The words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 24 verse 14 indicate that not every person on the earth may necessarily have to hear the Good News before Jesus comes again, but that every culture or ethno-linguistic group must have the Good News preached to them. Although God wants every person to have access to the Good News, it is up to us to bring it to every one of the 24,000 different people groups that are now on the earth. Revelation chapter 7:9 also shows that not every person will be in heaven but there will be a representation from every language or people group in heaven.

One half of the 24,000 people groups in the world today have a church within their culture. This means that they have ACCESS to the Gospel. The other one half of the world’s people groups, 12,000 ethno-linguistic groups, do not have a church or Bible in their language. For them there is no ACCESS to Jesus except through our missionary efforts. Missionary work is about giving access to people to hear the Good News.

The story of the Bible is about God winning back from a rebellious people, those who will love Him. When God called Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 He said that all nations would be blessed through him. But the call to missions even goes back further than that. The very first words that God spoke to man in Genesis chapter 1 verse 28. Study this verse carefully and you’ll see that the Great Commission that Jesus gave in Matthew chapter 28 verse 19-20 mirror this verse. It’s always been God’s plan that His glory spread throughout the earth and that we would be like Him.

Jesus said, "If you love me you will obey me". People will let us down and fail us, so having our motive for missionary work based on the love of people will not enable us to endure great disappointments. Study the Gospel of John chapter 21 and you'll see that God wants to be sure that we earnestly love Him as the reason for doing missions work.

See Philippians chapter 1:4 and chapter 4:10-12. Other churches gave gifts as well. See 2 Corinthians 12:13.

It's the Greek word ethnos from which we get our word for ethnic group. The Good News of Jesus has probably at one time or another been preached in every country of the world. But Jesus was not talking about political nations. He wants everyone from every people group or language to know Him. See Revelation chapter five verse nine. Also Isaiah chapter 15 verse 15 as well as other references to nation in the Bible.

The key word here is every. God is not going to accept a job halfway done. The blood of His Son is worth someone from EVERY people group. See Revelation chapter 5 verse 9.

FALSE: Jesus said to the disciples in Acts chapter 1 verse 8 that they were to begin in Jerusalem, then Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Funny thing, Jesus didn’t mention Galilee in this list. The disciples were Galileans. They didn’t even want to be in Jerusalem but wanted to go back to their home area. Another way of thinking about this is to ask the question: Is everyone in the city of Jerusalem a believer in Jesus today? No, they are not. Jesus didn't mean that every person had to become a Christian in Jerusalem before going to the next location He named. God wants His Church to reach those in our home areas, but we are also to reach out to other areas, areas we may even dislike (like the Jews hated Samaria). And He wants us to reach to the ends of the earth. All these areas must be reached at the same time. With God it is possible. Remember that missionary work is not necessarily to win every person but to give every people group the ACCESS to accept or reject Jesus. See Revelation chapter 5 verse 9.

FALSE: There are still many languages that don't have any of God's Word translated into written form.

FALSE: There are still many languages that don't have any of God's Word translated into written form.

FALSE: People often confuse missionary work with giving to the poor or doing other good things that the Church is also to do. Although lack of knowledge of Jesus is a big factor contributing to poverty around the world, there are also some areas or the world where people may be quite wealthy but are unreached with the Good News Jesus.

FALSE: Evangelism is taking the gospel to people with the same language and culture. An example would be a person from the Bemba language group in Zambia sharing the Good News of Jesus with another person of the same tribe in the Bemba language. Missions is taking the gospel to people in a different culture, usually those who speak a different language. An example of this is when the Bemba person in Zambia leaves their area or country and learns another language and culture to share the Good News of Jesus. To do missions work of this nature takes much more commitment and effort, as can be testified to by anyone who has transferred to an totally different culture and language group. Both evangelism and missions work are very important. Some people go further to distinguish between Missions and Frontier Missions. Frontier Missions is taking the gospel to people in a different culture, usually those who speak a different language, who do not have a church amongst them to reach the people group with the Gospel. In other words many missionaries today are working with established churches but perhaps those young churches need a Bible translation or need leadership training. In Frontier Missions there is no established church at all.

TRUE: In fact, no one is exempt. To keep a military soldier on the field it took 20 other soldiers and personnel doing things like ordering supplies, doing communications and preparing meals. In other words, there's a place for everyone to be involved. If you haven’t been involved in missions work please click here to learn how you could be involved.