Short term mission update

Peter and Doreen Chia's son Paul is oon a short term mission trip, He Writes:

In February 2009, I will be travelling in a group of 4 young Christian people to India, to experience firsthand the work for God’s Kingdom of gospel agencies in these places to reach people who have not heard the gospel. Why go to India, even despite the front-page headlines of Mumbai recently? Because we have been gripped by the need to plant churches amongst the most unreached people groups and the fulfilment of Matthew 24:14, and have become aware of these partners committed to doing this. We go so that we can see the work of these agencies that we support - how our prayers and money are being harnessed**, and help raise partnering of these mission/church-planting/Bible-distributing agencies by commending them to people back home.

Nearly 3 billion people are still UNREACHED with the gospel of Jesus Christ. HALF the world has yet to hear. If the doors are shut, how will these unreached multitudes ever hear the Gospel? After WWII, many countries gained independence. Most of the nations in Asia, where 97% of the world’s unreached people live, severely restrict or are closed to foreign missionaries. **Some of the figures quoted by agencies like Gospel For Asia are hard to believe!!

GFA’s vision is to send out 100,000 native missionaries into the most unevangelised areas of the 10/40 Window. Today, by God’s grace, more than 16,500 are already on the field in ten Asian countries—preaching the Gospel full-time and winning people to Christ. 98% of all GFA’s native missionaries are working in unevangelised areas.That’s why GFA has established 67 Bible colleges on the Indian subcontinent, where nearly 10,000 students currently prepare for pioneer ministry. All ministry work done by the native missionaries contributes toward the goal of planting local churches. GFA’s native missionaries have so far established more than 30,000 + churches and fellowships. Currently our missionaries are establishing an average of 11 fellowships each day. God uses prayer to align people with His purposes, and to bring about His Kingdom - Your Kingdom come! Therefore, people praying for this Kingdom work may well stir them to be more and more Kingdom minded.And people pray for people they know/connected to, more than for faceless organisations. This is a significant reason for us going rather than just talking about some agencies without actually going. And this is why the significance of our pastor Rory of Unichurch, praying with the Unichurch congregation for me going on this trip, is not lost on the Unichurch people. People would also be more encouraged to pray, the more personal the request - so people of Claremont Baptist could be moved to pray for me as they know me and also because they know my girlfriend Yun, and people of the 10am St Matthew's congregation might be stirred to pray for me as they know my parents. If it is possible for me to say a few words about the trip to the congregations before leaving for India on 6 February, to stir up prayer, do you think this would be worthwhile? We will certainly be brought to our knees in earnest prayer on our trip, and we greatly appreciate the prayers of our sending churches and brothers and sisters back home! We have no doubt that we will depend greatly on the prayers, as God moves people to pray, in pastoral prayers by the church ministry team
congregational prayers in Sunday services and in small groups,

Your brother, for His Kingdom!

Paul Chia