“When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’ And they went with haste…” (Luke 2:15-16a, ESV)
There was no time to waste. The angel of the Lord had appeared, announcing “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10). The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem, finding Mary, Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. Once they saw him, they spread the news that had been told to them—and all who heard were amazed (Luke 2:17-18a).
The Enemy works tirelessly to slow the advance of God’s Word, because it brings the spiritually dead to life and restores families, communities, and even nations. One of our staff recently experienced the Enemy’s opposition as he was interrogated for eight hours by customs officials in a nation aggressively trying to suppress the message of Christ. Yet “the Word of God is not bound!” (2 Timothy 2:9b). God reigns above every earthly power. He causes his Word to spread from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
That is why we, like the shepherds, will not delay. Joshua Project estimates that 3.57 billion people remain unreached worldwide. We must spread the good news of great joy with haste so that “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand” (Romans 15:21).
Last year, through the prayers and support of generous partners, more than 17,000 pastors in 40 countries received training in Christ-exalting, expositional preaching. The majority of this work is led by 236 indigenous leaders equipping pastors in their own languages and cultures. These training partners conducted workshops for 521 groups, impacting 2,471 churches worldwide.
This year, God has been connecting us with pastors passionate about planting churches in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Through a joint venture with Church in Hard Places, training partners are being equipped in theology, pastoral care, leadership, and church planting. As a result, pastors are prepared to shepherd their communities with greater biblical conviction and humility.
Your year-end gift will enable us to advance this work in restricted-access and persecuted regions, including:
Charles Spurgeon once reminded the church,
“The Christian church was designed from the first to be aggressive. It was not intended to remain stationary at any period, but to advance onward until its boundaries became commensurate with those of the world.”
Open doors don’t stay open forever. The time to advance is now.
Will you make a generous year-end gift to help equip pastors who, like the shepherds outside Bethlehem, will hurry to tell others the good news of Christ? We cannot go without your support. Your prayers and your generosity will directly equip pastors to proclaim the “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” in regions desperate for it.
