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Resourcing the Mission (Living Water)

People donate their money to what they know about and feel some connection to. That is why it is so easy to fund a high schooler for a short-term trip to Mexico and so hard to fund a long-term pioneer worker for one of those unknown places like Chhattisgarh (India), Hubei (China), or Banten (Indonesia) that were on the list from Day 2. 

Local churches increasingly define and limit their mission giving to one or more of the following that they know and have a connection with:
• groups in their own city or nearby 
• places where they have sent one of their own missionaries
• places where they send short-term teams

These methods of defining mission tend to miss the least reached people in the world because they tend to be in places that are not nearby, that are hard to get missionaries into, and that are too risky for short-term teams. Donations, therefore, get disproportionately devoted to the easier areas, leaving the least reached as they are.

This kind of thinking makes sense from a human standpoint, but it is a large part of the reason that only 0.3% of Christian giving globally goes to the least evangelized countries. Even if people gave considerably more to missions, mission to the least reached would not get much more of it. We need to start giving to what God sees clearly instead of what we can see. And what God sees is that the least reached are getting overlooked.

Personal Reflection: 
• Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be.” (MAT.6.21) Instead of trying to care more about unreached peoples, try giving more to unreached people’s work now regardless of how much you care. Then watch as your heart follows your money.
• Is your church missing unreached peoples even though it may be staying busy with lots of mission activity? Pray for the mission decisions in your church.

Prayer: 
• Lord, I am deciding now that I will make a contribution this month to a person or organization working in a least evangelized district or people group. Guide me to know what amount to give and where to give it. And let my heart follow my gift as I follow you. Amen.
• Father, stretch my vision and stretch our vision as a church. Keep us open to Your leading, even if that takes us into unfamiliar territory with unreached peoples.