“Reaching the Most Unreached”

K.P. Yohannan, a native of India, was called to win souls at the age of 16 due to the fervent and ongoing prayers of his mother. Since responding to that call, Yohannan has tirelessly labored during a transformative time in soul winning, one that seems likely to fulfill what Christians call the Great Commission.

Revolution in World Missions was first published in 1986 and has been updated several times since to reflect what the Holy Spirit has been doing in the hearts and minds of people in India and around the world. Yohannan’s message is clear: followers of Jesus Christ are in a battle to win souls, but soul-winning is coming primarily through the work of native believers who are visiting remote Asian villages where the name of Jesus is unknown.

Missionary Waves

Importantly, unlike the first wave of world missions where the apostles were sent out, or in the more recent second wave where people like Hudson Taylor brought the gospel to the Chinese, this third wave shows a growing partnership between the poor churches of the East and the wealthy churches of the west.

But that transformation is not happening without conflict. As Yohannan describes it, the mind-set of many Western missionary groups remains stuck in the past, and has proven fruitless since World War II ended and with it the age of neo-colonialism. Indeed, most people in what Yohannan repeatedly calls the “two-thirds world” will not listen to light-skinned westerners, eying them with mistrust.

As a result, most of these countries no longer permit new missionary groups while those who remain are largely providing social services and are not directly involved in soul-winning.

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality. (2 Corinthians 8:13-14 | NIV)

Native Missionaries

Yohannan outlines what he believes to be the best method for reaching the lost and that is through native missionaries, but with the western church providing critically-needed financial backing. Strong cultural and historical differences prevail so that when evangelizing the words of a native evangelist are fruitful while the words of the western missionary largely falls to the ground.

And, the native missionary has an advantage in another area too: cost. Whereas it can cost at least $60,000 or more annually to support a Western missionary and his family overseas, natives continue to live the life of poverty and are able to live amongst their own people. That means a fully funded native family can be supported for just two or three thousand dollars annually, allowing more people to reach tens of thousands of unreached villages through the Indian subcontinent and beyond.

Western Thinking

Sadly, a number of influential missionary organizations have not been supportive of native-led missions, or they have sought to exert control over these activities. Yohannan shared one account where a well financed evangelist proposed partnering with his organization, Gospel for Asia (GCF), but they wanted their materials translated into native languages and propagated among the people.

However,  some of the materials to be translated addressed an unidentified western problem, one that India was not experiencing. Because that evangelist was rigid in his thinking and not in touch with what the people of India needed, no place could be found for the two organizations to work together.

Sometimes missionary boards have adjusted their missionary thrust to support native evangelists, but as pointed out by Yohannan many seemed determined to continue supporting activities that met many of the social needs of people while failing to win converts. Yohannan stressed that people’s spiritual condition takes precedence over their needs, reputing the idea advocated by some that a sinner’s physical needs have to be met first before they can hear the gospel.

He went on to explain that in India many people come to know the Lord without promise of having their needs met. Not that Yohannan is against helping people socially, but he does believe that doing that first is putting “the cart before the horse.”

Personal Life

Yohannan has seen the providential hand of the Lord move in his own life from the moment he responded to God’s call. In the early 1970s he met a German woman whose heart was for the Indian people. That woman, Gisela, was not like many of the other western missionaries, as she wore a sari and worked among the people of the nation. Eventually, Yohannan married Gisela with the couple soon relocating to the US so that he could finish his Biblical training. The couple’s two children, Daniel and Sarah, are now active in missions following their training through GFA’s seminary.

By 1981, GFA was launched, one of the charter members of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). GFA is unusual in that monies donated to support missionaries goes 100 percent to that missionary. Other funds are tapped to pay for ministry expenses, but your designated donation will not be diluted by overhead.

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. (James 2:14-17 | NASB)

The Call

Is there a place for westerners to work in closed countries if they are able to get in? Yohannan says yes as God will sometimes call someone to work with cross-culturally adding, “This is what is important—each one of us is responsible for how we obey what He has said and follow Him alone.” Very few of us are called to the mission fields of the two-thirds world, but through intercessory prayer and financial giving, we can support the work that needs to be done, fulfilling the Great Commission as the return of Jesus Christ nears.

Revolution in World Missions is a clarion call to the church, particularly those of us who live in the affluent west. Most certainly, times have been difficult of late, but God’s work remains urgent and His resources have not been diminished.

Millions are going to hell daily because no one is bringing the gospel message to them. If the Holy Spirit has given you a burden for the lost, GCF could be the partnership opportunity allowing you to help reach many through the work of native missions in India and beyond. Please visit the Gospel for Asia website for more information or click here to order your copy of the book.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. (Matthew 28:18-20 | AKJV)

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Besides regular Bible reading which takes me in and through the word of God, I like to supplement my studies by reading uplifting, Christian material too. When I find a book that I like I will sometimes read it again and again and again. No, not back to back, but over many years in a bid to recapture the essence of the story.

One book that has caught my attention again is actually a compilation of four of the bestselling works of W. Phillip Keller, a one-time shepherd and pastor. In Phillip Keller: The Inspirational Writings this devotional commentary features the following stories:

• A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23
• A Layman Looks at the Lord’s Prayer
• A Shepherd Looks at the Good Shepherd & His Sheep
• A Gardener Looks at the Fruits of The Spirit

Right now I’m nearing the end of the first book with plans to move forward through the 576 page volume over the coming weeks, my third complete reading of the book since I received my copy from a friend in 1994.

Son of Missionary Parents

Keller was born in 1920 and grew up in East Africa as the child of missionary parents. His family lived amongst the sheepherders who managed their flocks much in the same way that ancient shepherds in the Middle East managed their sheep dating back to the days of the lowly shepherd boy, David.

Later, Keller managed his own flocks both in Africa and later in his native Canada. That background helped give him an intimate understanding of Psalm 23 and God’s relationship to His people who are the sheep of His own flock.

And it is with Psalm 23 where Keller wonderfully illustrates exactly what it means to “lie down in green pastures” and “anoint my head with oil” by breaking down the popular Psalm piece by piece. For most of us, who aren’t acquainted with farming, Keller carefully aligns scripture with sheep management to demonstrate how much Jesus Christ cares for each sheep individually.

The Shepherd Protects His Flock

A case in point: In his chapter, “Yea, Though I Walk Through the Valley…,” Keller shares how beneficial valley experiences are for sheep. For it is in the cool valley where refreshing waters can be found as well as lush grasses that sheep thrive on. At the same time, it is in nearby cliffs and overhangs where enemies lay in wait — lions, cougars and wild dogs, etc. — danger zones familiar to the shepherd who skillfully guides his sheep through on their way to higher, even more beneficial ground.

Of importance to the reader is to gain an understanding of just how well loved individual sheep are to the shepherd. As with the Good Shepherd, sheep know the voice of their own shepherd and will not follow another.  And, the human sheepherder knows each of his sheep which can run into the thousands in some flocks.

Just as the shepherd knows his sheep and calls them by name, God knows us and calls us individually…what a comfortable thought for the Christian who can sometimes feel lost even in the company of other saints!

Keller went home to his reward in 1997, leaving behind an unusual but beneficial legacy that I’m familiarizing myself with once again. Some of Keller’s works are no longer in print, but I suspect you can find copies through Amazon, Alibris and other big booksellers.

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