No Access: The 10/40 Window

"The issue is not lostness but access to the Gospel." --Xplore (pg. 12)

Most people that have grown up within the church at least have heard about the 10/40 window. The 10/40 window stretches from 10 degrees latitude to 40 degrees latitude encompassing West Africa to East Asia.

Taken from joshuaproject.net 

The thing that separates people that are living in the 10/40 window from people who are not Christians living outside the 10/40 window is access. In the United State, even if you are not a Christian, you could find a Church, a Christian, or a bookstore with the Bible and Christian books. Point being, that you could find about Christianity if you wanted to. But in the countries within the 10/40 window you couldn't even find out about Christianity if you wanted to. You could live your entire life and never meet a Christian.

They have no access. 

Because they have no access, they need missionaries to go there more than any other place in the world. While we need missionaries in every country, many countries at least have access to the Gospel. Around 10% of all missionaries are even going to the unreached. And believe me, 10% is an generous estimate, some believe that it is more around 5%!


On top of that, only 2 cents for every dollar for missions goes to the unreached and 10/40 window. If you thought the wage gap was bad for men to women, look at the wage gap for missionaries going to the unreached!

Why are they unreached? 

I want to clarify a few things first:

1. They are not unreached because of sin. Everyone is separated from God because of sin. That's a human affliction, not a regional one.

2. They are not unreached because they are in places so remote that no one can get there. Most of the people in the 10/40 window live in places you can reach in 72 hours. You could be in Beijing, Tokyo, India, or Egypt in a few days.


The reasons that they remain unreached today are complicated. Many of the places were the origins for various religions. The Middle East gave birth to Islam. Buddhism is from China, Shintoism is from Japan, and Hinduism is from India. Things like Communism (non-religious) and Sharia Law remain barriers in many places, even if they are no longer the Nation's law.

Some of these governments are oppressive to Christians. Others have very negative connotations of foreigners.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Some places have hostile environments.

The real reason so many places remain unreached. 

 The real reason that so many people have not heard the gospel is because we have chosen not to reach them.

From Gospel Meditations for Missions:

Paul taught us that the essence of mission is going places where Christ is not already named (Romans 16:20--It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not build on someone else’s foundation.) I don’t understand why church planters so frequently ignore the little word not. The mission is not to plant the coolest church in town, but the only church in town. Why target The Bible Belt when so many places don’t even have a Bible? Roughly 35% of the world has no access to the Gospel. I'm not talking about the people in your neighborhood who have never heard "a clear presentation or the Gospel" (but you could if you would just cross the street). I'm talking about the 2,400,000,000 people who couldn't find a church if they tried. How is this possible? How many of our mission workers are even targeting them? I might be satisfied with a proportionate 35%. But get this: it's less than 5%! Tip a waitress 5% and she'll spit in our soup the next time you order lunch. Five measly percent is a yawn in the face of the Great Commissioner, a shrug at the plight of the damned. It's tantamount to telling the unreached to go to Hell.

Forgive my candor, but I don't know how else to verbalize what our inaction is communicating. We're cloistered in climate-controlled cathedrals, feasting while billions can't even find a drop of Water. "We do not well! This is a day of good tidings!" (2 Kings 7:9) Our main problem isn't fear. Certainly we prefer our crosses guilded, not bloody--but there's a bigger issue. Christ is not our life (Philippians 1:21--For to live is Christ and to die is gain). We're self-absorbed. Distracted. Apathetic. Unimpressed at the stunning honor of fulfilling biblical prophecies. Passionate about anything other than harvest fields of unreached souls--unreached not because they're unreachable, but because we've chosen not to reach them.

All of this his leaves me (Kayla) with just one question: What is more important to you: your comfort, money, and friends which are all temporal, or the thousands of people, whom Jesus died for, who are eternal.

Who do you love more: yourself or God? One cannot serve two masters.

 

What is Long-Term Missions Really?

Missions seems to be a bit of an enigma. Most people know what missions is, but few know what missionaries do. This could be because each missionary they talk to seems to be doing something different. And some are even missionaries within Wichita, Kansas!

It has become a Black Box  within the Christian Church. I'm fairly confident that we can all give the answer that mission work is telling others about Jesus/the Gospel, but I would be hard pressed to find a more specific answer.

In reality, the answer is quite simple on the surface, but complex enough to take a lifetime to understand in every context. But I believe that within every country, area, and place, missions has two core components.

Component 1: The Gospel

 

Mission work with out the Gospel is humanitarian work at best, and more likely Christian Tourism.  If your "mission trip" does not include Gospel-centered preaching, then, you are not really doing Christian Missions.

