We at IMB are in the midst of a mountain of changes. Some of the changes are due to the reorganization of the board this past year. We have new leaders, new support centers, new strategies, and new priorities. That’s not to say that we have changed everything…..We are still focused on reaching the world for Christ. What HAS changed is how we will do that, and perhaps, thinking about who should get the opportunity to hear first. More about that second comment….
On top of the structural changes at IMB, we are feeling the pinch from the global economic crisis. It seems that offerings are down and the cash flow is slowing. We are facing personnel cutbacks, reduced ministry funds, and even salary and benefit cuts. It seems clear that 2010 will see a leaner and more efficient missionary force. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think as a whole, we’ll be more aware of our DAILY dependence on God. To use a good Baptist saying, “Where God guides, he provides” will be something we’ll be depending on more than ever.
With that in mind, we are making some hard decisions about WHERE to preach the gospel. From one point of view, there are lost people everywhere and one place is about as good as another. But from what we are told is more “strategic” thinking, there are obviously places in the world that will NEVER hear if we don’t go. This is going to hit close to home for us missionaries in the Americas. Some of us are working in places where Christianity is at 5%, 10%, 15%, or maybe 20% of the population. Yet there are places in the world where the percentage of known Christians is virtually 0%. The tough question is “Should we continue working in areas that have significant numbers of believers, or should we exit and redeploy to the least-reached peoples of the world. These are truly hard questions. For someone like myself, who is working where the percentage is about 5%, that means 95% of the people are lost. But that also means that I am not working among the least-reached peoples of the world. What does the future hold? Good question…….
