I got back home from my World Race at the end of May and the question, “So… what’s next?” Has been asked more times than I can count. But it’s a very valid question, what is next for me? The answer is that I’m going back on the front lines of the mission field, in the 10/40 window.
What is the 10/40 Window?
The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. The 10/40 Window is often called “The Resistant Belt” and it houses some of the largest unreached people groups in the whole world. In this region, there are approximately 3.28 billion unreached people, according to the Joshua Project. That’s 40% of the world’s population. Based on that statistic it’s not surprising to know that the 10/40 window is also home to most of the world’s unevangelized countries. 45 of what are considered to be the top 50 countries with the most persecution of Christians are in the 10/40 window. But the 10/40 Window is more than just statistics, it’s a real area and real people live there. Real lives are being lost without ever knowing true hope, without ever knowing the Savior.
Why am I going to the 10/40 window?
The 10/40 Window, specifically the Middle East, has been on my heart for a while now. It all started when God became real to me. Within a week of when I truly flipped my life around for Christ, I read a book called, “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus.” This book shaped how I viewed my relationship with God and how I saw ministry. In this book, it talks about the author’s journey from being a devout Muslim to becoming a Christian on fire for Jesus. Hearing about the struggles and hardships that he went through to accept Christ was enlightening for me. I was shocked to hear just how much he had to sacrifice in order to convert, the cost was his whole life. You can be completely disowned by the people you love most just because you decide to become a Christian. The mere thought of the internal struggle a Muslim must go through to become a Christian broke me. Every good sense in you would be telling you to say no to Jesus, because on paper, quite frankly it doesn’t make sense. Because on paper you can’t encapsulate the worth of knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior. On paper, you can’t write down just how worthy Jesus is as our king. For these people to experience salvation, they have to experience sacrifice and persecution that, so few people actually even understand. That truth is just unreal to me. I cannot bear the burden on my heart for these people who are aching for a savior, for hope. I have been feeling the call on my life to go, and praise be to God I have been given an opportunity to. The verse that keeps coming to mind as I prepare for this trip is Romans 10:14: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” This verse is why, this verse is why I am going. How can they be saved by the one man who can save them if they’ve never even heard of Him?
What will my trip look like?
Starting in January, I will be gone for five months, in three different countries. All the countries are located in the 10/40 Window. The countries we will be going to have changed a couple times already. Due to current world events, our route can change quite drastically very quickly. Despite what happens though, we will try our best to follow where the Lord is guiding us. The first few weeks of our trip will be extensive training in Georgia. The training deals with defending your faith, insights into Islam and the other religions present in the places we will be, insights into the cultures we will be entering, and much more. The training will be very different from the training I got for the World Race that I did this past year. The training for this trip has to prepare us all to be ready to accept the fact that we’re going into a ministry field that is heavily persecuted. The reality is that certain things can get you imprisoned, or possibly even worse.
Because of the nature of ministry in the places we’ll be, I honestly don’t know what ministry will look like specifically. Ministry is very dependent on the location we’re at. We try to do ministry that will actually be sustainable, we don’t want to work for a couple of months in a spot and then leave the people high and dry. Because of the desire for sustainability, we work very closely with the local ministry contacts in the places we will be. I’ll be able to expound more on ministry when I actually get there, you can just follow along by reading my blogs.
How can you support my ministry?
There are so many ways you can support me as I prepare to leave in January. The biggest way is just prayer. This is honestly the biggest thing for me right now, I need prayer, the people I will working alongside need prayer, the people in the 10/40 need prayer, prayer is needed everywhere. I can’t emphasize enough how much of a game-changer it is for me to know that I have prayer warriors supporting me and my ministry. We are in a war that isn’t against flesh and blood but against spiritual things and prayer is our weapon. I would love it if you would partner with me in praying for the salvation of the lost, for the discipleship of the believers in the places we are going, for our protection, for perseverance in the face of persecution, and for whatever else God places on your heart to pray for. I am not positive of a whole ton of things, but I am sure of this, prayer works.
Thank you so much for reading the first blog on this new journey. I’m praying that God moves in all of your lives in crazy ways. Your support is a huge blessing.
