Reaching The Other 87%

R and S are a couple who live in Delhi. He is an educator; she is a stay-at-home mom who is also a great vocalist. S grew up in a upper middle income, high caste family and through her many contacts and network, presents musicals to the elite class of India, including political figures Though they have both lived and worked in the U.S. they made the decision to remain in India.

R often reminds me that, though he makes his living as a teacher, his ministry is doing what he can to reach out to unbelievers as well as disciple new followers of Christ. R is now working for a group of investors, none which are Christians, in establishing an English medium school. Though R is an accomplished teacher and speaker, his pulpit is not in a church, but in the board meeting with investors and his interaction with the local community where the school project will be launched.

Recently a friend of S fell seriously ill, to the point of death. A young woman in her thirties, this Hindu friend is out of ICU, but her prognosis and recovery is still tentative. It’s during this time that S has been with her friend, sometimes all night at the hospital. As S ministers to her friend, through kindness and prayer, S hopes that the crisis of life will be an opportunity for her friend to really hear and understand the Jesus she has been talking to her about all her life.

Eight-seven percent of the 3.6 billion people who live in Asia do not personally know a Christian. How will they be reached? Not by another strategic missionary plan, or having a conference on how to have a people movement. The task seems impossible. However, if every believer in their workplace and community would just get to know non-Christians and be friends with those who do not follow Christ, those who have never heard the Gospel will at least have a chance to understand our faith. R and S are neither passive nor militant in their service for Christ. They merely serve Him faithfully each day where they are and in what they do.