These past two years, the Lord has confirmed for RP Global Missions that, in spite of a changing world, our work is not yet complete. When many organizations and companies struggled to make ends meet, you valued the work of RP Global Missions by giving generously. You helped us grow our work and, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, gave us confidence to launch a new field at a time when earthly sensibilities said we should have been tightening our belt.

But we are now at a time of critical need. We are now faced with a critical need for laborers. Knowing about the great need for officers in our own congregations here in North America, it takes a special boldness to pray for workers—some of whom might be from that same depleted pool—to be sent abroad. But, our Savior commands us to pray that the Lord of the harvest thrust workers out into the ripe fields.

Will you join me in praying with boldness that the Lord will raise up workers to go abroad with his message of truth, hope, peace, and salvation?

An Appeal from South Sudan

For the past few months, the Cush4Christ team has been studying the book of Nehemiah during team worship on Sabbath afternoons. Nehemiah is a fascinating book about how God’s people worked together to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem—a representative picture of Christ’s Church.

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus promised to build His Church—a promise that carries the hope of victory. Until His return, Jesus calls people to follow Him in the work of kingdom-wall building. In South Sudan, the walls are not finished. Indeed, the Lord has drawn the hearts of many Dinka people to Himself, and many are worshiping the Lord. We praise the Lord for this. To be strong, though, the work of discipleship must go deep; it takes the slow and “normal” work of walking alongside believers to help them grow in their faith and understanding of God’s Word.

Presently, Cush4Christ is seeking to strengthen the local churches through the theological training of church leaders, Christian education for children, Bible studies, weekend workshops, and the daily outworking of discipleship alongside our brothers and sisters. But the laborers are few; there-fore, God’s people must pray (Luke 10:2). Based on current projections, in 13 months, Cush4Christ will be comprised of three adults and three children. The need for additional laborers is immense. Is the Lord calling you to join His work in South Sudan?

In Nehemiah’s day, the workers came with a variety of backgrounds. Under normal circumstances, people with goldsmithing and perfume-making skills on their resume wouldn’t get hired for wall building—yet these are some of the backgrounds mentioned in chapter 3! When people gain a vision for kingdom building, they are willing to do whatever needs doing. Don’t think you have the appropriate resume? God can take a willing heart and make able hands.

For example, during Cush4Christ’s history, God has used people from a variety of backgrounds—pastors fresh out of seminary and seasoned pastors, college students and couples in retirement, singles and families, and history, art, physical therapy, and construction majors. God can use all types of people in the building of His church.

Kingdom work is normal work. For the people in Nehemiah’s day, the wall rebuilding was extremely normal work. It meant carrying stones, mixing mortar, cutting rocks, fetching water, cook-ing food, and protecting coworkers. What made this good work (Neh. 2:18) was that it was done for God’s glory and the good of His people. The work in and of itself wasn’t all that notable. It was an organized pile of stone. Nonetheless, through ordinary work, God did an extraordinary work of shaping people’s hearts.

Here in South Sudan, team members find themselves doing all sorts of work. Yes, the work is normal—doing finances, teaching school, keeping houses and vehicles in order, having conversations over chai, making hospital runs, walking with church members through grief and loss, rejoicing over the birth of a child, and leading Bible studies. Added to this is the adventure of learning a new culture, creative problem-solving opportunities, living off the grid, and experiencing the unique temperatures of the African plains. In this location, the Lord has use for willing hearts—and a few months or a few years of your humble service to the King could leave an indelible mark on the “wall” of Christ’s church in South Sudan.

The story of Nehemiah began with prayer. God worked through Nehemiah’s many and varied prayers to accomplish a great work in and through people’s lives. To that same end, would you please pray? Pray for God to raise up laborers to come to South Sudan. And would you also please pray and ask if God is calling you to serve here for a time?

An Appeal from Central Asia

How do Christians pray? How do Christians fast? How do Christians worship? How does some-one become a Christian? What is your purpose in life?

Amazingly we receive such questions on a weekly basis in this land shrouded in gospel darkness, a country where 96% of inhabitants are entrapped in a burdensome works-based religion. Most of them do not have any meaningful relationships with followers of Christ, so when they find out about our faith, they flood us with questions. In our first interactions, they often ask about our faith before they ask for our names! For some, these encounters are their first introduction to the biblical Christ. What a privilege to be ambassadors for Jesus to people who are so unfamiliar with Him.

Despite all this lostness, we have hope that many from among these peoples will one day be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the beloved Son. Our hope is not whimsical or wishful. It is grounded in the sure promises of God for all nations.

As we sing and meditate on the Psalms, we are inundated with such promises:

The nations are the inheritance of the Son, the King of the nations (Ps. 2); all the ends of the earth will turn to the Lord (Ps. 22); God blesses His people so that His name will be known among all nations (Ps. 67); all the nations will serve the Lord the King and call Him blessed (Ps. 72); all the nations will worship and glorify the Lord (Ps. 86); all the kings of the earth will fear the name of the Lord (Ps. 102); all the kings of the earth will give thanks and sing to the Lord (Ps. 138); and God’s people are commanded to “declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples” (Ps. 96:3). This only scratches the surface of the myriad of similar promises and examples in the rest of Scripture.

From Genesis to Revelation, God is zealous to make His name famous among all nations. Jesus was zealous for His Father’s house and name (John 2:17; 17:1). Are you zealous for His name to be glorified by not just some but all nations? There are millions of lost people, representing various ethnic and language groups, who have no current hope because there are too few laborers involved in the harvest. Following the logic of Romans 10:14, these unreached peoples will not call upon the glorious name of the Lord until a gospel laborer goes to them.

Saints, your Lord Jesus commands you: “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest” (John 4:35). The harvest is now. Right now. Get involved with the harvest laborers by either sending or going to these people who have little to no gospel access. Your King and Savior deserves their praise.

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation be-longs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Rev. 7:9–10).

There is an immediate opportunity among one of the largest unreached people groups in the world. Specifically, we need more laborers to join our team. You could join us in answering those faith questions. Reach out to see how you can be involved.

Answering the Call

Could you be an answer to these appeals for laborers? Do you know someone who might be? Have you been interested in serving abroad but thought, “I’m not a church officer, so they probably don’t need me”? Does your heart feel pulled to go abroad but it scares you at the same time?

If your answer is yes to any of the above, let’s talk. Starting a conversation is not a commitment. At the very least, you’ll walk away with more information to fuel your prayers and ideas for further engaging your congregation in this Great Commission work. But I encourage you to join Isai-ah by saying, “Here I am! Send me,” and let the Lord open and close the doors as He wills.

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me’” (Isa. 6:8).