
# **Peeking Through the 10/40 Window**

_**WHY IT MATTERS TO GOD**_

_**WHY IT SHOULD MATTER TO US**_

Johnny J. Esposito

**3332 Magnolia, Long Beach, California 90806**

**Phone (562) 426-5214 Fax (562) 424-3324**

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**Copyright 2015** **by Johnny Esposito**

Pacific Publications

All Rights Reserved

Digital Book Developer: Michael Taylor

Cover Designer: Linda K. Milam

FBC Publications & Printing

Fort Pierce, FL 34982

www.fbcpublications.com

# Dedication

This book is dedicated to all the men and women, throughout the centuries, who were willing to leave their families, their friends, their financial security, their future ambitions, and all that was familiar to them to go to _"the uttermost parts of the earth_ " for _"sake of the gospel."_

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# Foreword

I love to read. Centuries ago the Apostle Paul gave these inspired words of advice to a young preacher. _"Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine" I Timothy 4:13._

It has been my practice for more than 40 years in ministry to "give attendance to reading." Rarely have I come across a book that has moved me like Johnny Esposito's book, _"Peeking Through the 10/40 Window."_ This powerful book comes from the heart of a man that did more than merely take a casual glance at what he saw. What Johnny saw changed his life and as a result it changed many others.

Mine is one of the lives changed as a result of Johnny peeking through the 10/40 window. I visited Johnny in the restricted access nation of which he writes in this book. My life was changed. It was as a result of that peek through the 10/40 Window that God laid upon my heart to begin a Mission's Organization to help get the Gospel to some of the neediest countries in the world.

As you read this book, please ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the needs and opportunities that await us in the 10/40 window. God is raising up a movement of people whose hearts have been touched as a result of lifting up their eyes and seeing the massive harvest fields of the 10/40 Window.

Perhaps your life will be changed, as was mine, by "Peeking Through the 10/40 Window"

\--Dwight Tomlinson, Pastor Liberty Baptist Church of Newport Beach, CA. and Founder and President of Barnabas1040.com

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# Preface

After a couple of years "wrestling with God" about the great need around the world, I am finally writing this book that has been on my heart for quite some time. Learning about the 10/40 Window and what I should do about it, spending another year on deputation, and then completing over two years on the mission field in Southeast Asia, this book is just something I felt compelled to do. That gnawing sense of "you should be writing" wasn't about to leave me.

Someone once said, "If there is a book that you really want to read, and it has not yet been written, then you must write it." Another has written, "When genuine passion moves you, say what you have to say...." Still another penned these words, "Write what should not be forgotten."

I like what a fellow missionary in Cambodia wrote in the introduction to his book _Pioneer Missions:_ _Meet the Challenges, Share the Blessings_ :

_To be honest, if I didn't write, I'd burst! While many older and wiser men might be asked to write on these topics, I feel much like Elihu in Job 32 in regard to some topics in this book. Like him, "the spirit within me constrains me...I must speak, that I may find relief." My heart is simply filled with the need to communicate about some of these matters. They are of great importance to me because I believe they are important to my God and Savior Jesus Christ._

While I may have read a few books similar to this in the past, they have not been written by those who have sent me, who serve with me or support me. This book comes from a passion that God has birthed in my heart over the past few years. I feel it has a message that not only must be read but must not be forgotten. As Forrest McPhail writes, _"To be honest, if I didn't write, I'd bust!"_

Each of us has something about which we are passionate, something that compels us to say the things we say, to do what we do, to spend what we spend, and even to go where we go.

Passionless people are people without purpose, often found drifting aimlessly down the stream of life and never really going anywhere or doing anything of significance for God and their fellow man.

May I share with you what has become a passion of my life over the past few years. The prayer of my heart is that God will use something in this book to stir hearts. May the things that break the heart of God break all of our hearts.

God has given me the privilege to write seven books in the past fifteen years. I love writing. If you were to read these books, you would be able to see my passion.

The books dealt primarily with three different topics.

_1. Dealing with the educational problems in American public schools and the need for a distinct Christian education._

_2. Dealing with the various social ills in America._

_3. Dealing with the great need for revival in America. Oh, how America needs a revival here in the twenty-first century!_

Then something happened! God started rocking my world in 2008 and shook my world to its very foundation in 2010. My **passion** , as well as my **purpose in life,** changed dramatically.

When God first started working in my heart and life about surrendering to the mission field, I had this overwhelming desire to write about my experience and what God was doing in my heart. Procrastination played a big role in my delay because I felt I needed to be on the field for a longer period of time to get a proper perspective before writing.

I have now been on the field for over two years. An expert? Hardly! In fact, it seems like the longer I am here the more I realize how little I know about God's heart for the world and this thing we call world-wide missions. By God's grace, He is definitely working on me.

I now feel it is time to write about some of my experiences and about the passion God has placed in my heart. Perhaps after many more years on the field, there will be a sequel to this book.

Who would have dreamed 38 years ago that one day I would be living in Southeast Asia. Even 30 years ago when I graduated from Bible college or 20 years ago while serving at Cambodian Baptist Church in Long Beach, California, I never imagined that my new wife and I would be living here.

I was working as assistant pastor, administrator at Pacific Baptist School, vice president of Pacific Baptist Bible College and experiencing a flourishing ministry. But God had other plans for our lives.

Well, guess what? My wife and I are presently living in Southeast Asia. We have been here for two years now. We spent the first 17 months serving with our team located in the country of Laos and are now living and serving alongside our team in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This area is often referred to as the 10/40 Window. It has been an interesting journey, and we look forward to what God has in store for our future.

Maybe some are wondering how we ended up in Southeast Asia. We have five children serving the Lord full-time, four of them married, and 15 grandchildren. We were part of a great ministry.

In this book, I will share a bit of how God brought us to this place in our lives, what He has been teaching us and continues to teach us, along with some observations about missions.

From the "new kid on the block's" perspective, I would like to share the great need for more laborers and resources in the 10/40 Window in general and Southeast Asia more specifically.

Prayerfully this book will give us a small peek at the 10/40 Window and a glimpse of what and where the 10/40 Window is. Perhaps also it will give a clearer understanding of the great physical and spiritual needs found in this area.

# Introduction

It has often been said that first impressions are lasting impressions. While not sure if that is always true, I am certain that our eyes affect our hearts. This is taught in God's Word and it has been played out over and over again throughout history.

**_Lamentations 3:51,_** _Mine eye affecteth mine heart ..._

It is definitely true, what we see does affect our hearts, sometimes for the bad and sometimes for the good. Amazingly, often all it takes is just a peek and the impression that is made can be a "lasting impression." ONE THAT COULD LAST A LIFETIME!

With God's help, we want to take a peek into the window–the 10/40 Window. My prayer is that God will open our eyes as we look and that it will have a lasting impression.

Of course, what your eyes read in this book will most likely not affect your heart like a trip to this part of the world, but there is one thing that I do know. Most of those who will read this book have had very little interest in visiting the part of the world that is commonly referred to as the 10/40 Window.

God was able to touch my comfortable, cold and calloused heart when I came for a visit a few years ago. When I took a small look, my eyes definitely affected my heart, and that's why I am here today. However, even before coming to this part of the world, I began looking here and there. At times, I became aware of the 10/40 Window by reading various books, which I will recommend to you later.

Looking online and reading different blogs and watching YouTube clips, also helped me to see the need, and my heart was being moved with the same compassion Jesus experienced when he saw the multitudes.

**_Matthew 9:35-38,_** _And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37Then saith he unto his disciples,_ _The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;_ _38_ _Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest._

After spending nearly thirty years of our lives serving God full-time in the United States, my wife and I surrendered to go "to the field." For the past few years, our burden has been the entire 10/40 Window. Although, we have never sensed a specific call to go to a specific nation or people group, we have just felt called "to go" and do what we could for Christ in the most needy field in the world.

**It all started with just a peek here and there!**

In this book, we will look at some disturbing statistics, but for the sake of introduction, I would like for us to consider a few of these distressing facts:

  * _There are over seven billion people alive in the world today, and almost two-thirds of them live in the 10/40 Window._
  * _There are hundreds of millions of people in our world who will live their entire lives having never met a Christian, never hearing the Gospel, and never hearing the name of Jesus even once prior to their death and nearly all of these live in the 10/40 Window._
  * _Eighty-six percent of the Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus in the world will live their entire lives and die without ever meeting a Christian, and almost every one of these lives in the 10/40 Window._
  * _Forty-three percent of the world's people groups are considered unreached and the majority of these are found in the 10/40 Window._
  * _Over 75,000 people die every day without ever having heard the name of Jesus even once, and the vast majority of these are found in this region._
  * _Of the top fifty countries on the list of most persecution of Christians, forty-five of them are also found in this region._
  * _For every one hundred dollars raised in Western churches, ninety-nine are spent on Christians; only one dollar is spent on evangelizing non-Christians, and of that one dollar, less than ten cents is spent to reach the almost 2.5 billion unreached people in our world in the 10/40 Window._
  * _95% of full-time Christian servants are serving 5% of the world's population._
  * _Only one in a thousand evangelical Christians ever go into cross-cultural ministry._
  * _Of those who do go, more than 90 percent of them go into lands and to people who have already been evangelized, and less than 5 percent of them go to the 10/40 Window where two-thirds of the world is located!_
  * _There are 1,900 languages in the world (some 180 million people) that have NO Scripture in their own language, and most of these are found there also._

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That's just a small tidbit, a peek, of some very disturbing statistics that should break our hearts and cause us to want to do something.

**_"Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God." - Bob Pierce_**

For those of us who have known the Lord for any length of time we understand that our God is a God Who loves the whole world and desires that all would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. In addition to this, we also know that a vast majority of the world has not only not come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, but have yet to have the opportunity to do so. Therefore, He sends men and women to the uttermost parts of the world to bring the good news of the Gospel.

**_Romans 15:20,_** _Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation._

This was not only the consuming passion of the apostle Paul, this is the desire of God. This is the heartbeat of worldwide missions.

While we understand that not all will "GO" to the uttermost parts of the world, all who claim the name of Christ and have experienced the wonderful grace of God in their lives, must be a part of this great undertaking of which we call missions.

Our Lord commanded us to pray to the Lord of the harvest specifically to send more laborers into the harvest fields that are plenteous. The problem has never been with the harvest field, it has always been the lack of laborers and our unwillingness to send them.

If this book would enable a handful of people to get a vision into the 10/40 Window and have their hearts moved with compassion, then it has been a good investment of my time. Perhaps this vision might challenge a handful of Christ-followers to "GO to the field," and many others to do their part back home in praying for and financially supporting those who do go. If that happens, then I believe it will be a good investment of your time also!

So, with that in mind, I have a three-fold purpose to inform, instruct, and inspire a handful of young men and women to prayerfully consider what God would have them to do with such a great need on the other side of the world.

So, what do you say? Let's take a peek in the 10/40 Window and prayerfully ask God to do something special in our hearts.

For His Glory in the Nations,

Johnny Esposito

# -Chapter 1-

# What in the World am I Doing Here?

Who would have thought that my wife and I would leave the comforts and conveniences of America to move thousands of miles away to Southeast Asia, leaving our children and grandchildren, leaving our wonderful position at Pacific Baptist Church, where we had served for over 18 years, to begin our lives all over, especially at our age?

Adapting to an entirely new culture and learning a new language at our age was challenging to say the least.

Over the past two years since coming here, I have often asked myself what in the world am I doing here? Why did I leave family, friends, and everything familiar behind?

Waking in the middle of the night, the question arises again – what in the world am I doing here? No matter what I am doing during the day or night, this question comes again.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

Traveling through the city seeing the hundreds of people who look, sound, and think differently than I do, I find myself asking the same question again. I see signs and billboards in a language I do not understand or trying to figure out the menu in a restaurant, the question begs to be answered again.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

I walk along the river watching the people gather, the children play, and the vendors sell. Communication is not easy and again I ask myself the same question. Children, teens and adults fill our yard many times; they feel comfortable at our place, yet I cannot communicate with them.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

Adapting to a new culture and learning a new language has been very difficult, especially at my age. Most times the weather is miserable. It is hot and humid every day. The thunder and lightning storms wake us at night.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

In the "Creative Access Nation," one of our neighbors had a bad habit of walking around on his roof in his underwear. Many of our neighbors felt so comfortable with us that they would come into our yard without asking and start cutting down trees and plants for their party later in the day. Oh, did I forget to mention, they also set up five barbeque pits in our yard without my knowledge. Yes, that really happened!

