The Uttermost Ends of the Earth: A Call to the Mission Field

Of the approximately 8 billion people on planet earth, about 3.2 billion are considered unreached or least reached, and more than 7,000 people groups are classified as unreached. Overall, that’s more than 40% of the total population. That’s right- Over 40% of the world has never heard the saving message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

These statistics and others expose a major weakness and severe lack of action on the part of the Church. When Jesus issued the Great Commission, He commanded His followers to “Make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:19, emphasis added). The Greek word Jesus used for nations is “ethne” from which the English word ethnic was derived. So, the Lord was saying to make disciples not only from large, generally safer nations, but literally from every single ethnic people group.

This is not to say, however, that the Church has been entirely missing in action. Indeed, the spread of Christianity throughout the nations has been nothing short of supernatural. God has enabled many great missionaries to accomplish much for His Kingdom and glory, in the past as well as the present. Consider, for instance, the notable missionaries Amy Carmichael, Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, William Chalmers Burns, Samuel Kirkland, C.T. Studd, and many others. The devotion to God and fervent desire to gather Christ’s harvest, regardless of the suffering required, is what fueled these outstanding servants of the past, and that fire must be reignited for the ages to come.

Ponder the sobering case of the Shaikh people in Bangladesh, whose 135,000,000 inhabitants are currently unreached with the Good News of the Gospel and are totally ignorant of the King of Kings. As well, data from the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist denomination suggests that there are over 3,000 ethnic people groups that are not only unreached, but furthermore unengaged. Unengaged means there are definitely no missionaries, and in all likelihood no outreach, no church, no Christian materials, and few, if any, Bibles. These people groups have no chance of ever hearing about the hope of Christ unless God’s people step up and fulfill His command to take the gospel to the lost.

There are huge segments of the world’s population that have never even heard the name of Jesus. Yet, according to TheJoshuaProject.net, Over 90% of all missionaries work among already reached peoples. Missionaries' efforts seem to be directed at the wrong places or to nowhere at all, as is illustrated by the fact that for every dollar of Christian resources, less than one penny is directed at reaching unreached peoples. Moreover, 90% of Christians who say they want to become missionaries never even get to the mission field. At least 76,800 people die every day without knowing the way to heaven. There is one Christian worker for every 500 people in the United States, while the rest of the world averages one Christian worker for every 50,000 people. Think of how true Jesus’ words are to His disciples when He said in Matthew 9:37, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” We need to “pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest”! We should let these facts motivate us and like a compass, steer us toward our goal.

One area of work sorely needing to be done in unreached countries is Bible translation. To make a true disciple of Jesus, the Scriptures must be available in their mother tongue. But there are approximately 1,800 languages that have definite translation need! That means for mother-tongue speakers of those 1,800 languages, no Scripture exists at all.

Also consider the problems of limited internet access and illiteracy. Even if the Scriptures and news media are translated and available, an estimated 1 billion adults are considered illiterate. Much of this is concentrated in just 8 countries, including China, Egypt, Indonesia, and Pakistan. There is a great want for qualified individuals to teach these natives reading and writing, so that they may understand the Word of God for themselves.

The most isolated tribe in the world is the Sentinelese people who live on the North Sentinel Island, one of the Andaman islands in the Indian Ocean. Who would dare attempt to visit them? To this day, they remain unengaged and uncontacted, with only one Christian missionary having gone to their remote island in the span of hundreds of years. This doughty man was named John Allen Chau, and he was killed by the natives in 2018 without even getting a chance to clearly present the message of salvation. This was due to the utmost dilemma of the language barrier. The Sentinelese people do not have a written language, and no outsider has ever heard nearly enough of their speech to compile a graspable vernacular. In addition, since 1991, the tribe refuses to accept any gifts of food or resources or check-ups on their well-being. So these souls remain unreached with the glories of Jesus.

Reflect also on the nation of Indonesia, which holds the “honor” of possessing the most Muslims in the world at 231,000,000. These people are trapped in the prison of the darkness of their souls, on the path to destruction. Is there anyone who is willing to “run a rescue shop within a yard of hell” as C.T. Studd famously said, and be used as God’s instruments to snatch them out of the hands of the devil? What about India, which holds the record for the highest number of residing Hindus with 1,093,780,000, making up a full 78.9% of its massive population and 95% of the entire world’s Hindus? Or cogitate on the work that must be done in North Korea, the number 1 most dangerous place for professing Christians according to Open Doors U.S., to ensure a safe environment for God’s people. The country remains a brutally hostile place for Christians to live in and minister to. The Lord’s persecuted Church in North Korea is convicted of a serious crime by the new “anti-reactionary thought law” for simply gathering together as a community and worshiping the one true God. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are in dire need of the faithful prayers of the saints and the Lord’s grace and protection upholding them in the face of trials.

The question often arises when discussing missions, “What of those who haven't heard?” First, we must always remember that God is sovereign and holy. “Will not the Judge of the earth do right?” There is not one ounce of injustice in Him. There will never be any people who will go to hell just because they didn't have a chance to hear the gospel and would have responded to it if they had. And in any case, Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” Everyone knows there is a God in their heart of hearts. But they “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” God’s Word furthermore says that the Lord determines the times set for all people, and the exact places where they should live. (Acts 17:26). If someone is seeking after truth but has never heard of Jesus and does not have access to Bibles or Christian resources in their culture, God will send missionaries to tell them of His plan of salvation or provide another way. God can break past the barriers of one's circumstances and draw one to Himself, according to His will. In other words, God can reach into any cultural situation in response to anyone who wants to know Him. Those chosen by God will believe. It is our job simply to be God’s laborers to gather the harvest and deliver His redeeming message.

Romans 12:6a says, “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.’’ Not everyone is called by God to be missionaries in foreign countries. Whatever spiritual gifts are given to us by the Lord, we ought to use them for the glory of God and the good of men. It is also important to note, however, that everyone who truly knows Christ has the ability to share the gospel with others and is in fact commanded to do so. Even if we bring just one soul to Christ in our lifetime, that act of obedience to the Lord is cause for Heaven’s rejoicing. In all that we do, we must moreover remember that only the Holy Spirit can save, and the evangelist should simply do his part and leave the rest in the hands of the holy Father, Judge, and Lord of Heaven.


“He is no fool who gives that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

-Jim Elliot