For those of us who live in the South, it’s hard to imagine not knowing about Jesus. We have a church on every corner, it seems. Christianity is such an important part of our culture and community. It’s like Christianity is everywhere.

But that’s not the case everywhere in the world. In fact, did you know that missions experts estimate that there are 2 billion people on planet earth who have never had a chance to trust in Jesus because they have never even heard of him? That’s a fourth of the world’s population. What a sobering statistic!

In Romans 15, the greatest missionary in the history of the world, Apostle Paul, shares his ambition and passion for those who have not yet heard. He writes, “…thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.'”

What an ambition! Beloved, that should be our ambition as well. Some of you listening very well may be called to personally go and cross an ocean to tell those who have never heard about Jesus, but all of us are called to personally support missionaries. If we are not going ourselves, we must be sending and supporting others.

But you know what, there might be somebody right there in your community that has never really heard about Jesus. They may have an inkling, but they have never heard the fullness of who Jesus is, why He came, and how He can change a person’s life. In this case, God doesn’t need you to cross an ocean. He just needs you to cross a street and be a missionary right here in your own mission field.

May God use you and me to reach our community and entire world for Jesus Christ!

Change begins in you!