Sunday, December 16, 2018

Shaykh Sanders!


What percentage of Kentuckians, during their lifetime, do you think will hear the gospel in a way that they can understand it, and have a born-again friend? Of course, we can only guess but most people to whom I have asked that question say around 90%. I agree. Kentucky has the 2nd highest percentage of evangelicals in the US with 49% (Tennessee 51%), though certainly not all who claim "evangelical" status are born-again believers.

I've asked that same question to 5 career missionaries in Saudi Arabia. Three of them guessed that "1%" of Saudi Arabs will hear the gospel in a way that they can understand it, and have a born-again friend during their lifetime. Two of them said "single digits", so less than 10%. This is the tragedy of the unreached, most of whom live in the 10/40 Window. Jesus is not receiving the worship that He deserves among them. All Arab people groups are unreached since less than 3% of their population considers themselves to be "evangelical", except Egyptian Arabs at 4%.

For the past year, I have been using the app HabitShare to hold myself accountable to form several habits. For example, one habit is "less than 20 minutes a day on Youtube and none after 9 pm". Every evening I rate myself "red" (failed) or "green" (succeeded) for my 8-10 habits. If I were able to share my habits with friends, I would be more motivated to succeed! Would you try using HabitShare by downloading the app, creating a habit or two, sharing them with me at kizfam@gmail.com, and rating yourself daily for a week or so? I'll share a few of mine with you too. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" ~ Proverbs 27:17

Just before we finalized buying the home near our kids' homeschool co-op, someone told us about the possibility of a low-rent home in the same area, possibly available in a few months. Pray that God's will be done regarding this rental home. Also pray for my visit to friends in Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon in late November and early December.