercede for these “unreached peoples”, so that the Lord of the Harvest will dispatch more workers to sow the seed of the Gospel and harvest men’s souls. In the next four weeks, starting from today, please follow the missionary prayer items provided each week by the Church in Chinese or subscribe from the website of Joshua Project and faithfully pray and intercede daily for an “unreached people”. Although men’s hearts are exceedingly hard, if we rely on the Lord and pray earnestly in faith, God will surely do His work and return these “unreached peoples” to Jesus Christ.

http://www.joshuaproject.net/

By: Daniel To