Why this boring infographic? Come on Creasmans! It’s the HOLIDAYS!!!

Why this boring infographic?? 

Because I want you to take in the information. 

It will probably surprise you.

Continent by continent, it shows how likely a person in 2010 was to have personal contact with a follower of Jesus. 

What are the chances 

a person who doesn’t know a Christian 

will hear the gospel?

While Jim has gone to Vietnam numerous times this year, I have been learning more about local outreach in the LA area and studying the values of my home culture. 

In 2017, what do American (Californian) Christians care about when it comes to Mission & Outreach?

Answer: It seems we’re pretty overwhelmed by all the needs close to home. Then there are huge problems of human trafficking and war and natural disasters which all require relief efforts. 

For the most part 21^st century American Christians are most concerned about causes that help people in their temporal suffering. 

The kind of suffering that good people everywhere (and of any belief system) want to help with.

As Christians, we have a worldview that we are eternal beings. Life as we know it here in this messed up world is an immeasurably small part of our existence. Depending on each individuals’ response to Jesus’ invitation to follow him, eternal suffering or abundant life - happily ever after - follows. 

Or do we still believe that?

We do.

The infographic here shows precisely why Jim and I chose this path of strengthening the church in Asia (It's not because we like Chinese food). 

Also consider: ASIA's population is greater than the other five combined (not just 1/6 of the world's population).

Take a look at the odds of a person knowing that “God so loved the world that he sent his only son."

You know the rest of the verst. "Whoever believes on him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jesus’ words, John 3:16) 

Compared to other places in the world, those who live in Asia are still the least likely to have a chance to know Christ through contact with a Christian.

Jesus’ last words were, “Go…to the ends of the earth and make disciples,” Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19. 

At Thanksgiving, we are grateful for those who partner with us to strengthen the leaders of churches in Asia, so that we’ll improve their odds of knowing Jesus.

Thank you to our donors who have desired to invest in the growth and health of Christs’ church in Asia. For those who have felt like anything overseas is just too far away; that the needs here are so great, won’t you please consider contributing somehow in sharing the Gospel to those who are not likely to meet a Christian?

www.crmleaders.org/teams/ethne-asiamentors



Added 11/29: Encouraging women in our church to share with each other who their favorite ministries are I wrote down ours. 

As missionaries ourselves, who do we give to? 

For Jim and I, our priorities for our larger gifts each year are toward work that  focuses primarily on this "Great Commission" of Jesus. Especially in places where people are not likely to hear about him. 

We have six friends on a team in Turkey. I can't write down their names for security reasons. Since 1997 they've been making friends and sharing about ISA (Jesus) that they know of in their Koran. Because of the refugee immigration rocking that country (and some political reasons as weel), what has been "hard soil" for centuries is now "ripe for the harvest."  www.frontiersusa.org

Two missionaries we admire most are Bill & Robin Harris. They are more humble and Christlike than any two people we know. And they are both brilliant, productive world changers. They teach around the world, and are based at the Global Institute for Applied Linguistics. (Dallas, a school associated with Wycliffe Bible Translators). Their work inspires and teaches missionaries how to foster worship music that reflects local culture and hearts. How to use local art forms to communicate/express our good news: salvation and abundant life through Jesus. Around the world, and since the beginning of the church it is always a struggle for the missionary to put aside their own culture, to help the people they serve and know Jesus. At the River, we're learning about that in our study through Acts. Jewish believers had to embrace new freedom from the law and not expect Gentiles to follow their ways. When it comes to worship style, we've exported our culture in translating and importing our styles  www.worldofworship.org is making a huge difference in changing that.