Sojourner #049: The Hem Of His Garment: Reaching Protected Nations With The Gospel

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10)

The Hem of His Garment: Reaching Protected Nations with the Gospel

For many of us, missions is something we support from a distance - faithfully, prayerfully, even financially - but still distantly. The names of the nations flash by in our prayers without a thought, but we rarely feel the weight of their lostness.

We may know that South Asia is home to a third of the world’s unreached peoples, but those are statistics - until you walk the streets where temples outnumber churches and the gospel has never been spoken.

What happens when the banners of false gods wave higher than the knowledge of the name of Jesus? In the heart of South Asia, idols rise  - but even there, quietly and powerfully, so does the Church of the living God.

For the last two years, I’ve had the great privilege of serving as an International Mission Board (IMB) trustee for the Southern Baptist Convention. One of my greatest privileges as a trustee is to be assigned to the South Asia Affinity Group. We meet multiple times a year to commission missionaries to South Asia, which I’m told holds an estimated one-third of the lostness of the entire world within just a few countries.

In February, I was able to visit two of these countries, and it was an onslaught of senses immediately after departing the plane. You need not drive far to realize that the primary religion of the region, Hinduism, shapes every aspect of how people identify themselves. A new Hindu temple was being built in the heart of the city, so there was a celebration nothing short of our Fourth of July festivities, and there were yellow flags waving all throughout town to announce its arrival. But in the lights and color and music, all I could feel was sadness.

Had these beautiful people ever been told that, contrary to their belief that there are many paths to God, there is only one way to salvation through faith in Jesus (John 14:6)?

I had the privilege of going into a slum area with some personnel. I was shocked by the hospitality of the person of peace who welcomed us into her home. Finding a person of peace or house of peace is a Spirit-led endeavor, as this person may eventually become someone God uses to reach their own community with the gospel (Luke 10:6). Within ten minutes, the small room with concrete floor was full of over 60 women. There were so many people that not everyone could sit, and some had to stand out in the alley, leaning in the window. And so, we began just one of the many effective strategies for ministering to these precious ladies - a women’s health clinic - in one of the poorest areas.

As one of the women on the team, a nurse, shared about women’s reproductive health, we would pause after each section and share a lesson from Scripture. I was able to talk about the woman who hemorrhaged for 12 years and how Jesus healed her as she reached out in faith to touch the hem of His garment (Mark 5:25–34). I told them that Jesus made clean the woman who everyone believed to be unclean. And I told them how Jesus offers this same miracle to us today, as “God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, so that we might become His righteousness” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

It felt like I was graciously seeing the beginning of a brand new house church in the making. As women began to come forward asking for prayer, one said she secretly follows Jesus but her husband would beat her if he found out (Matthew 5:10–12). Another requested prayer because the effects of alcoholism had sadly affected her life and her children. One felt like her mind and home were under demonic attack, and we encouraged her to turn from her idol worship and make Jesus Lord (1 Thessalonians 1:9). They expressed a desire to hear more and to learn more about Jesus, and the woman of peace insisted that she would open her home again for such an occasion.

Wouldn’t it be something if instead of leading the world in lostness, this beautiful place became the home of a church planting movement?

How You Can Pray for Missions in Protected Nations

For places where the name of Christ remains largely unknown, and where flags still wave for gods who cannot save, we must pray - not as those wishing upon hope, but as those holding fast to the providence of God.

The gospel goes forward not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the living God (Zechariah 4:6). As we partner in the work of missions, let our prayers rise like incense before the throne of grace (Revelation 8:4), trusting that God will accomplish all His holy will for the nations He has purchased with the blood of His Son (Revelation 5:9).

Here’s how you can pray:

• Pray for the sovereign advance of the gospel - that in regions steeped in idolatry and spiritual blindness, the Lord would command light to shine in dark hearts, revealing the glory of Christ in the face of Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:6; John 6:44).

• Pray for secret believers - that those who quietly follow Christ under threat of persecution would be strengthened in their inner being, emboldened by the Spirit, and rooted in the unshakable love of God in Christ (Ephesians 3:16–19; Romans 8:18–39).

• Pray for the birth and growth of house churches - that the Spirit would raise up biblically faithful churches centered on the Word, governed by Christ, and marked by joyful endurance and holy courage (Acts 2:42–47; Titus 1:5).

• Pray for persons of peace - that the Lord would open more homes and hearts like the one described, where His Word can be taught, His mercy displayed, and His church planted (Luke 10:6; Acts 16:14–15).

• Pray for workers - that the Lord of the harvest would continue to send laborers into the fields of South Asia, equipped with sound doctrine, steadfast love, and Spirit-filled boldness (Matthew 9:37–38; 2 Timothy 4:2).

Let us pray, not as spectators, but as saints in step with the advance of the Kingdom - until the nations rejoice and the idols fall, and Christ is confessed as Lord from every tongue and tribe (Philippians 2:9–11).

About The Author:

Tracie Griggs serves as a trustee with the International Mission Board and is a member of a Southern Baptist church in the southeastern United States. She is passionate about the gospel being proclaimed to the ends of the earth and seeing the local church raised up in every nation.

Learn more about the IMB here.

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