What now?

Barbara Gerhart with Global Disciples (A champion member of the Alliance for the Unreached) talks about ways to get involved with this continuing work. “Step two, I think is on your knees praying for that third of us that are still waiting for the good news. Pray for a vision for a people group. Or it could be a religious group, or a region, or a nation. In some areas, an unreached people group might be a community of people that aren’t necessarily an ethnic group. So ask for the nations as God tells us to.”

You can also stay engaged with this work by supporting ministries like Global Disciples. Gerhart says, “As we look at reaching the least reached, we do it by working with national and local churches who are within reach of those who are still unreached. They know people from unreached people groups, they know communities, they themselves are believers who come out of groups that have very minimal understanding or influence for the Gospel.”

Reaching one-third of all people on Earth isn’t something anybody can do alone. Pray the Holy Spirit will use the whole body of Christ to accomplish this mission.

The header photo comes courtesy of the Alliance for the Unreached. 

Buddhism is the majority religion in Myanmar and religious extremists want to keep it that way. Only six percent of the population follows Jesus.

(Photo courtesy of Global Disciples)

Global Disciples’ Barbara Gerhart says one of their programs in Myanmar was finishing another round of discipleship training when the coronavirus started making headlines. This drastically changed their ministry plans.

“Usually for outreach, the team would go out to a community,” Gerhart says. “They would [go] door-to-door [and] they would strike up conversations in the marketplace. But this group realized they weren’t going to be able to do that.”

The discipleship team of mostly young people decided if they can’t share their faith in-person, they were going to take their outreach to the internet. They started talking about Jesus and the Gospel via social media and other online outlets.

“Out of this social media-based outreach, four small fellowships have been started. About ten new believers have been joining other fellowships and have been able to connect. They’ve had several new believers and three baptisms just within the last few weeks.”

Gerhart says the team director calls this new strategy a “personal missions movement.”

Please pray for more people in Myanmar to be curious about Christianity and ultimately meet Jesus. Ask the Lord to bless this new online outreach through Global Disciples and to refresh the discipleship team members’ spirits.

(Photo courtesy of Pexels)

Gerhart says, “We’re seeing God continue to open doors and give His people really creative thoughts as to how we can continue to share the Gospel in these difficult times despite restrictions and limitations. God is pretty creative and His people follow suit.”

Click here to learn more about Global Disciples!

Header photo courtesy of John Schnobrich via Unsplash.

Kenya is a Christian-majority nation, but many of their people groups least-reached with the Gospel are in the eastern part of the country. Global Disciples exists to reach the least-reached with the good news of Jesus and grow disciples.

Global Disciples’ Barbara Gerhart tells the story of Sarah, one of their discipleship trainers from eastern Kenya. Sarah had a group ready to start ministry to the least-reached in their area, but then COVID-19 struck and they had to adjust their outreach plans.

(Photo courtesy of Michael Heuss via Unsplash)

“[Sarah] decided to set up a point where for a couple of hours they would be available,” Gerhart says. “People could come and have prayer with them. Her original intent was just a couple hours maybe once or twice a week.”

One older woman came to them with a cancerous tumor, and even though she was Muslim, she asked for prayer. A few days later, they found out God had completely healed this woman’s tumor.

From there, the word spread about this prayer team and the God they serve.

Gerhart says, “Within about two weeks, they’d had 20 people who had come to the Lord in this Muslim community. A new fellowship was growing and their prayer outreach ministry was turning into a daily, long-term occurrence.

“Sarah’s report is, ‘My Muslim community and the surrounding areas are more open to the Gospel now than ever before. My prayer is that when God intervenes to end the pandemic, we are in a position to reach out to even more Muslims.'”

Gerhart says, “It’s been very exciting to see how God took something that was very small and very limited and has expanded it, and that continues to grow.”

Please pray with Global Disciples that when the pandemic is over, hearts will still be open to God’s goodness and truth in the Muslim communities of eastern Kenya.

Learn more about Global Disciples’ ministry here!

Representational header photo courtesy of Global Disciples.

However, these churches often need training and support – things they find with Global Disciples.

Global Disciples’ mission is “to make it possible for clusters of churches to multiply Christ-like disciples and locally-sustainable fellowships among least-reached people.” They do this by training local Christians to share Jesus, make disciples, and plant churches among least-reached communities. Their model includes discipleship-mission training, small business training, and leadership training.

(Photo courtesy of Global Disciples)

But in a pandemic year, these critical trainings with Global Disciples look a little different.

“A lot of it is happening virtually,” says Barbara Gerhart with Global Disciples. Especially when facilitators and program directors are connecting from remote areas, “maintaining good internet connections is always an issue.”

While Global Disciples has adapted their discipleship training for social distancing, it’s also expanding.

“We’re working at really upgrading that training so that any and all of them are able to train directors who can go out and train others in discipleship-mission [and] small business leadership, preparing for the time that when things become more open, we can actually multiply our training in a way that previously we’ve probably been a little more limited,” Gerhart says.

“I just praise God that we have seen so many creative, excited people who are looking at this difficult time not as a setback, but as an opportunity. The vision of our leadership is to see opportunity in this and to be ready as God moves and opens doors. We’re seeing that nothing has stopped Him.”

(Photo courtesy of Global Disciples)

This year’s grim pandemic has not stopped the Great Commission. As Global Disciples continues to press forward with their staff and program directors in ministry, they need support from the global Body of Christ now more than ever to reach the least-reached.

If you would like to give to Global Disciples, click here!

Gerhart also asks for your prayers. “Pray for the safety and health of our national workers, obviously. We have had several that have lost family members recently – one or two related to COVID[-19] and a couple for other reasons. That’s just very difficult in these times of isolation. Many of them are often working alone anyway, so it adds to the sense of limitation.

“Continue to be praying for those who are working on the ground, those who are living with limitations. We feel like we’re limited here in the U.S., but in many places, it’s far more restrictive and with a lot fewer resources to cope with it.”

Finally, she asks, “Pray against that sense of fear and anxiety. Pray instead for the peace of God and the opportunities to see what God is doing and to step into those.”

Header photo courtesy of Global Disciples.