You see, the goal of missions is to fulfill the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20.

          Then Jesus cam to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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." (NIV)

Missions strives to fulfill that commandment. Now, it is often thought that the command "go" is the main part of the verse. But this is simply incorrect. The main verb is "make." Missions--in essence--is making Christians. That's how you can be a missionary no matter where you are.

Component 2: Serving Others

 

The thing that really throws mission in for a loop is serving others. This will look different everywhere. Some places need clean water, and some don't. Wichita is one of the biggest sex trafficking cities in the U.S., so serving others could look like opening your home as a safe house for those trying to get off the streets. Serving others could looking like being a foster parent. It could like translating the Bible into a different language. It could be teaching people who are illiterate. It could be any number of things!

There are so many different ways in which to serve others. But one thing I know for sure--Christianity is to be a servant. Paul [the apostle] often starts off his letters with the phrases: "Paul, a servant of Christ" or "Paul, a slave of Christ." It is even further highlighted in Philippians 2: 5-7a.

          Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature with God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant. 

If God himself came to serve, how much more are we to serve!

The REAL Purpose of Short-Term Foreign Missions

As I hope would be apparent, there is no such thing as a short-term or part-time Christians. Either you are for God or against Him. You are a full-time Christian or not a Christian at all.

So, if there are no short-term Christians, why are there short-term missions? Surely, God doesn't want the Gospel going to every tribe, tongue, and nation only part of the time. God wants the Gospel to go to every tribe, tongue, and nation all the time.

If there is no such thing as a short-term Christian, and God wants the Gospel to go to every tribe, tongue, and nation all the time, why are short-term foreign missions a thing? 

While there is no easy answers to this question, I believe there are several good reasons that short-term missions should exist.

Reason 1: To Confirm a Long-Term Calling.

Back in the day, mission trips were much more costly. You only went on a mission trip if you were pretty sure God was calling you to that place. Because of the "popularity" of short-term foreign missions, it is very hard to find a mission trip that's purpose is to confirm a long-term calling that is not planned by the person in question.

Really, what you should look for is an intern position. Generally with intern positions, you are able to do what the long-term mission team does on a daily basis--basically live and be a missionary in that country. In addition, you will work along side the long-term team and find if you can work together well. The long-term team takes you seriously and you seriously consider life-long missions. It really is a win-win situation. And one that glorifies God!

As for intern based missions, generally you have to look at the mission organizations within the country you are looking at. That's just how the cookie crumbles.  But if you are looking at a more general internship that lasts only a summer, I recommend ReachGlobal's Trek7 teams. (Read more at https://go.efca.org/ministries/reachglobal/trek7) I went on their 2015 Tokyo trip, and I believe that God has called me to Japan for possibly life-long missions.

Reason 2: You Can Offer a Needed Skill Set.

For this one I think it's easier to just give examples:

Giving medical care in a place with no medical access.
Being a native speaker of English (as it is [for some unfathomable reason] the new business language).
Hosting some sort of English camp (with the camp in English!)
Assisting under-trained doctors with operations so that they will learn how to operate better.

Basically, is is something that you can do that couldn't be done without you. 

It is NOT, I repeat, it is NOT building some building. Every country that I have ever heard of (and I've take college geography) has people that can work as unskilled laborers. And by having the people around the church help build something for the church (or town) you have a chance to not only boost the economy, but also so share the gospel. Unless you are working with some fancy material that is not native to that area, or needs special training to work with it, under no circumstances should you build anything! End. Of. Story.

But, back to what short-term missions is.

Reason 3: To Build Relationships Between Churches (Vision/Prayer Trips). 

The relationship between a missionary and their supporting churches is paramount! Without the supporting churches, there are a lot less missionaries and God (literally) knows that we need more missionaries!

What happens usually in a Vision Trip (I have also heard them called Prayer Trips) is a group of Christians go around a country(s) and meets the long-term teams that are serving. They pray with and for the long-term teams, and then (once back in the States) gather support and raise awareness for the long-term team and their needs. While fun things happen on these trips (think tourism), the point of these trips it to be an advocate for the people there.  Just like how Jesus is our advocate, these team strive to support those far from home.

What Does This Mean? 

In the most basic terms, I believe that if you are going on a mission trip, it must be for at least one of those three reasons. For any other reason a more accurate term would be "Christian Tourism." The goal of missions isn't to make you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. It isn't to let you see the world. It isn't because other Christians are going on mission trips. It isn't so that you can get away from your boring life.

But most of all, the goal of mission trips are not to make you look spiritual.

The goal of mission trips is to bring GLORY TO GOD and PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL!

Nothing more.

Nothing less.