No Scripture, No Believers, No Idea: GU Alum Engages Unreached People in Southeast Asia

Published: April 13, 2021

Shocked. Thats how Jonathan, recalls his response to the bookRadicalby David Platt.

Platts declaration of radical purpose, radical urgency, and radical call to proclaim the glory of Christ to the ends of the earth left the GU graduates head spinning and his heart humbled.

Lord, what can I do to reach the unreached? he prayed.

At the time, Jonserved as a typical youth pastor in a typical Midwestern church. He couldnt imagine the places that simple prayer would take him; he couldn't imagine Gods quick response.

No joke, he recalls, two weeks later, I was invited by another local youth director to travel with him and to teach house-church leaders in a Southeast Asian country.

Now, six years later, Jonlives in Southeast Asia, studies language and teaches business English at a local school.With the help of a translator, he also shares weekly Bible lessons with eager learners gathered in house-churches. For now, this is what "radical" looks like.

In time, Jonhopes to acquire skills that help him contribute even more fully to developing the church among unreached cultural and ethnic groups. He works as part of a well-established organization that partners with local churches to plant other churches among unreached peoples.

To ensure their continued progress and security, this article omits that organizations name and the host country in which Jonserves. Jonis not his real name.

Without a doubt, language studies have proven the biggest hurdle for Jon, specificallylistening and comprehension. He dedicates many hours each week to learning a language that bears no semblance to the rules, syntax, and grammar of English.

In East Asianlanguages like Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Hmong, slight nuances in tone distinguish one meaning of a word from multiple other meanings.

I can speak all of the tones clearly, says Jon, but the locals speak so fast that at a normal conversation pace, its quite difficult for me to decipher which tone they spoke, therefore, which word they spoke.

Regional dialects and accents within each dialect complicate the challenge.

On top of that, people understand me when I speak, so they assume I can understand them when they speak. So, they speak at a normal conversation pace but its just too fast for me to pick up whats said.

Jons determination to learn a new language mirrors the determination he sometimes sees in others who occupy the city of nearly nine million inhabitants, home also to dozens of universities and colleges. These include more than two dozen international schools, putting Jonin close proximity to eager learners. He makes it part of his weekly routine to visit a park where university students and young professionals go to meet foreigners and practice English.

Within that bustling metropolis, the Christian community is small in number, but large in faith, says Jon. The passion and boldness that local believers demonstrate surprise him. Building friendships and partnering with them to share the Gospel has come relatively easily.

They dont live in fear of repercussions of following Jesus, he says.

For decades, believers have engaged in innovative and creative means to bring the Gospel to all peoples worldwide.Business,education,healthcare,agriculture, and the arts have all served as vehicles to this end. Jonstudiedaccountingandbusiness managementat GU.

He welcomes questions from others in the U.S. about using their gifts on his team and taking the Gospel to the least-reached" peoples in Southeast Asia. If you are interested in learning more about partnering with Jonto radically extend the Gospel to unreached persons, contact carla.morris@greenville.edu.

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