Secret Church began in 2006 based on time David Platt (IMB President) spent with brothers and sisters in underground Asian house churches. Believers all over the world risk their lives every day to gather together to study the Bible, pray and worship. David spent 8-12 hours a day with some of these believers teaching the Bible. On April 29th in the Family Life Center we met to do the same thing. The live simulcast was viewed by 63,000 people in many countries. It was an intense study of the Scriptures which introduced us to Animism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Atheism. We also looked at the Gospel, Evangelism, and Conversion and our witness to the
peoples of the world.
Unreached People
The Joshua Project https://joshuaproject.net/ estimates that there are 16,464 people groups in our world of which 6,659 lack enough followers of Christ to evangelize their own people. Wycliffe Bible Translator https://www.wycliffe.org/ estimates that there are 2000 people groups that still need Bible translation. Many language groups have no Scripture portions of any kind. Global Recordings Network http://globalrecordings.net/en/ has gospel recordings in over 6,000 languages and
dialects.
There are 481 people groups in the USA. Of those, 83 are unreached, totaling more than 10.5 million people! There are many international students on our college campuses here in Tulsa. Our church recently provided lunch for the TCC North Campus. It is one of the most ethnically diverse campuses.
You may be thinking, “My neighbor is unreached.” No he isn’t. Or he shouldn’t be. It’s our job to reach him; to share Jesus with him. By the year 2050 40 million people are projected to convert to Christianity. That sounds like a lot. But if trends continue 106 million people are projected to leave Christianity. Let’s not be part of that statistic. We have been blessed by God unlike any other nation on earth.
In many nations believers pay a huge price to follow Christ. Many are persecuted, beaten, and killed for their faith in Jesus Christ. I recently returned from a country where Christ followers are killed every day. It was humbling to meet them, worship with them, and hear their stories. They asked us to pray for them. If you want to find out more about how you can pray and help the persecuted check out http://www.persecution.com/ and begin to pray specifically. It will change you.
It is a blessing to be your pastor. Thank you again for honoring us for ten years as your pastor. Gloria and I are grateful to God for your generous gift and all the kind words of encouragement you shared. Let’s reach many more for Jesus in the coming years!
Thankful in Jesus,
Bro. Gordon
