God is doing something exciting around the world and YOU can be a part of it!
We are living in unprecedented times where God is at work around the world. Christianity is the world's most global faith with about one third of the world's population calling themselves 'Christian'.
- 5,600 new churches are opening every week worldwide with a growth rate of some 115,000 new believers every day!1 - The Church in Africa is increasing by an average of 20,000 per day (the percentage of Christians in southern Africa has increased from 3% to nearly 60% in the past 100 years). - In China, the Church has multiplied from about 1 million when the Communists took power in 1949 to anywhere between 60 to 100 million today. - In 1900, Korea had no Protestant church and was considered impossible to penetrate with the Gospel, but South Korea is now 35% Christian, with 7000 churches in the capital city of Seoul alone. - After 70 years of oppression in the former Soviet Union, Christians now number more than 100 million, five times the number in the Communist Party and some 36% of the population. - In the Middle East, reports show a surging interest in Christian literature. Although it is forbidden to share the gospel in Iran, more Muslims have come to Christ there since 1980 than in the previous 1000 years combined.
In AD100, only one in every 360 people was an active believer. Today, one in every 9.3 persons includes an active believer.
In AD100, there were 12 unreached people groups per congregation of believers. Today, with 6.5 million churches worldwide, there are 650 congregations for each of the 10,000 remaining unreached people groups!
More could be said about what God has and is continuing to do worldwide, through His people where they have obediently taken his Good News to the nations. However, whilst we can rejoice and be excited about what God is doing, there needs to be a reality check about what still remains to be done.
Completing the Great Commission After 2000 years of Christian mission, the tragic reality is that there are still some 10,000 unreached people groups for whom Christ died that have never had an opportunity to receive the Gospel. This equates to around 30% of the world's population, more than 2 billion people who have never heard about Jesus Christ. Before Jesus returned to his Father he commanded his disciples to make disciples of all nations (literally ethnic people groups) with the authority that he had regained and in the power of the Holy Spirit. He is eager to return but is having to wait until this task has been completed (Matthew 24:14). Jesus cannot return until the Great Commission has been completed. People from every tribe, language, people and nation have to be represented in God's family (Revelation 5:9). God has given the Church worldwide the resources to complete the task. Whilst some nations are resistant to the Gospel, in some ways it has never been easier with the advent of new technology, global communications and travel, and the spread of ethnic people groups around the world with many from so-called 'restricted nations' on our own doorsteps. The question is, 'Will we be a part of completing the Great Commission?'
Wake-Up Call! As we look back in history the Bible shows us clearly that God's people - whether Israel in the Old Testament, or the early church in the New Testament book of Acts - were given a wake-up call from God because they were not obeying God's command to be a witness to all nations and people groups on the earth. Much of the Church today is also having to receive God's Wake-up Call!
If you are in the UK you may say, 'What about our own country?' Of course, the UK needs reaching for Jesus but did you know that the UK constitutes only a fraction of the world's population? If you or your church only has a vision for your town, city or even all of the UK, then you are only seeing God's heart for less than 1% of the world's population! God wants you to get to know him through an expanded vision of his whole heart for the uttermost parts of the world. (photo: Caleb Project)
Our mission as catalysts is to encourage and challenge Christians to RISE up, discover and fulfil YOUR part in God's Agenda: the Great Commission. We hope and pray that this website will help stir in you a desire to get to know the God of the nations and to encourage you to discover how you can be involved in seeing the Great Commission completed. God's global agenda is a cause to live for. The ultimate goal is for God's Name to be known among all peoples. Missions exists because the true worship and knowledge of God doesn't.2 This God-given task can and must be done. Will YOU help complete it?
1 statistics from uscwm.org 2 'Let the People be Glad' by John Piper
As we look back in history the Bible shows us clearly that God's people - whether Israel in the Old Testament, or the early church in the New Testament book of Acts - were given a wake-up call from God because they were not obeying God's command to be a witness to all nations and people groups on the earth. Much of the Church today is also having to receive God's Wake-up Call!