**What in the world am I doing here?**

Did I forget to mention the electricity problems or the water issues. How about that state-of-the-art plumbing over here on this side of the Pacific? (Oh, and don't get me going about the Internet. I am convinced that was Paul's "thorn in the flesh").

**What in the world am I doing here?**

Did I neglect to mention that because of our inability to speak the language, my wife and I are almost totally dependent on others to help us do the smallest things like order fried rice. How about my struggling for days on end trying to say one simple consonant? And I still can't say it. I am 58 years old, a college graduate, an educator and I can't say a simple little consonant.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

Or how about trying to count to ten and struggling with the number one and having a first grade child keep correcting me. If nothing else, it helps one to stay humble that's for sure!

**What in the world am I doing here?**

Did I mention the dogs? There is something really strange about the dogs in the first country my wife and I resided and served in. They travel in packs. They will attack! And they howl for what seems like an eternity, especially at night. The nationals say they are howling at the spirits. I don't know what it is, but it's a bit eerie to say the least.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

There are times where I just start thinking about the food back home. Nothing fancy - just a burger, fries, an Italian beef sandwich, even Taco Bell or McDonalds and I ask myself,

**What in the world am I doing here?**

My wife and I lived in a city where there were over 300 Buddhist temples, a Buddhist altar in nearly every home and on every corner. To my knowledge, in almost a year's time, I saw two church buildings and a few other small house churches, not in the city, but in the country.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

While walking through a store not long after arriving in Southeast Asia, I walked by a few children's toys and I cried. Why? Because I wanted to buy them and bring them to my grandchildren, whom I miss dearly. But I can't, they are thousands of miles away.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

My youngest daughter Joy had a birthday not long after we arrived in Southeast Asia. I wasn't there. As far as I know, it's the first time I have missed her birthday in 23 years. It was tough!

**What in the world am I doing here?**

When my wife had her birthday, there were no children or grandchildren here to celebrate with her. We are missing birthdays, anniversaries, holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and the Fourth of July.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

Why would a man in his mid-50's, who had a dream ministry position at a fairly large church as an assistant pastor, a vice-president of a Bible College, an administrator of a fairly large Christian school, who had the opportunity during the previous 5-6 years to speak at over 70 different churches, the father of five, grandfather of 15, upset everything, sell his condo, and grab his wife to leave the only country they have ever known to go to the other side of the Pacific Ocean, and go to a "restricted" nation. **Johnny, what were you thinking?**

**What in the world am I doing here?**

For those first 17 months in a "Creative Access Nation," it was really different as far as ministry goes. We had to be careful with whom we talked. It was difficult to distribute a Gospel tract without the prospect of being thrown out of the country. We could not worship with the nationals, lest it would cause them serious problems.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

Some people here in the States have the impression that the nationals are just hungering to hear the truth of God's Word and have been waiting for a missionary to come and show them the way to God. Not exactly!

Others have the misconception that once they do come to know the Lord, they probably don't have the baggage new believers in the States have. Again this is inaccurate. New believers here have baggage just like new believers back home. Possibly not the same "baggage," but "baggage is baggage" and people are people.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

Come to think of it, I don't think I am the only one asking the question. Probably many of my family and friends have asked the question also. Of course, they would state it a bit differently.

**What in the world are YOU doing over there?**

What were you thinking leaving your family, your friends, and your sphere of influence for the Lord here in the States?

When I first announced that my wife and I had surrendered to go to the mission field, I had so many good friends–most of them in the ministry–who asked similar questions. Their questions varied from, "What in the world brought you to make this decision?" to "Are you sure this is what God wants for your life?" or "Really! Are you sure?"

When being introduced to speak, in one place a friend in the ministry actually said, "Let's hope Brother Esposito isn't making a mistake."

My memory fails if this one was actually asked, but I think many wanted to ask it, "Are you 100% sure God has called you to do this?" Of course, the answer for that question would be ABSOLUTELY NOT! If it is not written out in black and white in the Holy Scripture, I can't be 100% sure about it or anything else.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

Yes sir, that's the million-dollar question.

**What in the world am I doing here?**

I don't believe I am the only missionary who asks the question. I have a suspicion they all do on a fairly regular basis. Oh, we don't put it on our prayer letters–we have to stay positive; but the reality is that we ask the question, and we had better have an answer.

Why am I here? Why did I leave everything, including my family back in the States? Why did we start over? What compelled us to come to this part of the world known as the 10/40 Window? Why are my wife and I living and serving in Southeast Asia?

Were we called? To be honest with you, I don't know if we were. Probably, but definitely not certain.

So what in the world am I doing here? As I have often said while preaching on deputation, "I saw something!" It's just as simple as that. I got a small peek into the window, the 10/40 Window, and what I saw moved my heart. That's why I am here. May God use this book to give you a small peek!

It is hard to believe I was saved and a fairly committed Christian for so many years and yet blinded to the reality of an entire world lost without Christ and in many cases with no chance to either accept or reject the gospel message.

It seems almost impossible that one can be faithful to church, surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and even serving God full-time and yet be oblivious to the true needs of the world outside the comfortable confines of America.

Is it possible that one can attend a good Bible-believing Baptist church for years, hear message after message, sit through countless missions conferences, and yet still not have a "clue" what the need **really** is?

Could it actually happen that even a full-time servant of the Lord can become comfortable and somewhat complacent while serving the God of heaven? Surely, the prosperity of America could not infiltrate the heart and mind of a saved and surrendered child of God!

Is it possible for a devoted servant of God to become, without even knowing it, indifferent to a lost and dying world that has little, if any, chance to hear the Gospel even once in an entire lifetime?

I am afraid it is possible that a saved, surrendered and committed child of God, even a full-time Christian servant, can be blinded and become oblivious to the true needs of a world lost without Christ. And, yes, it is not only possible, but probable that one can sit through years of preaching and even missions' conferences, and yet still not have a true "clue" what the need really is "out there."

The prosperity, comfort, and convenience of America has not only infiltrated and infected our hearts and minds, but also has caused a sort of blindness that our Lord spoke of in His letter to the church at Laodicea. This infection of our "spiritual arteries" has brought about a great indifference in even the best of God's servants here in prosperous America.

Now the question that we must ask ourselves is this: "Have I become indifferent to a world lost without Christ, living not only in spiritual but physical poverty?"

(This chapter was actually written months prior to the rest of the book while I was still in the "restricted" nation.)

May our Lord use this small book to convict, where conviction is needed, and may He use this treatise to challenge where a challenge is needed. Above all, by God's grace, may it change us where changes are needed, perhaps change our perspective, the way we SEE THINGS.

Perspective is important! In fact, the Bible makes it very clear that, _"Where there is no vision_ (biblical perspective; seeing the world with the eyes of God), _the people perish."_

Why do we sing, "Rescue the perishing, care for the dying" if we don't SEE these things a bit differently.

Many times we use what is called "self talk." So in this small book, I am really talking to myself, asking the question "What in the world am I doing here?" And, with God's help, I will try to answer the question.

If you would like, you may eveasdrop on my conversation and perhaps read a few things which might help you. If it doesn't help you, I am certain it will help me. The choice is yours!

As I looked back at the many different experiences that have gripped my heart, a few are definitely worth mentioning here.

On the first leg of my initial trip to Southeast Asia I spent seven or eight days in Cambodia. The sights, the sounds, and the smells I experienced were heart wrenching. I am not sure which could be described as the most heart wrenching.

· Was it visiting the home of a young 12-year-old boy who had just died, watching as his mother cried while she told us how much he loved the church and the God we worshipped (she was Buddhist).

· Was it the trip and ministry to the "Sewer Children." Yes, they were called sewer children. These families lived right at the sewer. They craved and loved the attention the workers gave them as they had a chance to hear the Gospel of Jesus.

· Was it the visit to the ministry in the Cham (Muslim) village where I had the opportunity to see first-hand former Muslims-adults, teens, and children-worshipping Jesus under a tree.

· Was it the chance to meet a little girl named Srey Neen, who had trusted Christ and stood for Christ in her Muslim home; and then while praying she was physically abused by her mother and grandmother, and threatened to be tied down and left for the red ants if she attempted to attend the church under the tree?

· Was it the joyous experience of watching dozens of adults, teens and children attend the morning service (I believe there were over 90 in attendance that morning), including a husband, wife, and their two children who left their village and rode their bikes 13 miles to attend the service that began at 8:00 that morning?

· Was it the thrilling experience to see over 100 children from Buddhist homes in the afternoon Children's Ministry singing songs about Jesus and hearing the Word of God declared?

On the second leg of my trip, I found myself in a "restricted" nation, which I cannot mention by name. Because of its very nature as a "restricted" nation, things weren't quite as "exciting" as the previous portion of my trip. But there were experiences that I will never forget. Again, I am not sure which of these was most compelling:

· Was it my arrival at the airport and feeling the spirit of oppression as soon as I entered the terminal?

· Was it traveling around town and seeing all of the Buddhist temples and, of course, not one church?

· Was it the sitting down with a missionary and hearing him say, in response to my questioning, that in the capital city of 750,000 people 95-99% of them have never heard the Gospel and probably 75% of them have never heard the name of Jesus?

· Was it my opportunity to meet a young lady who became a Christian while attending an "English school," and being instrumental in seeing her entire family trust Christ and a "house church" started in their home?

· Was it my opportunity to meet a few national pastors who are doing what they can for the Lord Jesus in a very difficult situation?

On the last leg of my trip to Southeast Asia I found myself in Thailand–the northern part of the country. There were many memorable moments during my seven days in Thailand. One of these heart wrenching moments in essence "sealed the deal," which I will share in Chapter 2. But first I would like to share several memorable happenings during this leg of my trip that spoke to my heart.

· Visiting village after village in the mountains of Thailand and seeing the dire poverty.

· Visiting many of these same villages and seeing churches that were started years ago by missionaries but were left without a pastor.

· Hearing some of the brothers in Christ in these villages talking about the persecution they experience simply because they are followers of Jesus.

· The visit to the Buddhist Boarding school and being told that some of these young people (most were from villages) were actually from "Christian" homes and had been placed in this Buddhist Boarding school because their parents wanted something better for the children and figured an education in the big city would be the answer.

There were so many other experiences while in Thailand and the other two countries, but time or space does not permit that I share them all.

In summarizing this chapter, why am I here? God loves the world–the entire world, even those who don't look like me, don't talk like me, and don't think like me. God wants HIS name to be proclaimed throughout the world, not simply in the West where we are "flooded with the light."

God is looking for men and women who are willing to leave the comforts of home, to face the challenges of a foreign field so that unreached people groups will have the opportunity to see the life and love of Christ and hear the glorious Gospel message, whether they respond to the message or not.

I found there is not a traffic jam with folks who are willing to leave the comforts and conveniences we have in the West to face the challenges here. Someone needs to go. I looked over my left shoulder and didn't see anyone willing. So I looked over my right shoulder and saw no one. I had a choice to make. Was it an easy choice? NO! Ten thousand times, NO!

Is it any easier today now that I am here? NO! To be quite honest with you, it isn't. Thirty-seven years ago, I chose to follow the Lord. Wherever! Whatever! And whenever!

With only one life to live, and at the age of 57, my days are running short. I can choose to live these last days in relative comfort and ease; I can choose to live them for my pleasure, not sinful pleasure, just good old-fashioned pleasure.

I can choose to live the remaining days of my life in the comforts of the West, with my wonderful children, my grandchildren, a nice position serving the Lord or I can make the deliberate choice to give the remaining days of my life to see Christ's name known where darkness prevails!

**How about you today?**

Have you asked yourself the question concerning where you are? Maybe it would be good to ask yourself, "What in the world am I doing here?" concerning America. Maybe you should write a book!

What would you say? Could you convince yourself that you should be in America?

Is the Word of God true? If it is, our life is like a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. In this short booklet, I have tried to reveal the great need around the world, not only for the Gospel (though that is primary), but for water, for food, for someone to simply step out of his or her comfort zone and show the love of Christ!

**Will we continue to waste our lives?**

Will we waste our time, our talents, and our treasures while there is such a great need around the world?

Will we continue to "live the American Dream" while so many around our world have nothing but a nightmare to experience every day and every night?

Will we continue to spend and be spent, not for the sake of advancing the cause of Christ but for our personal comfort and convenience?

