Europe/Restricted Access (MNN) — A restricted access nation is one of the countries on the radar of a SEND International task force team seeking to create a beachhead for greater ministry effectiveness.
SEND’s Dave Tucker says the countries they’re focusing on have been areas of difficult work in the past, and they’re not easy places to do ministry, “Some of those countries are not looking to have missionaries coming in. They might not be closed to missionaries, but neither are they especially welcoming.”
This special effort is a beachhead for SEND, says Tucker. They have some missionaries in these areas already, but they have never been able to build up a strong enough force to maintain the work when people go on home service furloughs, sickness, other emergency situations.
SEND is excited about this new focus, and the task force will devote their attention for a year to Slovenia, Poland and a restricted access nation. The task force is going to research the countries, find out what the specific ministry needs are, look at past efforts for ministry, and try to figure out why they’ve had such a hard time recruiting workers for these fields.
When the team presents their findings, Tucker says he hopes for more than just a report, “We want them to then come back to our recruiters, our mobilizers, our supporting constituency, and not just give the facts, but give a sense of excitement that this is happening there. This is what God is already doing. This is what can be done if we can put some more people in place.”
The purpose in the endeavor is to generate excitement and interest in these three countries. SEND has small forces working there now, with ministries that are just beginning, but Tucker sees great potential for a great harvest, if more workers would be willing to enter the field.
“So there’s a hard job we have breaking through the outer veneer to get to where the people’s hearts are. This takes long-term missionary presence. It takes people building up relationships with the people, building up trust and friendship to the point where they can begin sharing from their own spiritual experiences and trying to touch the hearts of others.”
If you would like more information on these specific task force focus countries, contact SEND International, through their information listed below.
