Unsaved Or Unreached?

Romans 1 says that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. Romans 10 says that faith comes through hearing. Since 45% of Kentuckians claim to be evangelicals, we can guess that 95% of them will hear the gospel at least once before they die and have a friend who is a born-again believer. We should not be surprised when those around us reject the gospel, for Jesus told us in Matthew 7... "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

You can see here that the only Arab people group that is considered "reached" (>3% evangelical) are Egyptians, who are barely "reached" at 5%. That means that the vast majority of the Arab world will not hear the gospel at least once before they die, nor will they have a friend who is a born-again believer. This is the tragedy of the unreached. The vast majority of them are Muslims, who will begin fasting during their holy month of Ramadan next week. Would you click here to pray for them?

Jesus said in Matthew 28 to make disciples of all nations, or ethnos meaning people groups. He said in Matthew 24 that the end will come when the gospel is proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all people groups. There are still 7,000 unreached people groups representing 42% of the world's population. Would you pray regularly with Christian friends for Jesus to receive the worship that He deserves among all peoples?

Ministry of Friendship

I recently returned from 3 weeks in the Middle East. I was able to share the gospel with approximately 10 Muslim traveling companions or Uber drivers, then point them to gospel content online with good follow-up. Pray for an Uber driver named Khalid who said, "I have doubts about Islam sometimes." When I asked him to clarify, he sheepishly said, "I probably shouldn't talk about it... but I can't imagine the verses in the Qur'an about killing and wars are from God." It was wonderful to visit a few friends in Dammam, Saudi Arabia after not being there since '12. Surprisingly, my host lived close to the mall where I spent many hours/days meeting Saudis with whom I was in gospel conversation online. 

During this past trip, approximately 80 Arab brothers visited me to drink tea and pray together. Through this "ministry of friendship", I've begun to understand the importance of asking questions and listening carefully. From TikTok to podcasts, everyone wants to be heard but who wants to hear? These brothers will most likely live all their lives in the cities I visit. The Kingdom moves forward as they trust & obey Christ.

A mature, younger brother who lives in south Lebanon where the terrorist group Hezbollah is strongest, recently wrote to me, "Our church started a home church in another nearby area. They believe in it but the goal is not to reproduce it but to do it until it becomes a big church. I am considering maybe starting one at some point since my house will have a big living room. There is no such thing where I live."