Of course, not everyone can and should "GO," but everyone should consider it prayerfully. Whether we "GO" or not, we can all "GIVE," we can all "PRAY," and we can all "ENCOURAGE" those who do go in our stead. When was the last time you sent an email to a missionary to remind him that you are praying for him or her? Someone has said,

_You don't have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, and then be willing to live for them and die for them. The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things but have been mastered by a few great things. If you want your life to count, if you want the ripple effect of the pebbles you drop to become waves that reach the ends of the earth and roll on for centuries and into eternity, you don't have to have a high IQ or EQ; you don't have to have good looks or riches; you don't have to come from a fine family or a fine school. You have to know a few great, majestic, unchanging, obvious, simple, glorious things, and be set on fire by them._

_ _

# -Chapter 2-

# A Peek into the Spiritual Needs of the 10/40 Window

Picture us in the mountains of northern Thailand. I had been in Thailand and southeast Asia for nearly three weeks. By this time my emotional bank was nearly spent, with much weeping over the conditions I witnessed.

Ge, Tom, (missionaries to the Hmong in Thailand sent out of our home church) and I were way up in the mountains going from one Hmong village to another.

We were visiting in the home of a a "holy" man, the village priest. Like most of the other villages in these mountains, this one practiced animism, worshipping the spirits of their tribal gods. Since Ge and Tom understood and spoke the language, they began sharing the Gospel with the priest.

While I was sitting there quietly, watching and praying, the chief's 4-year-old granddaughter Gasha walked over to me. I noticed she was staring at me. Perhaps I was the first caucasian she had ever seen. As I stared back at her, I noticed that she looked amazingly like my Filipina granddaughter Hannah. They could have passed for twins. The more I stared, the more I saw Hannah. Remember the principle I mentioned earlier? Our eyes affect our hearts. Well, my heart was being overwhelmed with emotions. I began to weep.

In the beginning, the tears were tears of joy. I was thankful that I, my wife, and children and grandchildren were so blessed to be born in America. We had the opportunity to hear the Gospel, attend Bible-believing churches, attend Sunday school classes, and even attend Christian schools.

While watching Gasha, I was deeply touched that she, along with millions of other girls and boys in this part of the world, are born here, live their lives and eventually die here, never having heard the Gospel. They never had an opportunity to say either yes or no to Jesus because they had never met a Christian. My heart was crushed!

For a long time, the vast majority of Christians in the West, especially those of us in the United States, have been ignorant of the part of the world commonly referred to as the 10/40 Window. We have been ignorant of the great physical and spiritual poverty common to this part of the world. We have been ignorant of the great need and the great disparity. Much of our ignorance has simply been a lack of information. We were simply uninformed.

Unfortunately, that has not always been the case. Some have known but have simply ignored the truth. The Bible describes it as hearers only and not doers.

Over the past 40 years there has been an awakening of Evangelical Christians in America to this part of the world. This is a good thing, no doubt about it. At the same time, many are still asleep when it comes to the great need around the world. While many have been somewhat awakened, we still seem to be slumbering or slow to do anything tangible that will really make a difference.

This is a place of vast poverty. Not just material poverty, but also immense spiritual poverty with billions of lost people. A great majority have never even heard the Gospel or the name of Jesus.

In this area of the world there are thousands of unreached people groups. We are told that there are over 3 billion unreached people in the world today. The vast majority of these unreached people groups in our world live in the 10/40 window. Of those 3 billion people, 88% live in or near the 10/40 window. Only 2.17% of these unreached people live in North and South America combined!

The 31 least reached countries in the world are in this area. For illustration purposes, just one of the 69 countries in the 10/40 Window–the country of India–can be used to illustrate the great need.

Let's take a small peek at India for a moment. This is the second largest country in the world and there is an urgent need for laborers to go to India. Why is this?

· _One-third of the world's remaining unreached people groups live in India. India's unreached are an astonishing array of 2,350 peoples with different cultures, languages, castes, and religious traditions._

· _Half of the world's largest unengaged, unreached people groups (with populations numbering 100,000 or more) live in India._

· _95% of India's population belong to unreached people groups._

· _India's population of 1.3 billion is more than North and South America combined (900 million) and more than Africa and the Middle East combined (1.26 billion)._

· _India has a booming economy but still has 40% of the world's poorest people (and 70% of these are Muslim). A recent report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative indicates that eight Indian states have more impoverished people than 26 of Africa's poorest countries combined, totaling more than 410 million people._

· _India has less than 50 million evangelicals, mostly in the far northeastern and southern states. India's central and northern states, where the bulk of India's population lives, have very little Christian presence. By comparison, Africa has 360 million evangelicals (35% of the population), and North and South America have 440 million evangelicals (49% of the population)._

· _India receives only 6% of the world's full-time Christian workers, including 8,000 foreign missionaries (7 missionaries per million), most of whom work with the Indian Christian population. By comparison, Latin America (with less than half the population of India) receives over 100,000 foreign missionaries, or 172 missionaries per million people. Africa receives over 90,000 missionaries, or more than 90 missionaries per million people._

Other than China, the other 68 countries in the 10/40 Window are not nearly as populous as India. Yet, the spiritual need is as great, and in some cases, even greater than India's. There are twenty-nine countries in the world that have fewer than one percent professing Christians, and they are all found in the 10/40 Window. There are another 35 countries in the world today with fewer than ten percent professing Christians, and almost all of these are in the 10/40 Window.

Many of the countries in this window are either officially closed or informally opposed to Christian ministry within their borders. Citizens have limited knowledge of the Gospel, minimal access to Bibles, and Christian materials, and extremely restricted opportunities to respond to and follow the Christian faith.

Of course, the people who are lost in the 10/40 Window are not "more lost" than your neighbor or family member who does not know Christ. But, they are "unreached" in the sense that they have not had an opportunity to hear the Gospel. "The issue is not their lostness, but their access to the Gospel." People can be unevangelized without being unreached. There are people in the United States who have not heard the Gospel by their choice. Most people living in the 10/40 Window could not learn about Jesus even if they wanted to! These are unreached people who do not have access to the Gospel."

According to The Traveling Team.org, "As far as unreached people groups, an estimated 2.91 billion individuals live in approximately 5,626 unreached people groups in the 10/40 Window." Also, Joshuaproject.net informs us that "the top 50 least evangelized megacities are all in the 10/40 Window! That fact alone underscores the need for prioritizing 10/40 Window Great Commission efforts."

The 10/40 Window in many ways is a window that seems shut off to the rest of the world when it comes to the Gospel message. But one needs to ask, "Can not God open this window?" Personally, I think He has opened "the window." We just aren't willing to go in and make a difference for the cause of Christ.

It has been said that a missionary is someone who never gets used to the sound of pagan footsteps on their way to a Christless eternity. If that be true, there is a part of the world where the sound of those pagan footsteps never stops. According to David Sills, in his book _The Missionary Call_ ,

_One-third of the planet's population, over two billion people, has never heard the gospel. And of that number, over 50,000 die daily, separated from God forever. As has been said, one definition of a missionary is someone who never gets used to the sound of pagan footsteps on their way to a Christless eternity. The sounds of those footsteps echo in their minds and haunt their waking dreams. One should not go driven by the need alone, but God often uses the need as a starting place to awaken us to His call._

Here we are almost 2,000 years after Christ gave his disciples the Great Commission, and yet a great majority of the world has yet to hear the Gospel; and in many cases, yet to hear the name of Jesus even once. I like what Sills has to say concerning this:

_It is hard to imagine why we still have not reached one-third of the people in our world with the Gospel. In 1896, in Atlanta, Georgia, a man was working in his laboratory mixing together water, flavoring, and sugar. He invented a drink that he called Coca-Cola. It cost him about $70 to develop and market his product that first year and he only made about $50. To be $20 in the red in 1896 was a tough financial loss. Nonetheless, he continued to sell his product. A few years later they developed a process to bottle the drink so that people could enjoy it at home or on picnics and the popularity grew. Today, 112 years later, 94% of the people in the world recognize the Coca-Cola logo and product. In 112 years, we can reach the world for profit's sake, but we cannot do it for the glory of God in 2,000 years._

As missionary Jake Taube has noted, in his book _Send Me, I'll Go: Letting the Mission Choose Your Direction_ :

_Making disciples of all nations is not to be seen as one of the church's valuable contributions to the world. Acts portrays the Gospel mission to the world as the most basic element of the church's mission in the world... As noted, the church today has reached a wide consensus that the Great Commission was not limited to the apostles, but remains binding for modern believers as well._

We often say, **_"Keep the main thing the main thing."_** Well, what might that main thing be? It's the making disciples of **all nations** , and it seems to be a great neglect to the vast majority of churches today. There is a world lost without Christ, and a vast majority of that world is unreached and often unengaged to our shame.

Just yesterday, my wife and I invited a young lady to our house. Her name is Narin. She works at a local coffee shop here in Phnom Penh. She has visited several times. In an attempt to build a relationship with her, we visit her weekly. In recent days, I have given her some Gospel literature. Last week, she said she would like to know more about God and last night we were able to open the Bible with her. Do you know what she told us? She had never seen or heard of a Bible until she had met us.

Here's a 28-year-old working woman, living in a city of over two million people, and she had never seen or heard of a Bible in her life. There are so many similar stories we could share over the last two years in Southeast Asia.

While doing some ministry in Thailand, I met a 58-year-old woman named Oy and asked her if she had any Christian friends. Her reply, "I have never met a Christian."

While serving in a "Creative Access Nation," I asked one of our converts, a 19-year-old widow named Phat, if she had ever had a Christian friend before meeting us. Her reply, "I have never met a Christian prior to meeting the Christians here."

While serving in the same country, my wife and I began mentoring a 16-year-old girl. We did not adopt her legally, but in essence for over a year, she became ours. She got saved, baptized, and grew much while staying with us. When asked this same question, Sandy's reply was a bit more positive. She said that she had met one Christian during her lifetime, but that person had never told her about Jesus.

Nearly every week, I will meet those who have never heard of Jesus. Even if they have heard His name mentioned, they have absolutely NO concept of who He is, who He claimed to be, let alone what significance His life and death had in history and their life and eternal destiny.

In reflecting over my first visit on a survey trip to the "Creative Access Nation," I inquired of another missionary about the country and capital city (approximately 750,000 – 1,000,000 people) if he knew the percentage of the city's populations who had never heard the Gospel. His answer was somewhere between 95-99 percent who have never heard the Gospel. My heart broke!

I then questioned him about what percentage had never heard the name of Jesus even once. He replied, "It's hard to tell. With the televsion, radio and the Internet today, it's definitely much better than it's ever been before, but I am going to guess that 75 percent of the people in this city have never heard the name of Jesus, even once. Even if they had, it would mean nothing more to them than the name Johnny or Jeff (his name)." I was crushed!

In his book, _Counter Culture_ , David Platt writes:

_When will the concept of unreached peoples become intolerable to the church? What will it take to wake us up to the dearth of the gospel among the peoples of the world? What will it take to stir our hearts and lives for men and women whose souls are plunging into damnation without ever even hearing of salvation? This cannot be conceivable for people who confess the Gospel. For if this Gospel is true, and if our God is worthy of the praise of all people, then we must spend our lives and mobilize our churches for the spread of Christ's love to unreached people groups all around the world. Jesus has not given us a commission to consider; He has given us a command to obey. That command involves sacrifice on all our parts. If we have this much access to the Gospel in our culture, and there is this much absence of the Gospel in other cultures, then surely God is leading many more of us (maybe the majority of us) to go to those cultures. If God calls us to stay in this culture, then surely He is leading us to live simply and give sacrificially so that as many people as possible can go._

Those three initial questions Platt asks are powerful. They are questions they we need to seriously consider.

They are convicting and challenging, or at least they should be. He asks,

_1. _ _When will the concept of unreached peoples become intolerable to the church?_

_2. _ _What will it take to wake us up to the dearth of the Gospel among the peoples of the world?_

_3. _ _What will it take to stir our hearts and lives for men and women whose souls are plunging into damnation without ever even hearing of salvation?_

There are over 2 billion people in the world–most of them in the 10/40 Window–who have not only never heard the Gospel, but in many cases, have never heard the name of Jesus even once. Many of them will go their entire lives without ever meeting a Christian. Are our hearts stirred over this great "dearth of the Gospel among the peoples of the world?" And, if so, what shall we do about it?

