Eurasia Region Article

Iraq! Afghanistan!Iran! Libya! Russia! Egypt! India! Nepal! Pakistan! Israel! Lebanon! Armenia!

Countries with earth-shattering end-time prophecies attached to them? Countries that are centers for terrorism? A rundown of what will be featured on CNN or Fox News tonight?

No, they're just part the largest, most fascinating, most challenging Assemblies of God mission field in the world - Eurasia!

Here you'll find the birthplaces of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Eurasia is the "birthplace of civilization" that you read about in history books, the story of the Bible from Eden to Ephesus.

This region is strategic. Almost every one of the 10/40 Window countries - the least reached of all - are in Eurasia. The poorest people on the globe. The largest number of unreached people groups. Islam's greatest stronghold. No matter how you approach missions, there's no place with greater strategic potential and more opportunities than Eurasia.

The Challenges of Eurasia

The Challenge of Islam

Islam is the most destructive and challenging force that Satan has ever devised to fight the Church. No other weapon is so sharply honed to fight against Christ and His followers. Although it is the newest world religion, Islam is growing faster in some places than Christianity. Depending on how you count them, Muhammad may have more followers than Christ does.

From Saudi Arabia to Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, you will encounter the strictest forms of Islam in Eurasia. You will also find millions who are Muslim in name only, Muslims who know very little about the teachings of Islam.

Islam teaches that you are born a Muslim. But this is also one of Islam's weaknesses and one of the great opportunities of the Church. Many people are Muslim, not because they have chosen Islam, but because they know almost nothing about Jesus Christ. Where Islam is the strictest, many people are actually more open to the gospel - not less so.

Islam is a destructive and satanic force, but individual Muslims can be incredibly open to the gospel. As strange as it sounds, God loves even Osama Bin Laden. Our challenge is to bring to Muslims all across Eurasia a message of God's love for man.

The Challenge of Unreached People

Every country within Eurasia has huge blocks of people who have never heard the gospel. Paul said, "My one ambition is to proclaim the gospel where the name of Christ is not known, lest I build on someone else's foundation" (Romans 15:20). He would have felt right at home in Eurasia!

There are more people in more countries that have not heard the gospel in Eurasia than any other place in the world. Fewer missions workers and teams minister in Eurasia than any other area of the world. Millions will die this year in Eurasia without hearing the gospel, and many more have never even heard the NAME of Jesus! The Bible says, "How, then, can people call on someone they have not believed? And how can they believe in someone they have not heard about? And how can they hear without someone preaching?" (Romans 10:14).

"Unreached people" does NOT mean "unreachable people." The problem is not that they cannot be reached; it is that we are not trying!

From campus ministries to cafés and coffee shops, we must be creative in pursuing those who have never heard the gospel of Christ.

The Challenge of Poverty

Poverty binds people as tightly as any religion, and some of the world's poorest people are found in Eurasia. From the former Soviet countries of Moldova, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, to the exploding populations of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, to the North African countries with their limited natural resources, poverty is a huge problem in Eurasia.

Sometimes desperation and lack of hope combine with fanaticism to produce terrorism and violence. But mostly they just leave people hungry for a future.

Jesus had much to say on poverty. The challenge of poverty in Eurasia is how to respond biblically - in a way that doesn't just feed the hungry person, but also addresses the root causes of poverty. Compassion ministries such as Convoy of Hope, Teen Challenge and HealthCare Ministries help missionaries address these issues and open doors for the gospel to be heard.

Our Response to the Challenges

The greatest challenge facing us is to bring the gospel to every tongue, tribe and nation. Jesus hinges His return on our completion of the task He started. When talking of what would precipitate His return, He said bluntly, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24:14).

Television makes it easy for us to watch the struggles of people half a world away and question how one person can make a difference. It's easy to let someone else finish the task that Jesus started. But if we call ourselves followers of Christ, we can't ignore His Great Commission to go into all the world.

There's hope in many countries we once thought were tightly closed to the gospel. Churches - yes, some of them underground - are being planted in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Churches are being planted - and legally registered - in countries of the former Soviet Union. People are coming to Christ by the thousands in countries where, for hundreds of years, only a handful accepted Christ in any given generation.

It is not enough. The theme of this World Missions Summit is "It's Not About Me." Well, if it isn't about you, then who is it about?

It's about Jesus. It's about the thousands of people who die every day having never heard about Christ. It's about what you will do about it. It's about devoting a part of - or perhaps even all of - your life to telling others about Jesus Christ.

Will you accept the call of God to Eurasia?

Will you dare to boldly go where few have gone before?