God’s Heart for the Unreached

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Worldwide, there are roughly 6,700 people groups with little or no access to the gospel. This week, John Bailey and Mark Renfroe talk about the daily impact of the Great Commission and the responsibility that believers have to share the gospel with those who haven’t heard it.

Key Points from the Podcast

  • If God hates the same people you hate, then you have made God in your own image. He loves all people, including the lost.

  • World Challenge focuses our mission efforts on the lost who have little or no access to the gospel.

  • In Matthew 28, Jesus told his disciples to go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that Christ commanded.

  • If you aren’t making a disciple of the guy across the street, crossing a body of water to be a missionary isn’t going to turn you into a disciple maker.

  • Every Christian should have a burden for the world, whether that is to go, give or pray.

  • Over half the world’s population has not had an opportunity to hear a gospel presentation.

  • The early church took the Great Commission very seriously and so should we.

  • At World Challenge we have found it more effective to raise up local believers or near-culture neighbors than to send foreign missionaries into an area.

  • Short-term mission trips are not a prerequisite to becoming a full-time missionary.

  • Mark Renfroe challenges listeners to do three things: read the Bible with a perspective of seeing God’s heart for the world, read a missionary biography, and find a foreign country for which to pray.

Bible Verses Referenced in the Podcast

Matthew 28:19; John 10:10; Acts 1:8; Acts 8:1; Matthew 6:21

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast

Mark's List of Recommended Missionary Biographies

  • Through Gates of Splendor by Elizabeth Elliot

  • Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot by Elizabeth Elliot

  • A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elizabeth Elliot

  • The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson

  • Peach Child by Don Richardson

  • Seven Classic Missionary Biographies:  Raymond Lull, David Brainerd, Henry Martyn, William Carey, Hudson Taylor, John Paton and Amy Carmichael

  • Life of Henry Martyn, Missionary to India and Persia, 1781-1812

  • Apostle of Islam: A Biography of Samuel M. Zwemer by J. Christy Wilson, Sr.

  • Raymond Lull: First Missionary to Moslems by Samuel M. Zwemer

  • A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter by Mariam Huffman Rockness

  • God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew

  • John G. Patton: Missionary to the New Hebrides by John G. Patton

  • William Carey: Obliged to Go by Janet Benge

  • From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions by Ruth Tucker

  • Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret by Howard Taylor

  • To Die is Gain: The Triumph of John and Betty Stam

  • Gladys Alyard: The Little Woman by Gladys Alyard

  • Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God by David McCasland

  • The Life and Diary of David Brainerd by David Brainerd and Jonathan Edwards (Editor)

  • To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adonirum Judson

  • Fifty-Three Years in Syria by Henry Harris Jessup

  • The Lost History of Christianity by Philip Jenkins

  • Mission in the Early Church by Edward Smither

  • To Many to Jail: The Story of Iran’s New Christians by Mark Bradley

  • I Dared Call Him Father by Bilquis Sheikh

  • Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi

About John Bailey

Pastor John Bailey serves as the Chief Operating Officer at World Challenge. John came to know Christ in jail after some difficult struggles as a young man, and God has done a powerful work of transformation since! Spending 13 years in Next Gen ministry, he excelled in discipleship and helping young leaders discover giftings to serve God. John was called next to serve as a missionary and pastor in Western Europe. John and his family then returned to plant the Springs Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Today, the church is a thriving body of believers excelling in outreach and missions. John has now brought his giftings and vision to World Challenge, accelerating the spread of the gospel in America and around the World.

About Mark Renfroe

Mark married his college sweetheart, Amy, with whom he has four adult children—one girl and three boys. The Renfroes have been involved in field missions work for 30 years. They served in the Arab community of San Francisco for four years before becoming foreign missionaries in 1995. Mark was asked to serve as the Area Director for Assemblies of God World Missions in 2007. As part of his role, he led missionaries and interfaced with national church leaders in the 18 countries of the Arab World. In 2017, Mark created Reaching Africa’s Muslims, an initiative to mobilize, equip, and deploy indigenous African missionaries to reach Muslims on the continent. Mark has graduate degrees in Intercultural Studies and Executive Leadership. He currently serves as the Chief Missions Officer for World Challenge in Colorado Springs.

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