Platt continues with the following words:

_And whether we stay or go, we have no choice but to counter culture. If we stay, then we must recognize that sacrificing pleasures, selling possessions, and shaping our lives around getting the gospel to unreached peoples in the world will inevitably and unavoidably go against the grain of a culture that constantly beckons us to seek more pleasures, attain more possessions, and spend our lives around what will bring us the most comfort in this world. Moreover, if we go, then we must realize that these people groups are unreached for a reason: they are difficult and dangerous to reach, and the cost of reaching them will be steep._

Another author noted,

_While Christians choose to spend their lives fulfilling the American dream instead of giving their lives to proclaiming the kingdom of God, literally billions in need of the Gospel remain in the dark._

We find these words in the book _Revolution in World Missions_ :

_The United States, with its 600,000 congregations or groups, is blessed with 1.5 million full-time Christian workers, or one full-time religious leader for every 182 people in the nation. What a difference this is from the rest of the world, where more than 2 billion people are still unreached with the Gospel. The unreached or "hidden peoples" have only one missionary working for every 78,000 people and there are still 1,240 distinct cultural groups in the world without a single church among them to preach the Gospel. These are the masses for whom Christ wept and died._

These are sobering words. We can stick our heads in the sand and turn the other way while trying to deny the truth of these piercing words. Or we can ask God honestly and humbly to forgive us and seek His will about what we can do regarding this great neglect

It has been said that in India alone there are 500,000 villages without a Gospel witness. None! Not one. In China, Southeast Asia, and the many islands in the great Pacific we are unsure how many there are. In the country of Cambodia, where my wife and I are presently serving, it is said there are nearly 14,000 villages without a Gospel witness. A statement has been made that it would take a million workers to finish the task at hand in the 10/40 Window.

If the world is not evangelized, why isn't it? If village after village, town after town, and city after city is without ONE Gospel witness, what are we doing about it? If people today are still hungry, without clothing, and without necessary medical supplies what can we, God's people, do about it?

God is surely looking for some men and women today who are willing to ask the tough questions, and with humility and God's grace, attempt to answer those questions. The great need is for men and women who simply refuse to accept the world as it is and have a vision birthed from above to see the world as it can become. In the past, present and future, God has been looking for men and women who are willing to become spiritual agents of change in their world, especially in the 10/40 Window. He is looking for men and women willing to take the responsibility to make a difference and not simply allow others to do it.

In his book, _"Send Me, I'll Go"_ Jake Taube makes a few observations and comments, along with some serious thought-provoking questions which need to be addressed. These are thoughts which have crossed my mind many times over the past few years and some I have asked to congregations at home.

_As missionaries have gone on deputation or come home on furlough and gone from church to church reporting and presenting the needs, they have witnessed a seemingly disconnect from good folks, folks who love Jesus and are somewhat burdened about the needs. When asked if they would be willing to give or even go themselves, the answers are vague to say the least._

One of the biggest reasons this part of the world is so unreached is because few Christians are willing to go to these places, and regrettably, are not sending much financial assistance. If the church in America isn't giving and our church members aren't going, the task will remain undone!

It has been stated many, many times over the years that as Christians, we are to make Christ's last command our first concern. **_"The Great Commission is not an option to be considered but a command to be obeyed."_** Those words were penned by the great missionary Hudson Taylor, whom God used in a mighty way, not only personally in China, but to recruit many laborers for the great harvest fields of China.

God has always used people to get His work done. Therefore, if this area of the world will be reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is going to be because men and women choose to leave the comforts and conveniences of home to deliver the message of Christ's love. It's difficult for folks to be willing to "go," if they don't "know." And for far too long, we did NOT know about this 10/40 Window.

When it comes to "going," everyone seems to be waiting for "the call." As missionary martyr, Jim Elliot once wrote, **_"We don't need a call, we have a command. We don't need to hear a voice, we already have a verse."_**

There seems to be a lot of confusion about "the call." As Taube writes:

_So not everyone means the same thing by God's calling. If you were to ask a group of modern Christians in the West, "Should I go as a disciple maker to a place less reached than where I find myself now?" you would likely meet with answers of all four types. Some will say, "Not until you are convicted about it." Others will say, "Not until you have some confirmation." Still others will say, "Not until God tells you to go." A few others will say, "Not until you've thought about it carefully." None of these approaches, however, are likely to result in your answering this question in the affirmative! It is very rare that a Christian, following these methods, arrives at the conclusion that he or she is called to be a missionary... God has revealed enough information in Scripture for you to make a decision about how to serve Him with your life. If there are billions of unheards in the world, you do not need to spend a lot of time fretting about which ones you should reach. The Great Commission establishes that Jesus wants Christians to go with the message to unheards. You are a Christian; therefore you may go! In other words, you do not need a special calling to decide to be a missionary, nor should you expect one!_

These are interesting words from Jake Taube. It has always amazed me that we will do our best to convince everyone that the Great Commission is not simply for a select few, but for all who claim Christ. We would never put up with a redeemed child of God saying that he wasn't called to be a soul-winner. That's sheer nonsense! You know it, I know it, and most of them know it, too. It's simply an excuse. We don't need a call; we have a command. We don't need to hear a voice from heaven; we have a verse in God's inspired, preserved Word. Again, in my opinion, Taube gets it right when he says:

_It seems that there are really only a couple possibilities to explain so many nearly empty harvest fields in the world:_

_1. God is only calling a few Christians to go as missionaries, because He doesn't want everyone in our generation to hear the Gospel._

_2. God is calling a sufficient number of workers, but many, if not almost all, of them are being disobedient to that call._

_3. We have seriously misunderstood what it means to be called by God._

The great disparity in the world today is astounding and appalling. We are told that 95% of full-time Christian workers in the world are serving about five percent of the need. Let those numbers sink deep in your soul. Not only that, but a vast majority of those who do surrender to go, actually end up in places, and serving people, who already have a Gospel witness, and in many cases, have had so for hundreds of years. Very little of our money or manpower ends up where the need is greatest in our world, in the 10/40 Window.

_It is estimated that only 3.3% of foreign missionaries today are working to reach these unreached people. The other 96% are working in unevangelized but not unreached areas. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, of all the money designated for 'missions' in the U.S. only 5.4% is used for foreign missions. Of that 5.4%, only 1% is used to take the Gospel to unreached people who don't have access to the Gospel. That's about one cent out of every one-hundred dollars given to missions. The rest goes toward efforts to further evangelize reached people._

To get a clearer understanding of how little we give for missions and especially to reach the unreached peoples of the world, consider the information below provided by aboutmissions.org:

· Of foreign mission funding: 87% goes for work among those already Christian. 12% for work among already evangelized, but Non-Christian. 1% for work among the unevangelized and unreached people.

· Christians make up 33% of the world's population, but receive 53% of the world's annual income and spend 98% of it on themselves. (Barrett and Johnson 2001, 656)

· North American and European Christians spend $12.5 trillion on themselves and their families each year. (Barrett and Johnson 2001, 656)

· Only .1% of all Christian giving is directed toward mission efforts in the 38 most unevangelized countries in the world. (Barrett and Johnson 2001, 656)

**How can this be possible?**

As missionary Jake Taube notes, _maybe God isn't concerned about the billions of people who have no Gospel witness_. So much for John 3:16! Maybe God is calling a sufficient number of workers to go where the need is the greatest, but those receiving the call are not asnwering the call or completely ignoring it. Then again, maybe we are just missing it–misunderstanding the call completely!

I often tell people, "Honestly, I don't know if I was called. I saw what God's Word had to say, recognized the need, and saw very few lining up to meet the need. That's all it took to get me to the place where I was willing to say, "Here am I, Lord, send me." I lived and served in a city that had dozens of Bible-believing churches, three Independent Baptist churches and a country saturated with the Gospel.

In nearly 30 years of ministry in America, I don't remember ever meeting anyone who had never heard the name of Jesus. I met very few, if any, who had not heard of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. And I don't believe I have ever met anyone in America who didn't know a Christian personally. Almost everyone I met had a general knowledge of God, Jesus, the Bible, and the claims of Scripture. They may not have believed the Bible or might have rejected Christ and the claims of Christ, but they knew. They had been engaged. They heard. They cannot be considered unreached people. Are there exceptions to the rule? Of course, but the exceptions prove the rule!

But this is not so in this part of the world. Can you imagine not having heard the name of Jesus even once? Even if they had heard the name of Jesus, they have absolutely NO IDEA who He is and why He came.

We are told that 86 percent of the Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindu people in the world will live their entire lives and never meet a Christian. Not so of the Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims in America. That 86 percent would primarily be on this side of the Pacific. I have even met some who have never heard of or seen a Bible. Again, Jake Taube has some insightful thoughts to ponder on this matter:

_His (Paul) short stays in many towns imply that he was not as concerned with providing a repeated witness to the Gospel in a certain area as with moving on to areas where people hadn't yet had an opportunity to hear ... If we measure in this way, the number of "Great Commission targets" in the world looks a bit different, doesn't it? There are clearly multiple millions who have never heard the message of Christ, while many others have heard and rejected it. The Commission seems to indicate that our primary duty lies with the former. This means that when we measure the amount of Great Commission work to be done in our homeland, it is vital to count something besides just people who don't believe the Gospel. Doing so might lead us to believe our land is more needy than it really is! We must try to hit upon the **NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD** (and have little chance of ever hearing). Of course, there are likely at least a handful of people who have never heard the gospel in most every place in the world. But when it comes to dividing up the work, if there are more believers in the place you live than unbelievers **WHO HAVEN'T HEARD** (and have little chance to hear), duty may call you to another place in the world. There are hundreds of places in China alone where that statistic is tilted terribly in the other direction. The few Christians that are there are facing odds of many thousands of unheards to one. Whereas in your homeland you might occasionally encounter someone who's really never heard the Gospel message that is the nearly unchanging moment-by-moment experience of missionaries in places all over the world. So duty might mean you need to move!... **The mandate of Christ precludes us from making our home wherever we desire. Christians cannot lay deep roots anywhere. The Commission leaves no place for some stubborn geographical attachment.**_

That last statement is powerful and definitely worth pondering. It should not be our desires that determine what we should do and where we should go, it should be God's mandate known as the Great Commission. This commission, as Taube notes, _"leaves no place for stubborn geographical attachment."_ I am afraid–while we aren't likely to admit it–too many of our good men have _"some stubborn geographical attachment"_ for the good old United States.

It's a bit amazing to me that so many of the "called" are "called" to stay home. At the same time, very few are "called" to leave the comforts and conveniences of home to go where the need is the greatest. So very few are "called" to leave the "comfort zone" to the real "combat zone."

Now, please understand. I am not in any way trying to determine God's will for another man's life. I am just thinking out loud. We have a problem. Unfortunately, our problem is resulting in the perishing of thousands upon thousands every day who don't know Jesus and have not had a chance to even hear His name.

As David Platt has said, _"There's only one thing worse than being lost and that is being lost and having no one trying to find you."_ This is exactly the situation that billions of people are facing in the 10/40 Window. They aren't only lost, but they are lost and, in many cases, there is absolutely no one looking to bring them the Good News. Charles Keen has devoted the great portion of his life and ministry to this matter of world evangelism. He has been around for a long time. He's no rookie. He's been there; he's done that. He's seen the good, the bad, and the ugly in our churches concerning this matter of reaching the world for Christ, especially the 10/40 Window. He writes:

_Whenever your hear a sermon about missions or hear about missions or attend a missions conference, you are taking part in a business meeting to decide the fate of the heathen. You will cast your vote with your prayers, your dollars, and perhaps your children or even yourself. You need to vote the same way you would like for everyone else to vote if you were on the mission field._

When we read these words, we might be tempted to think only about our giving of money–and yes, that is an important aspect of it–but it's not only money needed to get the task accomplished. Men and women who are willing to go are needed. Keen goes on and writes,

_If half the world is without the Gospel, common sense tells me that we should emphasize that half. Why do we spend 99.8% of our missions money on the half that already has the Gospel and only two-tenths of one percent on the other half? I am not God but that doesn't seem like common sense to me...Thank God that we can have orderly, timely church services. But just around the corner there are 3.2 billion who are on their way to hell, and we will never get to them if they are just another line item on the missions budget and the regular rules apply. THEY ARE WAITING FOR US!_

# -Chapter 3-

# A Peek at the Physical Needs of the 10/40 Window

My first real peek into the poverty and pain in the 10/40 Window came during a three-week trip to Southeast Asia about five years ago.

