Under constant fear of his anger, you are exhausted from seemingly endless religious deeds in an attempt to save your own soul. You continue on this path of fear and shame until the moment that you unexpectedly enter eternity. You then find out that everything you had been taught and believed your entire life was a lie, and that you will spend eternity separated from the one true God in hell. This is not because you did not do enough deeds to save your own soul, but because you never heard the Name of Jesus, the only One Who could save you.

For People in Unreached Nations, This is Their Reality

Because there are not enough missionaries willing to go to these places to share the Gospel, billions of people are in danger of entering a hopeless eternity without Jesus. Here at YWAM Redding, there are a few reasons why we are compelled with such passion and urgency to focus on ministry to the unreached.

How Many People are Still

UnreachedAccording to the Joshua Project, there are still 3.19 billion people, or 41% of the world’s population, who are considered unreached. This means that there is such a small number of believing Christians in a people group, or none at all, that most of this population has no access to the Gospel and no opportunity to hear about Jesus.Most of these people groups are located in what is known as the 10/40 Window, which stretches from 10 degrees south to 40 degrees north of the equator and covers 69 nations across Central Asia, Northern Africa, and the Middle East. This is the area of the world that YWAM Redding focuses on reaching. God’s heart is broken for these people who are lost in spiritual darkness and have never encountered His love. They are in bondage to religions based in fear, shame, and performance, and have never heard that Jesus died for them to set them free and give them eternal life. As lovers of God, the Holy Spirit wants to fill us with the passion from God’s own heart to reach the lost until we are compelled to go to these places. Billions of people are in danger of eternal separation from God unless someone is willing to go to them with the Gospel.

Jesus Commanded Us to Go to the Unreached

In Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus commands us to go and make disciples of all nations. To go implies that this is not passive, but rather an active commitment of obedience and love. To go also implies that we must be willing to make sacrifices in order to reach others with the Gospel. This willingness will not come from a sense of duty, but must be the overflow of a genuine passion for the lost and deep love for Jesus that comes with the desire to follow His leading no matter the cost. 

Jesus also told us that He would not return until the Gospel has been preached throughout all nations. By going to the places that have not yet been reached, we are preparing the way for His return!

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. – Matthew 24:14

Going to the Hardest and Darkest Places to Reach the Unreached

YWAM Redding was founded on the mission of training revivalists in a culture of prayer and worship to go to the ends of the earth. For us, going to the hardest and darkest places is not merely a tagline, but a core value of our base that we passionately live out.

The vast majority of people in need of the Gospel are located in an area of the world that is immersed in spiritual darkness. To be a Christian in many of these nations is to risk persecution, imprisonment, and even death. In order to reach the lost in these nations, there must be lovers of Jesus who are willing to give God their yes.

The vast majority of missionaries are not going to these nations. Instead, they are going to places where most people have already heard of Jesus. The people in unreached nations will spend eternity without hope unless people are willing to go to the hard places.

Will you give God your yes?

You don’t need to have a certain set of qualifications to go to the unreached. You just need to be willing to say yes. At YWAM Redding, we have two options to help equip you to go to the nations:

• Our Encounter Discipleship Training School (DTS) is a five-month program that is the prerequisite to further involvement with YWAM. After three months of investing in your intimacy with the Lord, you will go on a two month outreach. This outreach will give you the opportunity to share the Gospel in the 10/40 Window. HERE is more information about doing a DTS!
• After doing a DTS, you can join our School of Supernatural Frontier Missions (SFM). This is a 12-week school that focuses on training revivalists to go to these unreached nations. To find out more about SFM, go HERE.

Are you in a season of trying to discover God’s will for your life? Do you long to live a life filled with passion and purpose that has an eternal impact? Is your heart broken for the billions of unreached who are lost in darkness without any chance to hear the Gospel, in danger of a hopeless eternity without Jesus? Have you ever asked yourself the question, Am I called to missions? If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, this blog is for you.

Misconceptions About Being Called to Missions

For many people, when they hear the word missions, they think of someone living in a hut in Africa. God does call some people to this type of missionary life, but there is so much more! Some examples of mission work that YWAM Redding is involved with include:

• Mercy ministries
• Music ministry
• Working with children
• Refugee camps
• Creative and prophetic evangelism
• Bible distribution

There are a variety of ways to be called to missions. God gave you specific talents and passions to be used for His glory, and all of them can be part of sharing the Gospel!

Many people also have the misconception that you are required to be poor and struggling financially if you are called to missions. God doesn’t stop being faithful to His promises to provide and care for you once you become a missionary. YWAM is filled with testimonies of the Lord pouring out supernatural provision. Don’t allow fear of finances to hold you back. If you simply say yes to pursuing the Lord and His heart for the nations, He will be faithful to provide all that you need to be called to missions as you step out in faith.

The last misconception that many people have is that you need to have a specific personality type, gifting, level of spiritual maturity, etc. to be called to missions. While it is always important to grow spiritually, God wants to work through you where you are at! Let any burdensome expectations of perfection fall away from your idea of what it looks like to be a missionary.

How will God show me that I’m called to missions?

If you are waiting for a dream or vision to confirm that you are called to missions, that may happen, but more often, His guidance comes more subtly through intimacy, out of the overflow of relationship with Him. The closer you draw near to Jesus, the easier it is to hear His voice and sense where He is leading you. Even before He desires to “use” you to be called to missions, His heart is to have an intimate relationship with you. He desires to speak to you and guide you, but let your first priority always be chasing after the “one thing” of deeper intimacy with the Lord.

You can know for sure that God’s call for your life will always involve the completion of the Great Commission. In Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus commands us to go and make disciples of all nations. We are all called to be missionaries, and as you seek Him with an open heart, willing to say yes to wherever He calls you, He will reveal the role that He wants you to play in telling others about Jesus.

What should I do next to pursue being called to missions?

One of the best ways to both grow deeper in intimacy with Jesus and receive guidance and direction for your life is to do a Discipleship Training School (DTS)! You can read more about doing a DTS here.

At YWAM Redding, our focus is ongoing to the hardest and darkest places to share the Gospel with the unreached, specifically the Muslim world. There is only one missionary for every 555,000 Muslims. Over 70,000 people die every day in the unreached world without Jesus. This is why we go because our motivation for being called to missions is that God has broken our hearts for the lost and filled us with a burning passion to go to them with the Gospel. Don’t waste your life chasing after earthly pursuits with no eternal significance. Ask the Lord to give you His heart for the lost, and He will also fill you with His passion for the nations. This is one of the most dangerous prayers that you could pray because once you are touched by the Father’s furious compassion and love for the billions who are perishing, you will be forever changed. There will be a cost to your yes. But the eternal rewards are worth it. Above all, Jesus is worthy to receive the reward of His suffering.