As a college student, I remember thinking there were no worlds left to conquer. Richard E. Byrd had explored Antarctica. Hillary Tenzing had scaled Mt. Everest. A few years later man had walked on the moon. There was nothing left to do that had not already been done.

Some people feel that way about mission. All the world has been reached and explored, they say. Whatever is left to do, the local believers can handle anyway. The day of the missionary is gone. There is plenty of work to do at home. There is no need to cross cultural boundaries to do mission.

I was wrong—dead wrong! There were plenty of worlds to conquer, I just didn't see them. Those who feel that the day of mission is over are also wrong—dead wrong! This chapter will show how far wrong this idea is.

• What do you think about mission and missionaries—are they still needed?
• Why do you answer the way you do?
• What facts do you base your answer on?
• Where did you get these "facts"?
• What do you think needs to be done to complete the job of taking the message of Jesus to the whole world?
• Who is yet to be reached?
• What strategy should be used to reach them?
• What are the reasons for your beliefs

The Church is faced with many challenges in getting the Good News to the whole world. Some of these challenges are in the world outside the church and some of them are inside the church. Let's start by looking at the state of evangelism among the 13,000 ethno-linguistic peoples of the world. The immensity of the remaining task will quickly become clear.

The World of Non-Christian Believers
There are about four billion non-Christians today who have not been evangelized successfully. These are staggering numbers. About three billion people believe in and practice non-Christian religions. Look at the following chart. It shows the distribution of the main non-Christian blocks. Many of these people can be reached with the gospel only if someone from a different culture makes the effort to reach out to them. Only a minority of non-Christians live near enough to Christians to be influenced by them.

The World of Unbelievers
Operation World (2001) lists some 938 million non-religious or secular people in the world. This group has increased rapidly. It is now 30 times larger than it was in 1900. We rejoice that the collapse of Communism has revealed the bankrupcy of atheism as an ideology and caused a significant turning of Christ.

The Urban World
About 45% of the world's population lives in cities. The remaining 55% are rural, but heavily dependent on the cities. By the year 2025, more than 60% of the world's population will live in cities. In the past most megacities (5 million or more) were in the Western world and had an underlying Christian worldview. Today, most of them are in the Eastern world and are not simply non-Christian, but often anti-Christian. These cities are an "Everest" challenge for Christian believers.

The Hurting World
Tremendous physical needs challenge us:

• 18% survive on an annual income of $100 or less.
• 80 million are supported by garbage.
• 100 million live as street children.
• 450 million are orphans.
• 2.8 million children die every year of vaccine-preventable disease.
• 5 million children under five die of diarrhea.
• 4 million die yearly of tuberculosis.
• 2.6 million die yearly of tobacco related disease.
• 25,000 die daily from drinking dirty water.
  
  Source: Barrett, D. B. and Johnson, T. M. (1990). Our globe and how to reach it. Birmingham, AL: New Hope

These challenges must be met by Christians if we are to be faithful to the command Jesus gave in the Great Commission.

Barriers in the Church

As great as the challenges are outside the church, the people of God must also face challenges inside the church.

The Uninformed Believer
Many who claim the name of Christ are simply ignorant of the needs that exist in mission. They cling to some half-truths based on a few scattered facts. What many know about mission comes from a few half-listened-to Mission Spotlight programs usually focusing on progress rather than challenges. The church must be educated about the needs of mission.

The Distracted Believer
Money, busyness, and the world's everyday cares can distract us from our mission. Debt for an education and worry about the future can hinder our commitment to mission. Criticism of the church and its organization can also cause us to forget what we are really here for. Many don't deny the need for mission, they simply don't get around to doing anything about it.

The Timid Believer
Many of us are merely fearful and timid. We are afraid we don't have anything to share with others. Some are concerned about the response of others to a decision to go on a mission. Others are afraid of change or anything risky.

Who Will Reach the Unreached

What does all this mean? Take a look at the following chart which tries to summarize the magnitude of the missionary task today. It also lists four types of strategies needed to reach the different population groups of the world with the gospel.

God's Missionary Workforce
Figure 3 shows that the world population currently falls roughly into four disproportionate parts:

World D: Bible-believing Christians that take the Great Commission seriously. They represent 1 in 10 people of the world.

The Mission Strategy
The chart also indicates four types of evangelistic strategy to reach different people groups:

E-0: Evangelism that brings revival to nominal Christians in a similar culture. It requires evangelistic tools for renewal and revival. Adventists are strong in this category.

E-1: Evangelism to unchurched Christian and non-Christian people in a similar culture. It requires sensitive evangelistic strategies that appeal to unchurched, secularized and non-Christian people. We have had only marginal success in reaching people of this background.

E-2 and E-3: Evangelism across an increasing number of cultural barriers. Progress among World A peoples has been slow. We have done well reaching tribal peoples. We are beginning to be more successful in communicating with people from the great world religions. But we still have a long way to go.

So What about You . . . ?
Can you see why ignorance about these facts is so serious? In this chapter we have noted a host of factors within and without the church that underline the urgency of mission today. Any one or a combination of the factors within the church can lead to a paralysis which cuts the nerve of mission. Some have been called by God to fight the challenge of mission within the church and by God's Spirit spark renewal.

There are plenty of mission "Mount Everests" still to climb. Needs are tremendous. Determine to boldly move forward, trusting in Jesus' presence, to meet and conquer these unconquered and unclimbed challenges for God.

1. Which of the challenges mentioned appeals most to you? What religion, area, need, or country is God laying on your heart? What are the reasons for this? What can you do now to work toward meeting that challenge?

2. Study carefully the above charts and facts about the unfinished task. What strikes you most about the figures given there? Do you think most people in your church know these facts?

3. Analyze the people in your "mission field." Where do they fit into the chart? How can they be reached?