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Mission Challenge: "Why Go?"
By Ann Dunagan
 Q. Why should
you go to those remote foreign tribes? Wouldn’t they be better off just
left as they are?
A.My answer to that question is a loud
“NO! NO! NO!” The heathen are never better off without Jesus Christ!
Often we are blinded to this fact by what my husband and I call the
“Hollywood version” of a “tropical native paradise.” So often, the media
portrays these remote tribes living in peaceful bliss and
harmony...until the “big, bad, missionary” comes on the scene. But this
paradise is only an illusion! By God’s grace, I have had the opportunity
to minister throughout North America, Latin America, the Caribbean,
Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, and Africa -- from remote villages to
crowded inner cities. Through these travels, I have never seen this
image of an “unreached” tropical paradise! At times, the land and
beaches are beautiful and people may be warm and friendly...yet, lives
without God’s hope of salvation are filled with misery.
I can remember walking through a squatter’s village in the
Philippines and seeing streams of human waste flowing openly down the
path. I was horrified to watch a group of Filipino children toss a
bucket of garbage into an already dirty river, jump in the middle of it,
and start throwing the garbage on each other. These poor children were
just playing, oblivious to the filth and potential for disease. Although
is was tropical, it was so far from God’s Garden of Eden.
In Costa Rica, I saw people crawl on their bare knees as a penance
for their sins. In Guatemala, I sadly watched as crowds of poor, devoted
people surrendered large sums of money just to carry a religious icon.
These people were desperate for forgiveness, but as I looked into their
faces, there was no joy, and no assurance of their salvation.
In a remote city called Mubende in Uganda, East Africa, my husband
and I ministered to a tribe of people who actually worshiped a large
tree. These Africans were aware of their sins, and even the need for
blood sacrifice, yet their religion gave them no hope. They blindly
offered animal sacrifices to this tree, and at times, even the human
sacrifice of their young children.
Other areas I have seen have been bound by fear or controlled by
witchcraft. Still others are filled with tribal hatred and warfare. Each
day I see mankind’s need for God even more. I am writing this from a
remote city in Tanzania, East Africa. Just this morning, Jon and I heard
some horrifying news. A group of radical Muslims bombed the crusade
grounds were we were scheduled to sing and preach and show the JESUS
film. In the process, they also bombed a school killing eight innocent,
precious children and wounding eighty others -- all in protest of
Christianity. I can not understand how anyone could do such a thing! How
my heart aches for these people who are so far from God’s plan!
In some places such as Rwanda, Bosnia, Ethiopia, and Iraq, government
systems have planned for the elimination or starvation of entire people
groups. In other areas, twisted religious beliefs (such as the Hindu
reverence for the cow and the rat) have actually caused self-inflicted
food shortages and hunger.
Poverty. Sickness. Disease. Hunger. War.
These are all symptoms of a world without Christ. Even in prosperous
and developed countries, cultures without Christ reek with the stench of
sin: greed, pride, school shootings, suicide, gambling additions,
pornography, prostitution, homosexuality and abortion. All over the
world, individuals without Christ are separated from God by a barrier of
sin and destined to spend eternity in hell...unless they are washed in
the precious blood of Jesus!
The Good News is that Jesus Christ came to destroy this barrier! He
gave His life on the cross so that all people could enjoy God’s eternal
life in heaven.
John 3:16 sums up the entire message of the Bible with words that we
all know by heart, “For God so loved the WORLD, He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.” This is the Gospel, and our mission as Christians is to share it with
others! We must share the blessings God has given to us! We must share
our time, our talents, our finances, and most of all, we must share our
faith!
For more mission articles, see also:
Our Passion: SOULS!
Our Mailing Address:
Harvest Ministry
P.O. Box
727
Hood River, Oregon 97031
For more information, please
contact:
Jon & Ann Dunagan
Phone & Fax:
541.478.2777
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© Copyright 2002: Harvest Ministry - Jon & Ann
Dunagan (NOTE: This information may be copied and distributed
without obtaining permission as long as it is not altered, bound,
published or used for profit purposes. Our heart is to spread this Good
News!)
The purpose of Harvest
Ministry is to help fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to "Go
into all the world to preach the Gospel." Harvest Ministry is passionate
about winning souls, and is committed to going wherever the harvest is
most ripe, and wherever the Lord directs... Primarily, this is
accomplished through International Gospel Outreaches (especially in East
Africa and other third-world countries), National Evangelism Team
Support (N.E.T.S.), and encouraging other Christians to become actively
involved in world evangelism.
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