This is an article from the May-June 2019 issue: India: The Greatest Challenge to World Evangelization

The Only Way to Reach India is Through Movements

The Only Way to Reach India is Through Movements

There are unreached people groups in almost every country on Earth. But no other country in the world has a greater concentration of unreached and Frontier Peoples than the country of India. Half the population of all Frontier Peoples live in India and 90% of all the people of India live in unreached people groups.  No other country in the world has such a diverse and complex society with thousands of different communities all separated by caste, language and religion. Each of these communities will likely need a separate movement of disciple making and church planting— thereby making India the greatest challenge to world evangelization that the global mission force faces today. No matter how you slice the data, the gospel must become good news in every community of India.

If India is the greatest challenge to world evangelization, then it should be receiving an appropriate level of attention and resources to meet this challenge. But it is not. India has 1,000 times as many people living in Frontier People Groups as does the United States. But the USA receives four times as many cross-cultural workers as India. India has by far the greatest need for workers and yet receives far less than what many reached areas receive.  This will have to change if we want any hope of reaching the peoples of India.

No Ordinary Mission Work Will Suffice

Sending tens of thousands of “missionaries” to India to “convert” people from any other religion to join the Christian church is simply not a workable, desirable or biblical plan. Even if the manpower could be sent, it would create such a tremendous societal and political backlash that any workers sent would likely be expelled from the country and greater persecution of the existing believers would result. But more importantly, this method of mission is not what Jesus has asked us to do. Jesus has not asked us to extract people from their family and community in order to join a foreign community with all the upheaval that brings. Our job is to bring the blessings of the gospel to every family and community so that it is welcomed as good news for that family and community. This is the only possible way India can be reached with the gospel. 

In this issue of MF we provide you with multiple examples of this model of ministry successfully bringing tens of thousands of people to faith in Jesus without extracting them from their family and community. On page 16 we interview Victor John, the initiator of one of the largest Church Planting Movements in the world. He started the movement among the Bhojpuri in 1998. It has since brought thousands into the kingdom and has fostered multiple movements in other peoples. This is the type of ministry that can bring the gospel to millions of Indians in thousands of communities with the least amount of disruption to Indian society.

The task of bringing the Good News of the gospel to every community of India is an enormous task, but God has also given the Church enormous resources to accomplish this task. The “technology” of knowing how to work with God to foster movements to Christ has spread across the globe. 

Many movements are currently taking place in India. We just need to take what we know, train up new workers in how to catalyze movements and then deploy them to every community in India. We also need to back them up with the prayers of millions of faithful prayer warriors. Pick up a copy of the “Pray for the 31 Prayer Guide” at www.

Go31.org. Reaching India is doable.

That Number On The Cover: What Does it Mean?

Since our May-June 2018 issue of MF, we have posted the number of Known Kingdom Movements on the cover of each issue. Some have wondered where this number comes from and what defines a Kingdom Movement. This number is being compiled and tracked by the 24:14 Coalition research team. The leader of this team is Justin Long, a global movement researcher with the mission agency, Beyond. The 24:14 leadership and research teams have contact with hundreds of mission leaders and movement catalysts from around the world who report progress to the team. Justin regularly says this number is “the floor, not the ceiling.” There are certainly more Kingdom Movements out there, but we only publish the number of movements that are known and attested to by a third party—therefore the title, “Known Kingdom Movements.” So what constitutes a Kingdom Movement? A Kingdom Movement is usually defined as “four or more generations of churches in multiple streams.” Each time a church plants another church, that is one more generation. When there are four or more streams of church planting four generations or more deep, that is the initial threshold of becoming a movement. Each of these streams will eventually have multiple streams itself. We refer to these as Kingdom Movements because the focus of these movements is to make disciples who seek to obey all that Jesus has commanded us to do, thereby bringing the fullness of Christ’s kingdom to that area.

The Passing of Dr. Steve Smith, 1962–2019

For the last seven years it has been my great pleasure to work with Dr. Steve Smith to produce his Kingdom Kernels column and other articles in each issue of Mission Frontiers. His last column, “The Problem of Weeds,” appeared in the March-April 2019 edition of MF. His regular column was a joy for me to read each time and an inspiration to relentlessly pursue God’s glory through Kingdom Movements in every people. As co-director of the marvelous 24:14 Coalition, Steve has made an incredible contribution to world evangelization by seeking to foster movements of discipleship and church planting in every people and place by 2025.

Sadly, Steve will not be around to witness the accomplishment of this great goal to which he devoted his life. On March 13, 2019, Steve died from liver cancer.  As Steve reported in his Kingdom Kernels column in the July-August 2018 issue of MF, Steve’s cancer was caused by a parasite that he picked up overseas while successfully fostering a Church Planting Movement. That column was titled, “Death, The Spiritual Triggering Effect.” It is my hope and prayer that Steve’s death will trigger the effect of launching thousands of faithful gospel workers into every unreached people to catalyze tens of thousands of Kingdom Movements. A good and faithful servant of

Christ has fallen in battle. May there be many among us who will honor Steve, his vision and passion for God’s glory in all peoples, by taking up his mantle to spread the vision for which Steve gave his life.

Steve’s passion for God’s glory overflowed into the writing of an end-of-the-age, two-book, No Place Left saga, including the books, Hastening and Rebirth. The story chronicles the final generation of God’s people rising up to complete our commission in preparation for Jesus’ return. Thousands have been inspired to greater obedience through this saga.

Steve also inspired thousands of faithful workers to effective action through his landmark books, T4T: A Discipleship Re-Revolution and Spirit Walk. I will greatly miss Steve’s clear clarion call in each issue of MF to reach the unreached peoples through Church Planting Movements. Now it is up to us to take up the 24:14 Coalition goal of fostering movements to Christ in every people and place by 2025 and run with it. Are you in?

A Special Offer from Mission Network

In honor of Steve Smith’s life, Mission Network has posted online an anonymous tribute to Steve, a one-minute video of Steve sharing his passion, and an offer for a free copy of Hastening (Book One in the two-book saga) in a variety of formats: PDF, Kindle, ePub, Word, Audio and Print.

If you haven’t yet read the No Place Left saga yourself, or if your life has already been touched by the No Place Left saga, request a free print copy to share, and Invite others to get their free digital or print copy at http://NPL2025.org/tribute

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What It Took by NPL/2414

Movement (Excerpted)

What would it take for the whole world to hear?

What would it take for every nation to draw near?

What if God’s people would finish the task? What if this generation was truly the last?

Steve’s cry was so clear: Who ought we to be?

To all who would hear,

“Will you run with me?!”

I know a man, who carried the baton, We all know his vision and must carry it on! The pace is set, it’s 2025.

The herald is dead, but His God is ALIVE!

Steve started a movement but not for his glory, The Hastening saga was always God’s story!

Now we’ve watched the wheat fall into the earth, By God’s Holy promise we will see Rebirth!

This promise is true, to all who would die. Lose your life, give it all, and multiply.

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