The guest speaker and president of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD), Dr. Saw Samuel gave a message reminding AIIAS students, faculty, and staff about the mission of sharing Christ’s ministry and reaching out in today’s world, during the chapel convocation at the Amphitheatre on September 19, 2016.
“Christians are people through whom the light of Christ shines,” Saw mentions. “We are all living in the end time. We all know that Christ is coming soon. He wants us to have stronger faith and trust so that He can use us to draw many people towards him.”
Saw presented the challenge found in the countries within the scope of SSD of which are also within the 10/40 window, which is the home to most non-Christian people, also known as the resistant belt. He also showed how the membership within the 10/40 window hasn’t increased within the last 20 years.
“Reaching out to these countries is not easy. It is a great challenge.” Saw explained, “The world has approximately 7.2 billion population. Of these, there are three billion unreached people. There are 16,000 unique people groups.”
A ‘people group’ is a group of individuals with a common sense of history, language, beliefs, and identity. Saw expounded how statistics show that there are 7,000 Unreached People Groups (UPG) in which only 2% of the population is Christian. There are 3,000 Unengaged Unreached People Group (UUPG) wherein there are no believers, no churches, or missionaries who are actively focused on engaging them. 75% of UUPG are in the 10/40 window and less than 10% have never been reached out to.
Our mission is to spread the gospel to all ethnic groups or people groups. “Even if we are blessed to minister to the 10/40 window, there are still many groups that we have to reach out to.” Saw adds, “we have to keep in mind one very important consideration: the gospel commission to proclaim to those who live on the earth, to every nation, tribe, language and people.”
He expounded on the thought that God has called everyone to His gospel ministry but many times this calling has been overlooked. Commitment should be our response to the act of God. Saw mentioned, “If we are not reaching out to these people, we cannot expect Christ to return in our generation.” He quotes, “God will do the work if we will furnish Him with instruments.” – Ellen G. White, 9T 107.1.
A video clip was presented on how the SULADS, a community-based non-government organization, reaches out to thousands of Lumad children and families of the Philippines through various development projects, and by providing access to basic education and healthcare.
They are working to achieve this through literacy centers, education, and by the grace of God. It has helped in promoting peace and improving lives for people, leading them to accept Christ.
“God has a plan for each of us. Sometimes we are not clear with our calling. It is easy for us to get confused. We confuse position with mission in leadership. Christian leadership is not a position. It’s a mission,” reminds Saw, “the more you are busy for God, the more we become the person that God wants us to be.”
There is no education or degree that will guarantee a person to reach out. Relationship and commitment are two of the vital principles when reaching the unreached. One must be in communion with Christ for it to be possible to share the same love that Christ has for them.
“Christianity is not behavioral. It is relational. It relates that if you have a relationship with God, it will lead to true transformation or empowerment. The Fruit of the Spirit is produced in the believer but not by the believers,” described Saw.
“A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this to be our first work.” – Ellen G. White, The Review and Herald, March 22, 1887. ChS 41.4
Saw concluded with a Bible verse found in 1 Corinthians 15:58, which reminds us to, “be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
The Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) is a General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists institution that offers exclusively postgraduate education in four main areas: business, education, public health, and religion.
