To The Ends Of The Earth... |
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Greetings!
In Matthew 28:16-20, the Lord Jesus commanded us to make disciples of “all nations.” He also instructed the apostles to be His witnesses from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. As you may know, the word “nations” is from the Greek word ethne, which means people groups, i.e., a group of people with their own language and culture. According to the Joshua Project, there are 17,443 people groups in the world. Of these, 7,406 are unreached.
Unreached means there are less than a 2% Evangelical Bible-believing presence. Most of these unreached people groups live in the 10/40 Window, which is located 10 degrees above the equator from the western rim of Africa to 40 degrees above the equator to the eastern rim of Japan.
More than 3 billion people live in this area of the world, which is over 40% of the world population. They have been largely resistant to the gospel, with the predominant religions being Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Even though Indonesia and Mongolia are not located within this Window, they are also considered unreached. Many of the unreached people groups are located in India and Indonesia.
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Visual Representation of the 10/40 Window
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Only 1% of missions giving goes to unreached peoples in the 10/40 Window. Not only are small amounts of missions’ dollars going to unreached people groups, but the overwhelming majority of US missionaries are serving in “reached” countries and are not serving in this area of the world. http://missionaryportal.webflow.io/stats
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The mission that Jesus entrusted to us is not just to send and support missionaries but to make disciples of all nations. It costs on average $300,000 to send and support a missionary family for five years. With the same amount of funds, we can equip around 2,000 indigenous pastors and church leaders who already know the language and culture. From a financial and strategic standpoint, you can see the value of our mission.
Our strategy and commitment is that the very best evangelist, pastor, church leader, or church planter for a particular people group is someone from that group.
Therefore, the goal of CCI is to effectively train national pastors and church leaders for local church ministry. Nationals already know the language and culture and are less vulnerable to kidnapping.
More than ever, we are compelled to continue to reach more and more unreached people groups who do not have a personal relationship with our heavenly Father and face the terrible prospect of eternity in the Lake of Fire without ever hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We are grateful that through your partnership of prayer and financial support, our primary focus is the 10/40 Window. The majority of CCI’s classes are located in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, where most unreached Muslims live in Mindanao.
Below are two testimonies of CCI-trained pastors from the 10/40 Window that demonstrate the effectiveness of training nationals.
PRAY with us as we continue to seek the Lord to open doors among the least reached. Your financial investment is helping us with the Double It Campaign to double the number of equipped multipliers to expand the ministry among the unreached.
GIVE so we can go and reach them.
Grace and peace,
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David Nelson
President & Founder
Crossing Cultures International
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Pastor B. baptizing a student |
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Pastor B. (name concealed for protection) lives in Mindanao, Philippines, an area saturated with unreached Muslims. He is a 2017 CCI graduate and trained teacher belonging to a team of pastors at Believers of King Jesus Christ (BKJC). These pastors preach and minister to 21 different churches and outreaches. In the last year, BKJC has baptized 89 new believers.
Pastor B. said this about CCI training, “It helped a lot in our present ministry, especially in church planting. We have learned a new strategy on how to make disciples.” He continued, “The heartbeat of BKJC is Church Planting. We want to plant many Churches for God’s glory.”
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Due to security concerns, this pastor's identity must be concealed |
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"I was born into a Christian Garo tribe family, and I attend a small church in our village. I received Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord by faith in 2012, and I was baptized in 2013. At that time, I didn’t know much about the Bible and also didn’t know how to share my faith with unbelievers because I didn’t receive any training about the Bible.
In November 2021, a CCI Coordinator arranged an orientation class in our church about the CCI ministry. When I learned that CCI focused on indigenous people becoming participants in the Great Commission and not just recipients of the Gospel, I decided to attend the CCI class. I joined the CCI ministry and now lead classes in our local areas. I’m very grateful for CCI because they gave us a chance to do the CCI class in Bangladesh."
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April Edition CCI Equipping and Multiplying News
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