Have you ever been in a place so thoroughly pagan that you could feel the darkness? Looking into the eyes of people who have never heard the name of Jesus is an experience I will never forget, and the joy of being the chosen vessel to speak that matchless name to people for the first time has no equal. More than a decade of laboring in the remote jungle of South America has brought home to me the need for focus, strategy, and passion to spread God’s glory among the nations. If I have learned one thing, we have grown far too comfortable with the idea that we have time to wait. From the places I have been around the world, I don’t see that we have the luxury of time. We need boldness, and we need courage.

The history of missions is marked by bold and courageous individuals who refused to settle for the status quo. William Carey stood alone in his initial plea to carry the gospel to the far corners of the world. Hudson Taylor broke the mold and created a unique and successful model of faith missionary service. Cameron Townsend saw the need to focus on “people groups,” a concept that had not been developed since Jesus told his church to “teach all nations (people groups),” in Matthew 28:19. The challenges of the 21st century have opened the door once again to innovative and visionary missionary evangelists and strategists. The words of our Savior still ring true today, “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.” (Revelation 3:8)

As an instructor I have a three-fold objective to impart to my students. One, I want to give students the ability to think clearly and intelligently about the challenges of the Great Commission. Two, I want to instill a passion for Christ and the joy of seeing Him worshipped among all people groups in the world. Third, I want to give students the practical tools to leave our college with the ability to do the work of the ministry successfully.

Some things should never change here at Trinity, such as our commitment to the sufficiency and authority of the Scriptures, and the centrality of the local church in the cause of world evangelism. What should evolve over time are our strategies and methods to impact our world with the gospel within the generation in which we live. As an example, I think it is incumbent upon the Lord’s people to come together with a cohesive strategy to actually bring closure to the Great Commission. While we have been quite busy with Great Commission activities for generations, we still live with the reality that as many as 35-40% of the people groups of the world are still outside the influence of the gospel. As George Miley has put it, “Entire nations are imprisoned behind walls of spiritual darkness. This is unacceptable. The church must stand up and say no!” (Miley, Loving the Church Blessing the Nations) At a basic level we need to educate ourselves and others around us to develop “people group” thinking. When we see the world’s population, not as individuals but as people groups, the task of world evangelism becomes possible.

Taking the people group thinking to the next level, our objective must be to establish viable, indigenous church planting movements among every people group in the world. This objective gives us a clear Biblical picture of what we must work toward. Groups such as the Joshua Project (Joshuaproject.net) have help quantify and identify the areas of greatest needs. Our priority must be to engage the unreached of the world. We need to know such things as who they are, where they live, and what has prevented the gospel from penetrating their world. Sometimes it may be something as simple as a lack of understanding because of not having a Scriptural witness (Bible, New Testament, Jesus film, etc) in their own language; or possibly an oppressive government that makes missionary work challenging (but not impossible!). The reality is that the challenges are many and varied, but God has equipped his people to overcome these obstacles and claim victory in Jesus name. Personally, I am inspired and encouraged by Paul’s words to the church at Ephesus concerning Jesus that he, “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20)

My prayer and desire is for Trinity Baptist College to be the first school people think of when considering preparation for missionary service. As God sends us mission students, our desire is to give them knowledge, passion, and skills to make an eternal difference in this generation. We want our students to live life passionately with a purpose bigger than themselves. Claude Hickman has written this insightful thought, “You can get a great map for your life from others, but a map will only take you the places other people have already been. The need for world evangelization is for people who will say with Paul that they are making it their ambition to preach the gospel where Christ is not known and pioneer to the unreached.” (Hickman, Live Life on Purpose)