Good News for All the People
When the angels announced the arrival of God's Messiah to the
shepherds near Bethlehem that first Christmas, they also established
the future motivation for the FaithSearch International
mission statement:
[T]he angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for
behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for
all the people; for today in the city of David there has been
born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke
2:10-11).
If this looks familiar to you, it should because our mission
statement parallels is closely: "Proclaiming the Gospel
with Evidence to All People Everywhere." The shepherds
investigated for themselves the evidence of Christ's presence
by visiting the stable where He was born. The news of these
events was of great import and must be spread to everyone everywhere,
which we continue even to this day.
This Christmas, we are rejoicing over our progress toward fulfilling
our mission, and eagerly anticipate God's hand enabling us to
complete it. FaithSearch Discovery is now available
to more than one in four people of the world (approximately
26%). By the end of 2008, God willing, this percentage will
more than double to 59%, making the Gospel with evidence available
to some 4 billion people! (See the God
at Work graph.)
This is the result of an intentional five-year strategy called
"Extending the Vision" which we initiated in 2003,
"to accelerate the fulfillment of God's mission for FaithSearch
International by proclaiming the Gospel with evidence to a greater
diversity of people in the United States and to people in new
geographic regions, languages and cultures around the world."
Through our evangelists, we now have active ministries on
four continents, especially the countries of India, Russia,
Ukraine, Belarus, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Philippines and,
of course, the United States. Exciting ministry doors are also
opening in the Middle East and Africa.
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The Extending the Vision strategy
diagram.
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The coming of our Lord Jesus more than 2,000 years ago was
announced with excitement by the angels. God loves all people,
and Jesus went to the cross to redeem them all. We take this
seriously and with excitement we want to make our very relevant
Gospel with evidence available to as many as possible.
The attacks on the foundational truths of the Christian faith
are occurring around the world with increasing frequency and
with greater deceitful venom. FaithSearch Discovery
is a useful and highly effective antidote to unbelief and skepticism.
By putting it into the languages of the world, we create
a bastion of this truth in every place by training indigenous
Christian leaders who will equip their own people. Our goal
is to establish a sustainable FaithSearch Discovery
ministry of outreach in every major language group.
Extending the Vision is a humanly-overwhelming endeavor. But
God! When God convicted us to "give it away," the
fourteen FaithSearch staff anticipated His provision
for it as well. The team, as organized around this mission in
the accompanying diagram, have pulled together to close in on
the vision's goals. It is within reach-because the invisible
hands beneath the diagram are the FaithSearch
financial and prayer partners. God guides, empowers and-through
your hands-enables us.
Oh friends, strengthen your hands right now so together
we may share in making the angels' announcement of Jesus "for
all the people" a reality in our day.