I can still remember my first thoughts upon arriving in Cambodia, traveling then to the countries of Laos, and Thailand, and seeing the poverty and the pain first-hand. It seems as if it were just yesterday. Taking my first peek into the 10/40 Window the memories are so vivid. I remember the tears shed as I witnessed what I could not understand and had no frame of reference, answer, or explanation. I remember thinking to myself, _"It is so hard to imagine that people live this way in the 21 st century!"_

My three-week trip was to cover three different countries in Southeast Asia. My first stop was Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I arrived late on a Friday evening. Early the next morning, walking to the church for their Faithfulness Rally and soulwinning efforts, I got a real peek at poverty such as I had never experienced in the United States in over fifty years of living.

It only got worse as the day progressed. While visiting with one of our missionaries going from shack to shack, the sights, the sounds, and even the smells of Phnom Penh were doing something to my "American sensibilities."

My very first visit was to comfort a mother who had just lost her son. We walked through about six inches of sewer water to get to the shack. The three of us sat on the floor since there was no furniture. The shack was much smaller than the average garage in America. Looking around I just could not believe someone lived like this. There was no indoor plumbing or restroom facility. Need I go any further? This woman's 12 or 13-year-old son had fallen from a tree and landed on his head. He died immediately! Was he playing in the tree? No! He was picking fruit that he could sell to help support the family.

In just a matter of a few hours, peeking in the window here in Phnom Penh was shocking to say the least. The only way to describe the scene was heart wrenching. I saw the poor, the beggars (including children), the small shacks where entire families lived, and the lack of what we in America would call the "bare essentials" such as running water, toilets, and showers or bathtubs. To be a part of the "sewer children" ministry and witness the unfathomable conditions these children had to live in day and night. To meet the 8 or 10-year-old boy who was selling peanuts on the street corner about a mile from his house at 7:00 p.m. on a Saturday evening in Phnom Penh to help support his family, and many more scenes too hard to even mention, all formed compassionate images in my mind.

This was in the capital city and this was only day one. I still had multiple villages and cities, two countries, and twenty days to go!

After living in this part of the world for the past two years, may I say the scenes of poverty have not gotten any better. Anne Bradley and Art Lindsley, near the beginning of their book, _For the Least of These: A Biblical Answer to Poverty_ , wrote the following words:

_Our desire is that you might be stimulated to think deeply about the problem of poverty through biblical glasses. But it ought not to stop there. Reading this book is meant to lead to prayer about what you should do to respond to this concern. Each person has a different calling. Some may be called to work full-time addressing these issues. Others may be motivated to contribute money and resources. Still others may be moved to set up businesses that employ people in need. Search for what your response should be to the challenge of Scripture._

If God's people, especially those in the prosperous West, could _"think deeply about the problem of poverty through biblical glasses,"_ I am convinced, not only would we be far more willing to lend a helping hand for the physical needs around the world, but we would also see more people reached with the Gospel of Christ.

My purpose for this chapter is not to place a guilt trip on anyone, but to help us have a better understanding of the problem of poverty around the world. In comparing our prosperity in America, may we think of how this poverty affects the proclamation of the Gospel and give some thought as to what we can do about it. In his great book, _Money, Possessions and Eternity_ , Randy Alcorn writes:

_Neither God's Word nor an accurate understanding of economics supports the notion that the prosperous are automatically responsible for making others poor. As we're about to see, what Scripture does say is that we are responsible to help the poor. I may not be responsible for the existence of world hunger. But I am responsible to do what I can to relieve it... **We are not to feel guilty that God has entrusted an abundance to us. But we are to feel responsible to compassionately and wisely use that abundance to help the less fortunate.** Consider the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). In contrast to the two religious leaders who passed by the poor man who had been stripped and beaten by robbers, when the Samaritan found him, he took pity on him and stopped to help. His reaction wasn't to feel guilt and remorse. He hadn't brutalized the man. But he took responsibility to care for him. At great inconvenience to himself, he treated and bandaged the man's wounds, then "put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him" (Luke 10:34). The next day, he paid the innkeeper to watch over the man until he could come back and resume care for him himself. Although the Samaritan wasn't in any way responsible for hurting the man, he nevertheless took responsibility to help him however he could. "Go and do likewise," Jesus says (Luke 10:37). Every man is our neighbor, and we are to show mercy and care for him in his need._

Whether it is the teaching in the Scriptures or the examples from church history, giving to and meeting the needs of the poor has always been a part of the "Christian experience." According to Alcorn,

The Roman emperor Julian had an interesting complaint about Christians: _"The impious Galileans support not only their own poor but ours as well; everyone can see that our people lack aid from us."_ The theologian Tertullian said, _"It is our care of the helpless, our practice of loving kindness that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. 'Only look,' they say, 'look how they love one another!'"_

During the time of the plague, Christians were known for coming into the cities to help the dying, rather than fleeing from the cities to save their lives...Helping the poor has always set Christians apart, showing the world that we operate on a radically different value system.

John Wesley said, **_"Put yourself in the place of every poor man and deal with him as you would God deal with you."_**

As we consider this matter, it might not hurt to take a moment and hear what former president Jimmy Carter said in his speech when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize:

_At the beginning of this new millennium, I was asked to discuss, here in Oslo, the greatest challenge that the world faces. Among all the possible choices, **I decided that the most serious and universal problem is the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on earth.** Citizens of the ten wealthiest countries are now seventy-five times richer than those who live in the ten poorest ones, and the separation is increasing every year, not only between nations, but also within them. The results of **this disparity** are root causes of most of the world's unresolved problems, including starvation, illiteracy, environmental degradation, violent conflict, and unnecessary illnesses that range from Guinea worm to HIV/AIDS._

Seventy-five times richer than the poorer nations. Think about that for a moment! There are so many problems in our world today and yet he chose the _"growing chasm between the richest and the poorest people on earth"_ as problem number one.

According to American economist, Jeffrey D. Sachs, in the year 1820 the difference in per capita income between the wealthiest region of the world and the poorest was four-to-one. Things have changed quite a bit since then. According to President Carter, it is seventy-five to one today. In his book _Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger_ , Ronald Sider writes:

_In 1960, 20 percent of the world's people living in the richest nations had thirty times more than the poorest 20 percent. By 1997, the richest had seventy-four times as much. **But the percentage of their giving had dropped dramatically.**_

While I may not necessarily agree that this _"growing chasm between the richest and the poorest people on earth"_ is our greatest problem, it's definitely high on the list. It is also one that few Christians recognize. If they do, they aren't willing to acknowledge and do something about it. In many ways this has become something which has caused our hearts to become calloused. In essence, this is what President Carter meant when he closed his lecture with these words:

_But tragically, **in the industrialized world there is a terrible absence of understanding or concern about those who are enduring lives of despair and hopelessness.** We have not yet made the commitment to share with others an appreciable part of our excessive wealth. This is a potentially rewarding burden that we should all be willing to assume._

As I have already mentioned, my initial trip to South East Asia a few years ago was both eye-opening and heart-wrenching. It provided me with an opportunity to see first-hand the great disparity. Of course, most of what I saw I already knew. However, for the most part, it was a head knowledge and not something that reached into the depths of my heart. It was not until I took a good peek into the 10/40 Window that my heart was gripped with concern and compassion for the poor and the needy.

In fact, I can relate to what one author wrote concerning "insulating" himself. He did not allow these things to penetrate into the depths of his heart until he had his first-hand encounter with poverty while traveling to Africa:

_I didn't want to be there, I wasn't supposed to be there, so far out of my comfort zone–not in that place where orphaned children live by themselves in their agony. Their poverty, disease, and squalor had eyes and faces that stared back, and I had to see and smell and touch the pain of the poor...I much preferred living in my bubble, the one that, until that moment, had safely contained my life, family, and career. It kept difficult things like this out, insulating me from anything too raw or upsetting. When such things intruded, as they rarely did, a channel could be changed, a newspaper page turned, or a check written **to keep the poor at a safe distance.**_

Of course, what he is saying is true; it is just so much easier for us to _"keep the poor at a safe distance"_ than to get a peek into their poverty and their pain. In just over two short years here in Southeast Asia, I have seen enough that sickens me knowing that there is such a great disparity between my home-land and the land where my wife and I are now serving.

Regrettably, most of us have become blinded to this. In his great book, _Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream_ , David Platt writes something we need to know and understand:

_We all have blind spots—areas of our lives that need to be uncovered so we can see correctly and adjust our lives accordingly. But they are hard to identify. Others can often see them in us, and we rely on friends to point them out. But the reality is, even then we have a hard time recognizing them. We don't want to admit they exist...often until it's too late. We discover them in hindsight, but we struggle to see them in the present. I can think of at least one glaring blind spot in American Christian history. Slavery. How could Christians who supposedly believed the gospel so easily rationalize the enslavement of other human beings? Churchgoers with good intentions worshiping God together every Sunday and reading the Bible religiously all week long, all the while using God's Word to justify treating men, women, and children as property to be used or abused. They actually thought they were generous when they gave their slaves an extra chicken at Christmas. This frightens me. Good intentions, regular worship, and even study of the Bible do not prevent blindness in us. Part of our sinful nature instinctively chooses to see what we want to see and to ignore what we want to ignore. I can live my Christian life and even lead the church while unknowingly overlooking evil. Not long ago God began uncovering a blind spot in my life. An area of disobedience. **A reality in God's Word that I had pretended did not exist. More aptly put, I had lived as if it did not exist.** But God brought me to a place of confession before him, before my family, and before the faith family I lead. Today more than a billion people in the world live and die in desperate poverty. They attempt to survive on less than a dollar per day. Close to two billion others live on less than two dollars per day. **That's nearly half the world struggling today to find food, water, and shelter with the same amount of money I spend on french fries for lunch...** Frighteningly, though, I have turned a blind eye to these realities. I have practically ignored these people, and I have been successful in my ignorance because they are not only poor but also powerless **. Literally millions of them are dying in obscurity, and I have enjoyed my affluence while pretending they don't exist.**_

I'm afraid if we were to be brutally honest with ourselves, sadly most of us would have to admit that we, too, have blindspots. On that initial trip to Southeast Asia I came to a clear recognition of the blindspots in my own life concerning this matter of our prosperity and their poverty. What was so difficult to comprehend was that while our brothers and sisters in Christ are struggling for survival in other parts of the world, we in America are basking in bounty. As one author noted:

_By any measure we are the richest people ever to walk on the planet earth. Furthermore, at no time in history has there ever been greater economic disparity in the world than at the present. While the average American lives on more than $90.00 per day approximately one billion people live on less than one dollar per day. And 2.6 billion (40 percent of the world's population) live on less than $2.00 per day!_

Another author, who was born and raised in India, tries to describe the great disparity that exists between America and much of the world by quoting another author.

_Economist Robert Heilbroner describes the luxuries a typical American family would have to surrender if they lived among the billion hungry people the Two-Thirds World: We begin by invading the house of our imaginary American family to strip it of its furniture. Everything goes: beds, chairs, tables, television sets, lamps. We will leave the family with a few old blankets, a kitchen table, a wooden chair. Along with the bureaus go the clothes. Each member of the family may keep in his wardrobe his oldest suit or dress, a shirt or blouse. We will permit a pair of shoes for the head of the family, but none for the wife or children. We move to the kitchen. The appliances have already been taken out, so we turn to the cupboards...the box of matches may stay, a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt. A few moldy potatoes, already in the garbage can, must be rescued, for they will provide much of tonight's meal. We will leave a handful of onions and a dish of dried beans. All the rest we take away: the meat, the fresh vegetables, the canned goods, the crackers, the candy._

_Now we have stripped the house: the bathroom has been dismantled, the running water shut off, the electric wires taken out. Next we take away the house. The family can move to the tool shed...communications must go next. No more newspapers, magazines, books-not that they are missed, since we must take away our family's literacy as well. Instead, in our shantytown we will allow one radio...Now government services must go next. No more postmen, no more firemen. There is a school, but it is three miles away and consists of two classrooms...there are, of course, no hospitals or doctors nearby. The nearest clinic is ten miles away and is tended by a midwife. It can be reached by bicycle, provided the family has a bicycle, which is unlikely...._

_Finally, money. We will allow our family a cash hoard of five dollars. This will prevent our breadwinner from experiencing the tragedy of an Iranian peasant who went blind because he could not raise the $3.94 which he mistakenly thought he needed to receive admission to a hospital where he could have been cured._

_This is an accurate description of the lifestyle and world from which I came. From the moment I touched foot on American soil, I walked in an unbelieving daze. How can two so different economies coexist simultaneously on the earth?_

How can we read these words and not be moved with concern and compassion? These are real people. These are people just like you and me. They may look different on the outside but they are people just like us. The numbers are often staggering. It is extremely difficult to obtain precise statistics, but according to one author,

_Today more than a billion people in the world live and die in desperate poverty. They attempt to survive on less than a dollar per day. Close to two billion others live on less than $2.00 per day. In other words, almost half of the world lives on less than two dollars per day. That is nearly half of the world struggling to find food, water, and shelter with the same amount of money that I spend on fries for lunch. More than twenty-six thousand children today will breathe their last breath due to starvation or a preventable disease._

Here are a few more alarming statistics to consider:

· _Over 400 million people in the world today are on the verge of starvation and the vast majority of them are in the 10/40 Window_

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· _Over 1.5 billion people in the world today have no medical care available to them and the vast majority of them are in the 10/40 Window_

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· _Over 1.3 billion people in the world today have no safe water and the vast majority of them are in the 10/40 Window_

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· _Somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 children die of malnutrition or disease each day and the vast majority of them are in the 10/40 Window_

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· _Over 90 percent of the casualties of approximately 100 wars worldwide are civilians and the good majority of them are in the 10/40 Window_

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Seeing that the poor and the needy, more often than not, do die quietly and in relative obscurity, and totally out of our sight (out-of-sight/out-of-mind), the rich (that would be us) of all nations can comfortably, and, yes, conveniently, ignore the issue.

