Dear friend, 

I recently returned home from Bangladesh. It represents ground zero and the center of the bullseye for our vision at Unknown Nations. It is a country that is the same size as the state of Wisconsin. There are 6 million people who live in Wisconsin while 172 million live in Bangladesh, making it one of the most densely populated places on Earth! Within those 172 million people in Bangladesh are 298 different nations (people groups), including the Bengali Muslim who are the largest unreached nation in the world!

Reaching the Bengali Muslim

The Bengali people are a nation of 132 million people, yet less than 1 in 10,000 are Christian. They are in desperate need of a gospel witness. Ministry is difficult in this hostile environment because of cultural persecution. Family members completely reject, and often persecute, other family members who receive Christ. Communities refuse water and food to those who dare be baptized. Children are turned away from schools because their families decide to follow Jesus.

Persecution is a daily reality for those who decide to follow Jesus. The Bengali Muslim people need more Treasures and clean water projects. Seeing the living water arrive in this parched land will bring both physical and heart transformation. The key, however, for exponential transformation is the discipleship and training of Bengali leaders. The only way for the Bengali to be effectively reached is by their ability to raise up leaders who will go and make disciples!

Unknown Nations Training Centers

At Unknown Nations, we have prioritized the establishment of our training centers to do exactly that. The fruit of disciple-making movements in existing locations has been amazing! Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Myanmar and Philippines are just a few examples of the many locations where we have established these centers to train leaders.

At any given point, we are training hundreds of leaders in these centers. For instance, we recently celebrated the graduation of 130 leaders from our center in Nepal and another 90 are in the current class there. Local Nepali leaders are pouring into these precious lives that will soon be canvassing the vast Himalayan Mountains, searching for those who have never heard of Jesus. They will distribute Treasures and establish listening groups in order to plant indigenous churches. Equipped with essential Treasure and other ministry tools, they are the hands and feet of Jesus, showing His love to others for the first time.

 

 

We need to train indigenous leaders so that nations can experience the love of Jesus. The local people are ready to sacrifice their lives for this calling. They willingly go into the most spiritually antagonistic environments and face cultural and political persecution. In fact, 5 of our recent graduates from a closed access country just gave the ultimate sacrifice. They were exposed as they led people to Christ and established underground churches, only to face a public execution. That is the reality these graduates face. One leader told me they expect these new leaders to live anywhere from 3 months to 3 years. He said,  “Anything beyond that would be a miracle.” These new leaders step boldly with faith into the calling that God has on their lives.

Let’s finish the task of taking the gospel to those nations where Jesus is unknown!

Together in the Harvest, 

Greg Kelley, CEO