Finishing
the Task: How Indigenous Missionaries Are Reaching the Unreached in the 21st
Century by Christian Aid Mission
There are many unreached people groups in the world that
need to hear and see the love of Jesus Christ poured out to them. Yet, often the best and most effective way of
reaching these people groups is through indigenous missionaries reaching
out. In other words, indigenous
missionaries are those that live in the area in which the unreached people
group exists. The people group is their
people, they know the culture, customs, and thinking of the group. In this excellent book entitled Finishing the
Task, Christian Aid Mission has gathered up stories of these indigenous
missionaries that bear witness to God’s work among unreached people groups.
The first chapter focuses on a man named Prem, who served in
the Indian army, began to read the Scriptures in the army and converted to the
Christian faith. After being rejected by
his family, Prem proclaimed the Gospel, even facing prison after baptizing new
believers in the river where government officials could see. Yet, this did not stop Prem from the gospel
ministry. Alongside in the same chapter,
Bob Finley is introduced as helping begin Christian Aid Mission to support
indigenous missionaries. After seeing
the mighty work God was doing through indigenous Chinese missionaries, Bob knew
that supporting these ‘neighborhood’ workers was the best route to reach
unreached peoples.
Gabriel Barau’s work in Nigeria is mentioned in chapter
4. His desire to see the Fulani come to
know Jesus Christ was instrumental, alongside MCM and Christian Aid Mission’s
help. After befriending a family and evangelizing to them, one local MCM
missionary met Ardo whose cattle had destroyed his groups. Rather than respond in anger and violence,
the man befriended Ardo, shared the gospel with him and he became a
believer. His life was not easy, though,
as those in his community called him to recant, and eventually poisoned three
of his children. The faith Ardo committed
to was not one that was an easy option, but God has led him through even these
great difficult times.
You get a glimpse of what God is doing in the work of
indigenous missionaries here in Finishing the Task. I heartily recommend this book to all those
who want to find out what’s going on in the countries in the world and how God
is reaching them through his people.
Thanks to Christian Aid Mission and WinePress Publishing for
the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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