Concerning the great poverty around the world and our lack of true understanding of it makes one wonder if we really get it?

Is it even possible for comfortably and fashionably-clothed and luxuriously-housed people like us to understand this kind of poverty? Can we truly feel what it is like to be a nine-year-old boy playing outside a village school he cannot attend because his father is unable to afford the books? Can we comprehend what it means for poverty-stricken parents to watch with helpless grief as their baby daughter dies of a common childhood disease because they lack access to elementary health services? Can we grasp the awful truth that thirty thousand children die every day of hunger and preventable diseases. Can we? I think you would agree with me, the answer is probably not!

I have witnessed poverty in this part of the world that has been appalling to my "American-sensibilities." In the past two years, I have visited in their homes (if you could call it a home) and their hospitals to make a "pastoral" call. I have entered their public schools and watched as they struggle to read (if they are able to read in the first place) because they can't afford to buy a pair of glasses. I have witnessed their cheeks puff up because of infected gums, which, for a measly $10.00, could have been treated at the dentist, but neither they nor their family could afford the $10.00. I have been in their "restaurants," which would not be allowed to stay open back home because of the unsanitary conditions. I have walked along "the sewer" to visit children who live beside it, who attend our Children's Ministry. I could not believe that these dear folks could live in such squalor.

One of my favorite, most convicting passages in the Gospels is the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It's convicting to me as a "preacher of the Gospel," because the priest and the Levite, both religious workers, walked right by the man lying half dead on the side of the road.

Probably these men were not wicked men. I doubt if they were lazy men. In fact, maybe they were on their way to do something good, but they walked right by an opportunity to do something even better–help a hurting man. God help us not to be like the priest and the Levite in this story. Help us to see the great needs of those around us and around the world. Like the Good Samaritan, may we have hearts that are filled with compassion–a compassion that can make a difference in someone's life, especially someone on the other side of the world. Is this not what the Scriptures demand?

Many ask, "What is poverty?" How do we define "poor" or "poverty"? Traditionally, the poor are generally referred to as those who are destitute, lacking even the most basic necessities to keep body and soul together.

At best, a poor person is one who has little or nothing in the way of goods, possessions, wealth, or even the means to maintain a subsistence level of living. As one author notes, _"Poverty can be understood as a lack of wealth, i.e., inadequate access to food, clothing, and shelter for life, and perhaps also transportation and communication. **Poverty has been the usual state of mankind in a fallen world from the beginning of recorded history**."_

**Yes, we have always had the poor among us but as the people of God, what will we do about it?**

Poverty is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, making it very clear that God cares about the poor and so must we. In the book of Deuteronomy, we find that God's people were commanded to care for the poor. In fact, not only were they commanded to open their hearts wide, but they were commanded to open up their hands wide for the sake of the poor and needy in the land.

**_Deuteronomy 15:10-11,_** _"_ _10_ _Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. 11For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land."_

Over and over again in the book of Proverbs, we find God's admonitions to His people concerning the poor. You will find the words "poor," "poverty," and "needy" at least 40 times in the book of Proverbs alone. While not every passage dealing with poverty deals with our attitude towards the poor, some of the passages deal with the various causes of poverty.

**_Proverbs 14:31,_** _"_ _He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor."_

**_Proverbs 19:17,_** _"_ _He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again"_

**_Proverbs 28:27,_** _"He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse."_

**_Proverbs 29:7,_** _"T_ _he righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it."_

**_Proverbs 31:9,_** _"_ _Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy."_

These verses from the Book of Proverbs are very clear. God has a heart for the poor and He wants us to have _"mercy,"_ have _"pity,"_ _"consider,"_ and _"plead the cause of the poor and needy,"_ as well as give to them. It is interesting to note that one of the virtuous characteristics of the Proverbs 31 woman is her willingness to stretch out her hand to the poor and the needy.

**_Proverbs 31:20,_** _"_ _She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy."_

You will find many passages not only in Proverbs but also in the Psalms which deal with this matter of God's attitude and our attitude towards the poor and the needy.

**_Psalm 12:5,_** _"_ _For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him."_

**_Psalm 82:3-4,_** _"_ _Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. 4Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked."_

These passages remind us once again that God expects His people to "defend the poor and fatherless," to "do justice," and to "deliver the poor and the needy." It really does sound like God is concerned about the poor and expects us to be committed to their welfare.

There are also many passages in both the Major and Minor Prophets which deal with poverty, prosperity, and God's concern for the poor and the needy.

**_Isaiah 1:16-17,_** _"_ _Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."_

**_Ezekiel 16:48-49,_** _"_ _As_ _I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. 49Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."_

In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, typically, the issue of the poor was expressed as the plight of widows, orphans, and immigrants.

**_Psalm 146:9,_** _"_ _The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down."_

**_James 1:27,_** _"_ _Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."_

That's a profound and powerful thought in James. _"Pure religion"_ is described as being concerned for the " _fatherless and widows in their affliction."_ And, no doubt, much of their affliction is the result of their poverty. It is very obvious as we search the Scriptures that God cares for the poor and how they are treated by His redeemed people.

According to James, one way we show the world we have "true" faith is by assisting our poor and needy brothers and sisters.

**_James 2:14-18,_** _"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."_

According to John the Beloved, because Christ laid down His life for us–giving of Himself to meet our greatest need–we should also lay down our lives for others, especially our brothers in Christ. However, lest we try to "spiritualize" this and make it only about bringing the Gospel, John says we cannot say that we have the love of God dwelling in our hearts if we are not meeting the needs (he uses the words "world's goods") of those who are in want:

**_1 John 3:16-18,_** __ _"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17But whoso hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."_

Let me give you an illustration. Even in the process of writing this book, the recent earthquake in Nepal is uppermost in the news. Nepal is in the 10/40 Window and is one of the most impoverished countries in the world. Their poverty is both spiritual and physical. In an article called _Poverty in Nepal_ we find these words:

_Nepal is the poorest country in South Asia and ranks as the twelfth poorest country in the world. However, over the last decade the country has made considerable progress reducing poverty, but is still falling behind...About four-fifths of the working population live in rural areas and depend on subsistence farming for their livelihoods. In these areas the majority of households have little or no access to primary health care, education, clean drinking water and sanitation services. **Life is a constant struggle for survival.**_

_Some poor families in Nepal are often obliged to send their children to work rather than to school. In this way the poverty cycle is reused in the next generation. It is estimated that about one quarter of children in Nepal between four and five years old are engaged in some kind of family or wage labor._

_In Nepal, less than half of the population has access to safe drinking water and about half the children below five years of age are underweight. The average age that people live in Nepal is about 54 years while countries like Canada have achieved life expectancy of about 80 years. This is mainly due to the lack of clean water, poverty and unavailability of basic health care._

**Of course, the words written above were written long before the recent catastrophe in Nepal!**

As of this moment, there have been over 7,000 deaths reported and another 14,000 injuries. Over 600,000 houses have been damaged and seventy-thousand houses have been totally destroyed. Nearly three million people have been displaced. If we have a television and/or internet access, we have seen the destruction. It is horrific!

These numbers are staggering. It would be hard to imagine any country in the world having to endure such pain. Add to this the fact that Nepal was already struggling before this catastrophe. She was one of the poorest countries in the world.

**Now, what are we going to do about it?**

It is not possible that we can do everything. We cannot possibly donate to each one. We understand this is true. But consider this – to what cause have we donated in the past six months? How much did we give?

Perhaps there are some who do not have the money to donate to help those poor Nepalese people. Some may even say they cannot afford to help perhaps while going out to eat a meal in a nice restaurant which will cost over fifty dollars. Or perhaps they cannot afford to give any assistance while planning a trip to Disneyland or Six Flags costing hundreds of dollars.

It is not necessarily wrong to have a meal at a nice restaurant or take our families on a nice vacation to an amusement park. I am just stating that we do have money to help. Perhaps we have just chosen not to.

Studies reveal that most Americans, including the vast majority of Christians, seldom give to the poor and needy around the world beginning at home. The choice is not that the money is not available to give. Perhaps we have just chosen to spend it on ourselves.

Many times we have a tendency to veer far from acts of benevolence in caring for the poor and the needy, fearing that we might be labeled a "liberal."

Of course this is not the case with everyone. But it is the case with far too many of us. Concerning God, the poor and our attitude towards the poor, Bradley and Lindsley, write in their book, _For the Least of These a Biblical Answer to Poverty_ :

_Starting with the poor (although some passages talk about poverty metaphorically), in the vast majority of cases, the word refers to material poverty—people who are hungry, naked, homeless, etc. Economic poverty is also typically accompanied by a broader lack of resources and connections that makes the poor particularly vulnerable to oppression and abuse. They are frequently identified as widows, orphans, and foreigners who also lack social connections. Throughout the Old Testament, God warns against mistreating the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner, and promises to judge those who abuse them. Clearly, treatment of the poor and disadvantaged is a very important part of biblical ethics._

The Scriptures make it clear that there are many differing reasons for poverty. Many are the violation of Biblical principles. As Bradley and Lindsley note, _"In other words, the Bible is realistic about the causes of poverty: people can become poor through no fault of their own, but poverty can also be the result of foolish decisions and actions; further, there are some sins to which the poor are particularly susceptible."_

God has blessed us so much in America. We are a wealthy people. Furthermore, at no time in history has there ever been greater economic disparity in the world than at the present. While the average American lives on more than $90.00 per day, approximately one billion people live on less than one dollar per day. And 2.6 billion (40 percent of the world's population) live on less than $2.00 per day! According to Ronald Sider:

_Christians today have a total annual income of more than $16 trillion. On the average, a loan to help a family of five costs $500. Let's suppose the Christians of the world gave just 1 percent of their income for micro-loans. (And let's suppose the efficiency ratio remained what it is now in Opportunity International.) Do you know how long it would take to improve the lot of the poorest one billion by 50 percent—using just one percent of global Christian income? Less than one year!_

**We definitely have enough. But are we willing?**

The housing market is just one of many examples that the American Dream has gone completely out of control. In the words of one author, _"Take housing, for example. The average size of new homes is now more than double what it was in the 1950s, while our families are smaller."_

According to this same author the average size of houses built prior to the 1950s was 750 square feet. _"Then in the '50s, they added 200 square feet, so 950 was the norm. By the '60s, 1,100 square feet was typical and by the '70s, 1,350. Now it's 2,300."_

Then think about our garages. It wasn't until the early '70s that the two-car garage became a "necessity." How does that fit in with Paul's words, _"And having food and raiment let us be therewith content"_ (1 Timothy 6:8)? It is not uncommon for some garages to be anywhere from 600 to 900 square feet. In many cases, that is bigger than the new homes being built just after World War II. And it is definitely bigger than the vast majority of the "homes" I visit here in Southeast Asia.

Shopping is another example of affluenza in America. As one author noted,

_In 1986, America still had more high schools than shopping centers. Less than twenty years later, we have more than twice as many shopping centers (46,438) as high schools (22,180). In the Age of Affluenza (as we believe the current period will eventually be called), shopping centers have supplanted churches as symbols of cultural values._

According to the same author, in 1984 kids' four to twelve spent about 4 billion of their own money. In just a matter of twenty-five years, that number increased to $35 billion per year. It is difficult to calculate what that number would be today. Technology has become the norm in today's society. IPads, IPods, IPhones are now being used not just by adults but many children as well.

