In this thought-provoking episode, Gary Wilkerson and Mark Renfroe dive deeper into the stark reality of the unreached world. They examine the uneven distribution of missions resources, with only 3% allocated to reach the 3 billion individuals in unreached people groups. Mark shares a powerful parable contrasting the spiritual risk of lostness with and without gospel access. The discussion also highlights the surprising growth of Iran's underground church, from spiritual apathy to openness, despite intense persecution. Gary and Mark challenge listeners to evaluate their missions priorities and consider how they can play a part in reaching the unreached.
Key Points from the Podcast
• 72% of missionary resources are allocated to highly Christianized places, while only 3% goes to unreached people groups.
• There is a stark contrast between being lost with gospel access and being lost without any access to the gospel message.
• Mark shares a parable comparing a child falling into a pool surrounded by people who can swim, and a refugee child drowning at sea with no one to help.
• Iran's church has experienced surprising growth, from spiritual apathy to openness, despite intense persecution.
• The blood of martyrs, such as Haik Hovsepian Mehr and Mehdi Dibaj, has been the seed of the church in Iran.
• Some estimate that there are now between 700,000 to 2 million Christians in Iran.
• Gary and Mark challenge listeners to evaluate their missions priorities and consider how they can be involved in reaching the unreached.
• The episode concludes with a call to open our eyes to the unreached and allow statistics and stories to move us to action.
Recommended Resources
• Book: "Too Many to Jail" by Mark Bradley
• Article: "The Story of Iran's Church in Two Sentences" by Mark Howard
• Website: Joshua Project
About Mark Renfroe
Mark married his college sweetheart, Amy, with whom he has four adult children—one girl and three boys. The Renfroes have been involved in field missions work for 30 years. They served in the Arab community of San Francisco for four years before becoming foreign missionaries in 1995. Mark was asked to serve as the Area Director for Assemblies of God World Missions in 2007. As part of his role, he led missionaries and interfaced with national church leaders in the 18 countries of the Arab World. In 2017, Mark created Reaching Africa’s Muslims, an initiative to mobilize, equip, and deploy indigenous African missionaries to reach Muslims on the continent. Mark has graduate degrees in Intercultural Studies and Executive Leadership. He currently serves as the Chief Missions Officer for World Challenge in Colorado Springs.