In a poll taken just a few years ago, 93% of teenage girls cited shopping as their favorite activity. I am going to guess it's not just window shopping!

Maybe we might need an attitude adjustment here. It has often been said, _"God gives us an increase of income, not to increase our standard of living, but to increase our standard of giving."_ Good preaching, but tough practicing!

Whether to meet the needs of the poor and needy in our own communities and country or in countries around the world, scriptural and sensible giving isn't going to happen, at least not on a large-scale, unless our attitudes change. One author noted:

_Social scientists who examined the factors that shape American attitudes on matters related to the development of the poorest nations, discovered that **religion plays no significant role at all!** Those with deep religious beliefs are no more concerned about assistance and development for the poor than are persons with little or no religious commitment. **Most wealthy Christians have failed to seek God's perspective on the plight of our one billion hungry neighbors—surely one of the most pressing issues of our time.**_

We are told that the average Christian gives only 1.8 percent of his income to the church and the cause of Christ. Study after study has revealed that the richer we are the smaller the percentage of our income we give to the church, the mission of the church and to the poor. We are told that the poorest fifth of the church gives 3.4 percent of its income to the church, and the richest fifth gives 1.6 percent – half as much as the poorer church members. We are also told that out of every $100.00 the average Christian makes, only five cents goes overseas. **The rest stays here to bless us!**

Can this be true? Is it possible that men and women who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus, men and women who have had their sins forgiven, men and women who have had their lives transformed by the Scriptures and the Spirit of God, and men and women, especially in a country like America, who have been blessed with material prosperity, are not concerned about their poor and needy neighbors anymore than a non-believer?

Unfortunately, the answer is absolutely! As the authors of the book, _For the Least of These a Biblical Answer to Poverty_ , write:

_A point is to be taken from those who emphasize the Bible's 2000 references to the poor: it is time that the believing community reconsider what Scripture has to say about the poor, the widow, the orphan, the oppressed, and about poverty itself. All too often, people show that they like to talk about the poor, but if and when they are challenged by their personal response to the needs and the presence of the poor, they immediately feel threatened. Not many will admit that they usually want to avoid facing the issue or dealing with the poor, but the truth of the matter still remains: there is a lot of room for growth in Christian graces in this area of accepting and caring for the poor as well as in the more readily accepted areas of holy living... Believers are not only called to face the plight of the poor but also to work together to address their needs in a way that honors the teaching of the Word of God._

Those who are fortunate enough to live in the West, especially in the United States, have been blessed beyond measure. Our prosperity is unfathomable to most of the world. The following paragraph was penned a few years ago, so the numbers might not be accurate in today's world.

**Did you know?**

· _If your income is $25,000 per year, you are wealthier than approximately 90 percent of the world's population!_

· _If you make $50,000 per year, you are wealthier than 99 percent of the world!_

**Does this shock you?** Remember, of the 7 billion people on earth, almost half of them live on less than two dollars a day. If you don't feel rich, it's because you are comparing yourself to people who have more than you do—those living above even the 99th percentile of global wealth.

In spite of the fact that we are the wealthiest group of people in the history of the world, it would also appear that we are the most spoiled and the most selfish.

When we read passages such as Isaiah 1:10-13, 16-17 and Isaiah 58:1-10, we are forced to ask ourselves this question: "Why was Israel sent into captivity?" Many of us might answer, "Israel had become idolatrous and immoral." This is true and can be proven through various Scriptures. According to these passages, it was Israel's insensitivity to the needs of the poor that resulted in God's condemnation.

Concerning these passages, one author penned the following words:

_Many of us have a picture in our minds of the Israelites getting out of bed every morning and running off to the nearest shrine to worship idols. Indeed, numerous passages in the Old Testament indicate that idolatry was a problem in Israel. But these passages give a broader picture. Here Israel appears to be characterized by personal piety and the outward expressions of formal religion: worship, offering sacrifices, celebrating religious holidays, fasting and praying. Translate this into the modern era, and we might say that these folks were faithfully going to church each Sunday, attending midweek prayer meeting, going on the annual church retreat, and singing contemporary praise music. But God was disgusted with them, going so far as to call them Sodom and Gomorrah._

_Why was God so displeased? Both passages emphasize that God was furious over Israel's failure to care for the poor and the oppressed. He wanted His people to loose the chains of injustice and not just go to church on Sunday. He wanted His people to clothe the naked and not just attend midweek prayer meeting. He wanted His people to spend themselves on behalf of the hungry and not just sing praise music._

Personal piety and formal worship are definitely essentials to our Christian life, but they must lead to our doing "justly" and our loving "mercy" (Micah 6:8). Something is missing if they do not lead us in this direction. There is a serious disconnect between our belief and our behavior.

Not all Christians, however, are materially wealthy. **_Almost 200 million Christians live in absolute poverty, while another 750 million of their fellow Christians live in affluence._**

Although most affluent Christians support relief, on an average they give less than 3 percent of their income to Christian ministries. If they were to give even a tithe, Barrett concludes, _"to a large extent, the global sharing by Christians of money, wealth, property, and goods could solve most of the problems of famine, poverty, unemployment, disease, dangerous water supply and so on."_

While over 80% of the world lives on less than $10.00 per day (isn't that about what a decent burger, fries and a super-sized coke will cost you today?), we have been blessed beyond measure with material wealth.

As noted, things are definitely not the same when it comes to prosperity in other parts of the world. There is a great disparity. David Barrett points out that 780 million people today live in absolute poverty, a condition of life defined by the World Bank as a condition _"so characterized by malnutrition, illiteracy, and disease as to be beneath any reasonable definition of human decency."_ The vast majority of these are in the 10/40 Window!

Roughly 500 million of these needy people are on the edge of starvation and another 1.5 billion are malnourished. The great majority live within the confines of the 10/40 Window.

In contrast to this, we are told that the 1.5 billion professing followers of Christ in our world today own two-thirds of the world's resources and have an average yearly income more than three times that of non-Christians. Again, Sider states:

_Millions of people die unnecessarily every year because rich folk like you and me have ignored the Bible's clear teaching that God measures the integrity of our faith by how we respond to the poor... By spending less on ourselves, we can transform the lives of neighbors who will die unless we care._

So much of the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ was characterized by His compassion for the poor. How about you? How about me? When people around the world look at the church, especially the church in America, do they see the compassionate ministry of Jesus Christ?

There is one powerful, profound, and extremely practical principle that is preeminent in The Parable of the Good Samaritan. It is a simple one. In the story, the priest and the Levite saw a man with a need and their hearts became calloused. The Samaritan, on the other hand, saw the man with the need, and his heart was filled with compassion. As one author stated:

Here is the bottom line: if we are aware of the suffering of our distant neighbors—and we are—if we have access to these neighbors, either personally or through aid organizations and charities—and we do—and if we have the ability to make a difference through programs and technologies that work—which is also the case—then we should no more turn our backs on these neighbors of ours than the priest and the Levite should have walked by the bleeding man.

May our prayer be that we will see the world through the eyes of Jesus! Our eyes do affect our hearts. We cannot help but have our hearts moved by the poverty and pain we see on a daily basis as we walk the streets and villages in this part of the world. We ask ourselves over and over again, "What can I do?"

As Richard Stearns, CEO of World Vision has noted, in years gone by there were _"three major impediments (that) stood in the way of anyone who wanted to love their distant neighbors, even into the mid-twentieth century: awareness, access, and ability."_ Thankfully, we don't have these impediments today. Here in the twenty-first century, we have awareness of the problem, we have access to the people and to the solutions to most of their problems, and we have the ability to do something about it.

So in spite of our present _awareness_ , our _access_ , and our _ability_ to do something–to make a difference, we are not accomplishing that goal. According to Stearns, "only about four percent of all charitable giving in the U.S. goes to international causes of any kind." The average professing Christian in the United States gives very little of his income away, especially to missions. In a _Christianity Today_ article called _"Scrooge Lives,"_ we find these words:

_More than one out of four American Protestants give away no money at all - "not even a token $5 per year," say sociologists Christian Smith, Michael Emerson, and Patricia Snell in a new study on Christian giving,_ _Passing the Plate_ _(Oxford University Press)._

_Of all Christian groups, evangelical Protestants score best: only 10 percent give nothing away. Evangelicals tend to be the most generous, but they do not outperform their peers enough to wear a badge of honor. Thirty-six percent report that they give away less than two percent of their income. Only about 27 percent tithe... Actually, it's not quite true to say that American Christians give only a small portion of their money toward religious endeavors. Looking closer, the picture is more disturbing._

As already noted, a quarter gives away no money at all. The average, regularly attending churchgoer gives 6 percent of after-tax income, but that's a mean skewed by a handful of very generous givers. The median annual giving for an American Christian is actually $200, just over half a percent of after-tax income. About 5 percent of American Christians provide 60 percent of the money churches and religious groups use to operate. (It's these people who skew the average.) "A small group of truly generous Christian givers," say Passing the Plate's authors, "are essentially 'covering' for the vast majority of Christians who give nothing or quite little."

According to a _World_ magine article called, _"Who Gives Two-Cents for Missions?":_

_Of every dollar given to a Protestant church, the average amount that goes to overseas missions is two cents. In contrast, of every dollar Antioch Presbyterian Church in Chonju, Korea, takes in, 70 cents goes to missions... Giving to the church is already in decline-even among evangelicals. Back in 1968, members of eight evangelical denominations profiled by Empty Tomb gave 6.2 percent of their incomes. By 2003, that had declined to 4.4 percent, even as incomes had grown dramatically... And what do churches do with their money? In 1920, the percentage of giving to missions from the total offering was 10.09 percent, just over a dime out of every dollar. In 2003, conservative and evangelical denominations gave 2.6 percent (about three cents per dollar), with the liberals giving only 0.9 percent (one cent). The combined average for overseas work is about two pennies per dollar._

The _"Scrooge Lives"_ article goes on to say:

_American Christians' lack of generosity might not be as shocking if it didn't contrast so starkly with their astounding wealth. Passing the Plate's researchers say committed American Christians—those who say their faith is very important to them and those who attend church at least twice a month—earn more than $2.5 trillion dollars every year."_

I find these words very disturbing. Do you? Again from _"Scrooge Lives:"_

_In fact, in absolute terms, the poorest Christians give away more dollars than all but the wealthiest Christians. We see the pattern in recent history as well. When Americans earned less money following the Great Depression, they gave more. When income went up, they began to give less of it away._

Another author noted:

_I am always amazed when I read about acts of philanthropy to Planned Parenthood, the world's largest abortion provider. It's alarming how easily giving can be wasteful, or even harmful. Bernard Marcus, founder of Home Depot, gave $200 million for an aquarium in Atlanta. I'm all for aquariums, but when I see a world full of lost and hungry people, I wonder, **Where are the huge gifts to Christian ministries that are devoted to reaching the lost and helping the needy in the name of Christ?** Claude Rosenberg Jr. devoted years to researching America's giving habits and potential and put his findings into a book titled Wealthy and Wise: How You and America Can Get the Most out of Your Giving. According to Rosenberg, most of us give away less than 10 percent of what we could actually afford to give, even without making significant lifestyle changes. Does that sound incredible? If you look at it closely, you'll see that it's true. Rosenberg argues that Americans giving away 2 percent of their income could give away 20 percent, provided they simply made wiser choices with what they spend. He calculates that Americans could donate at least $100 billion more per year than we already do—and with a minimum of sacrifice or risk. This is without even going as far as the sacrificial giving we see in Scripture, and without calculating in the way God provides generously for givers. According to Rosenberg, if we had a better grasp of what we actually own, most of us could double, triple, or quadruple the amount we now give. Why is this money tied up, inaccessible to God to use for His purposes? Partly it may stem from our failure to come to grips with the needs of the poor and the lost, as well as our neglect of strategic opportunities to make an eternal difference through our giving."_

While it is true that many Americans who profess the name of Jesus are willing to share some for the needs of others, most can share much more, and there are still a great many who aren't sharing at all. May it not be said of us which was said of Sodom:

**_Ezekiel 16:48-49,_** _"As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. 49Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."_

After a great ingathering of new followers were added unto the church on the Day of Pentecost, one of the very first acts of ministry carried out, we find these words, _"Neither was there any among them that lacked"_ (Acts 4:34a). Why was this? We find the answer in the latter part of the same verse: _"for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them..._ (Acts 4:34b). This language is reminiscent of the words found in Deuteronomy 15:4.

There are many New Testament passages that remind us that God not only expects but demands that the poor be a concern for the church of Jesus Christ in the world today.

This is an issue with which we all have to wrestle. We all have to be willing to look into the mirror of God's Word and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us. If need be, we must readjust our priorities and practices for the sake of the Gospel.

Reiterating briefly, there is a world in dire poverty, they are hurting, are in need, and perhaps they have a hard time figuring out why God's people are not willing to "share some of the wealth." And, like the beggar in the story of the rich man and Lazarus _"they are desiring to be fed with the crumbs"_ from off of our tables.

Here, the words of the apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Philippi, are so relevant.

**_Philippians 2:5,_** _"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:"_

We need to have the "mind of Christ." We need to have an attitude adjustment when it comes to the matter of poverty and the great needs around the world.

The apostolic church considered " _remember the poor"_ to be among its most basic moral imperatives (Galatians 2:10). The key question is how best to do this. Unfortunately, there's no easy answer. As Richard Stearn aptly puts it, _"Two billion people in the world live in desperate poverty, and nearly twenty thousand children under the age of five needlessly die every day. Trying to 'save the world' can be overwhelming and discouraging."_ Stearn's wife writes, _"God is not calling you to fix every problem, but more likely than not, He is calling you to do something. Find out what that something is and then do it with all your heart."_

God help us see the need and do what we can, with His help, to meet the need.

#  

# -Chapter 4-

# What Shall We Do Then?

In this book, my sole intention was to help the reader take a little peek into the 10/40 Window–to get a peek at the great spiritual need, as well as the great physical needs that are prevelant in this part of the world. The men, women, and children who live in the 10/40 Window so desperately need God.

As we all know, God uses people like you and me to meet the needs of the poor and the needy, the lost and the despairing. That's God's plan. It is and always has been the way God gets the task accomplished.

If the task of the Great Commission will be accomplished, it will be accomplished because God's people make a deliberate decision to obey Him, give their lives, and sacrifice their resources for the cause of Christ in a lost and dying world.

**There's no other way!**

If the hungry are to be fed, if the naked are to be clothed, if the homeless are to be given shelter, if the sick and the dying are to be brought to health, and if the child who has been given over to the sex-trade industry is to be set free, God's people, will have to sacrifice some of their comforts and conveniences, and in many cases, be willing to leave their comfort zone in the land of prosperity and give themselves to a cause that is greater than a bigger house, a new car, a season pass to Disneyland, a three-week vacation, and a 401k.

**There's no other way!**

May our Lord Jesus, put a love for the world in our hearts. May God help our eyes to see what He sees, fill our hearts with compassion, and, break our hearts with those things that break His heart!

What can we do? How can we make a difference in such a needy part of the world? The need is so great, while at the same time, you and I are only one. It is important that we keep in mind that while we can't do everything, we can do something, and we must. We must for their sake and for Christ's sake!

As someone has said, " _Becoming a Christian is optional. But once you decide to ask Jesus Christ to take control of your life, involvement in world missions is no longer optional."_

Of course, our Lord made it very clear that if we love Him with every fiber of our being, we are also to love others (Matthew 22:37-40). We cannot say that we love God and yet not love others. Impossible! Loving others with the love of God would include loving others who look differently than we look, who talk differently than we talk, and who live differently than we live. This would include loving the Muslim, loving the Buddhist, loving the Hindu, loving the animist, and loving the atheist. God loves those who are enslaved in darkness in the 10/40 Window and so should we.

If we love folks the way that God loves them, we are going to want to meet their needs, beginning with their greatest need, the need of salvation. This is where the Great Commission comes in.

**_Matthew 28:18-20,_** _"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."_

**_Acts 1:8,_** _" But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."_

Oh, if we could only see the world through the compassionate and caring eyes of our Lord Jesus. If we could only allow our eyes to affect our hearts as we peek at a lost and dying world that is found in the 10/40 Window. Peek at those who have little hope of ever hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

**_Matthew 9:36-38,_** _"But when he saw the multitudes he was moved with compassion on them... Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." _

If only God's people in the West would look at the over 1.5 billion Muslims (the vast majority of them in the 10/40 Window) who are lost without Christ and see them with hearts of love and compassion, then perhaps that would move us to do something about it.

**Yes, taking a little peek into the 1040 Window might move us to do something about it.**

If we would only look at the over one billion Hindus who are lost without Christ (the vast majority of them in the 10/40 Window) with hearts of love and compassion then perhaps it would move us to do something about it.

**Yes, taking a little peek into the 1040 Window might move us to do something about it.**

If we would only look at the over 800 million Buddhists who are lost without Christ–the vast majority of them in the 10/40 Window and see them as God sees them, then perhaps we would be moved to do something about it.

**Yes, taking a little peek into the 1040 Window might move us to do something about it.**

If we would only look on the hundreds of millions of animists who are worshipping the spirits or the hundreds of millions of atheistic communists who are worshipping man and man's accomplishments, who are lost without Christ (the vast majority of them in the 10/40 Window) with hearts of love and compassion maybe we would be moved to do something about it.

**Yes, taking a little peek into the 1040 Window might move us to do something about it.**

Add to this, the countless millions who are following Shintoism, Sikhism, Shamanism, Judaism, Taoism, and the countless other false religions found in the 1040 Window.

**Oh Lord, help us to see the world as You see it! Lord, don't let us stop at peeking into the 1040 Window, help us to do something about what we see!**

God has a purpose for each and every one of our lives. It is good to keep in mind that God's purpose for our lives is tied in with God's eternal purpose and the Great Commission. As one author noted,

_Meaning, purpose, and significance are found only by aligning our lives with God's purposes, in lives committed to following Jesus Christ. That bears repeating: The meaning, purpose, and significance of our lives are found only by aligning our lives with God's purposes, in lives committed to following Jesus Christ...If we are ever truly going to find purpose and meaning in our lives, we first have to rise above the trees to rediscover the forest— we have to understand what God is doing in the world and how we fit in...God didn't create any extras meant to just stand on the sidelines and watch the story unfold; He created players meant to be on center stage. And you will feel fully complete only when you discover the role you were born to play."_

The same author writes,

_Affluent, comfortable, and distracted, Christians today seem to have lost the fire to change the world. The work of God's kingdom lies unfinished, and God's people seem to have lost their sense of purpose in the world._

What we need today are some men and women and some young people who are willing to risk it all to change the world. If not the world, then at least the world for one who is lost without Christ.

Most of us who have been saved for any length of time, know with a head knowledge what the needs are. We know what the spiritual and physical needs of the world are. In this day of advanced technology, there is no excuse not to know. Most of us have heard the sermons, we have watched the missionary presentations, and we have either read articles, blogs and/or books, watched on television or online and seen the great poverty, hunger, and sickness around the world. For the most part, it isn't that we don't know, but in far too many cases, it boils down to that we simply don't care. As we wrote earlier, the problem more often than not is not _ignorance_ , but _indifference_!

Why is it that so few of us are willing to share the Gospel even within our own communities? Is it because we don't know these people are lost without Christ and are on their way to spending eternity in a place called hell?

Or is it because we don't **really** care?

Why is it that so few of us are willing to reach out our hands and help the poor and needy, even in our own communities? Is it because we don't know that these people have physical needs?

Or is it because we don't **really** care?

Why is it that so few of us are willing to share the abundant blessings that God has entrusted into our care as stewards to see people saved, discipled, churches planted, and physical needs met at home and abroad? Is it because we don't know about the needs? Is it because we don't know what the Bible says about our responsibility to be good stewards of our time, talents, and treasures?

Or is it because we don't **really** care?

Why are so few of God's redeemed people giving to the cause of Christ around the world? These numbers are not only startling, but also very, very sad. Is it because we don't know about the great need around the world, especially in the 10/40 Window?

Or is it because we don't **really** care?

Why are so few willing to "GO" and leave the comforts of home to bring the "wonderful words of life" to those who have NEVER heard? Is it because we don't know that there are parts of the world that have very little, if any, access to the glorious truths that we hold dear and near?

Or is it because we don't **really** care?

Why are so few willing to do something about the vast physical needs around the world, especially in what we refer to as the third-world countries, and even more specifically in the 10/40 Window? Why is it that we, who have been given so much, seem to be willing to give so little to meet these needs? Is it because we haven't seen the starving children in Africa and India? Is it because we haven't heard of the orphans around the world?

Or is it because we don't **really** care?

I know these are extremely hard words for us to swallow, but if we would get on our knees and ask God to do a thorough search of our hearts, I am afraid many of us would find this to be true.

**_Psalm 139:23-24,_** _"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."_

Again, I know these are harsh words. I don't like to hear them. I prefer to drown them out and often do. The Bible makes it clear that what we know and believe should determine how we behave. It's not just enough to talk about the needs around the world, starting in our communities. It's not enough to preach about them. It's not enough to read about them. It's not enough to simply know. As God's people, we are commanded to do something with what we have heard with our ears, what we have seen with our eyes, and what we know to be true. If we don't, Jesus says we are foolish and the love of God does not dwell in our hearts and lives.

**Matthew 7:24-27,** _"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."_

**1 John 3:16-18,** _"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."_

In fact, James makes it clear that our faith is not demonstrated by what we know or what we say, but by what we do.

**_James 2:14-18,_** _"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."_

We have looked at the spiritual needs of the 10/40 Window. We have looked at the physical needs in the 10/40 Window. We have taken our peek. Now, it's time to do something about it. There's absolutely no time to put it off. The harvest fields of the 10/40 Window are waiting for the laborers.

**_John 4:35,_** _"_ _Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."_

What can we do?

**Let me offer a few suggestions:**

(1) **We can become better informed!** I would encourage every reader of this book not to stop, but to read a few more books that will inform, inspire, and instruct you concerning the great need in the 10/40 Window. Check out Joshuaproject.net and become an informed Christian. Here are a few books I would highly recommend:

_*Live Life on Purpose – Claude Hickman_

_*The Challenge of Missions – Oswald J. Smith_

_*Radical – David Platt_

_*When Missions Shapes the Mission – David Horner_

_*Send Me, I'll Go – Jake Taube_

_*Kisses from Katie – Katie Davis_

_*The Missionary Call – M. David Sills_

_*A Hole in Our Gospel – Richard Stearns_

(2) **We can pray!** Be faithful to pray to the Lord of the harvest about the harvest. Ask God what part you should be playing in the great harvest fields of the 10/40 Window. Pray for labourers to go to the 10/40 Window. Pray for the missionaries who are presently serving in the 10/40 Window. Pray for the persecuted church in the 10/40 Window. Pray for God to raise up nationals to reach their own people in the 10/40 Window. Pray for the necessary funds to find their way to the 10/40 Window!

(3) **We can encourage!** God can use us to be an encouragement to those who are on the frontlines, and in many cases, deep behind enemy lines. Missionaries on the field are just like you, they are just like me. They become lonely. They miss home. They miss family and friends. They often feel out of place, especially in the first few years while trying to adjust to a new culture. At times, they become discouraged. At times, despair sets in. We can encourage them by keeping in touch. Send them a text or an email. It'll mean the world to them!

(4) **We can give!** God has blessed most of us in America with an abundance of wealth. It's been given to us not to spend or to waste, but to invest in the kingdom of God. As one author wrote:

_God gives His people material wealth for the sake of the world's spiritual worship. That is, He blesses His church with riches for the sake of reaching the nations. He gives a bountiful wheat harvest for the sake of a bountiful world harvest. In other words, we are blessed to be a blessing. For Christians in the West who are blessed of God beyond measure, this wealth is not a curse but a blessing—unless we do not use it as God has designed, for the global advance of the gospel... We seek the provisions of God but neglect His purposes. And in holding on to those provisions, we halt the advance of His kingdom, which Jesus teaches us to pray for and to pursue._

(5) **We can go!** This is where the "rubber hits the road." God is looking for men and women, young and old, who are willing to leave their father, their family, their friends, their future ambitions, their financial security, and all that is familiar to them, to bring the light where it is darkest–the 10/40 Window!

My hope and prayer is that God has used this book in some way to convict, challenge, and change the hearts of many who have taken the time to read it. There is a world that is lost without Christ–beginning in your Jerusalem, and extending into the darkest places in the 10/40 Window. These are men, women, and young people need a helping hand that comes from a loving heart. Above all else, they need Christ. They need the Gospel.

