An Unevangelized Nation
France is an unevangelized nation. What does this mean? Only about 2% of the population knows Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. My son and I will be going there in April to help some friends with the first service for the church they are planting. Please begin praying with us for the full force of the Gospel to move through this region.
posted by Darren | 12:51 PM
12 Comments:
We'll be praying for you, your team, and France.
May the Lord move mightily through France. May He use your team to help further the Gospel.
Darren Sapp,
This message is not against you or anything like that. You are a wonderful person and I am inspired by your work and family. I truly am.
This message is just my own heart breaking comment to relieve my sadness about how people see other countries.
To All:
God is in Europe! God is in France!
I wouldn't say that France is unfaithful or any other nation in Europe.
God is in the hearts of many people we don't see.
France is not an "Unevangelized Nation."
God is there! Maybe not the way Patrick and Mary DeMuth would would like to see it but God is there and I know it! And I know you don't have to believe me.
We can't change the fact that
people are different than you or me in the US. That people love God in different ways than we do in the US. Still, it is a good way to love God.
And people from France like in other countries in Europe take God very seriously. Maybe not all of them but it is the same here in the US or any other country.
I see people going out for missions trips like for a break or a nice time to spend with friends (not your case, Darren) believing they are so special but the reality is that they don't even see themselves completely.
We shouldn't be writing negative aspects about "positive growing opportunities to worship God and serve our brothers and sisters: Christians or not."
I saw Patrick and Mary DeMuth's first mission presentation about France and it was shocking.
It was nothing but bad news.
That is not fair to talk bad about someone without them knowing about it.
I see very few mission messages or presentations (not your case, Darren) that focus primarily on the good and not on the bad. I mean the good of the country itself - Not just what they did good to bring people to Christ.
Why do we attack nations with such a title: An Unevangelized Nation?
Do you think people will get closer to you if you tell them a terrible thing at first?
Example: if a new neighbor who was a Christian came to your town and said to you:
"Hello, dear, nice to meet you. You look terrible and my guess is that you are a horrible person. I think you are unfaithful and don't believe in God at all. I just realized that because your house looks terrible and it does not look organized. And your look does not fit how people of my Church dress.
Oh, dear... You have a lot to learn and I can help you.
My guess is that you are lost in the world and I can help.
Just for a small fee, I can become your Christian Counselor.
But, that is ok, God sent me here to be with you. I am your new friend, your new way to get to know God. And by the way, I think you should lose those extra pounds...Ha ha ha..."
What would you do?
Instead, if we are kind, they will come to you.
Why are we not a little more kind and practical saying something like: "Growing Christianity in France" or "Reinforcing God's work in Europe."
"Something good that is reflecting your work! Something that you are actually doing."
But, no. We are so predictable that we must say "An Unevangelized Nation." What a sad or I might say terrible thing to say about people. We are generalizing and that is not a good thing to do.
I am sure you got my attention.
I didn't want to write these comments because I know good friends will write me responses with a scripture that may suggest that I am wrong in something. And I may be, I am not sure.
But I am so sad to repetitively see nations accused of not being Christians that I have to say something about it.
We as Christians must act with kindness and love. Are we looking through our own eyes and seeing how good we are doing? To help others, we must be ok with ourselves.
I have been part of Rotary International since I was 16. I understand about serving others with plenty of years of experience. Rotary is a great organization that helps the community more than you think.
Rotary brings all religions, colors and they are all equals.
And yes, some people use Rotary for networking. But, those don't last long.
But the good things of Rotary are priceless. God allows to Rotary be sucessful because it serves his people. People that workship him in may ways.
God put professionals in Rotary to serve people also.
In my case, I was an International Youth Ambassador, I traveled a lot. I know how God works in nations much more than you think.
Some missionaries don't see the positive when they travel to other nations. They are blocked by negativism because they don't see other people as good as they are here in the US; as good of Christians as they are.
They go knowing that they have to go back to the US with some exciting stories to tell. If, not they feel that their trip was not successful. But, that is not the case. God may want you to go somewhere to do nothing. But, that nothing will be the everything for later.
We see the bad and then we just want to target these bad impressions to proclaim that God is not there and in some cases, make a living of some sort.
Again, God is in France and everywhere! Maybe not the way Patrick and Mary DeMuth would want to see it. But, people respond to God in many good ways and some of them are not perfect the same way we do it in the US because of changes in society, stress, etc.
Other people, other Christians, like myself, act and worship God without doing any propaganda or saying bad things about the unfaihtful. I think that is the right way of sharing the Gospel.
I will be praying for Patrick and Mary DeMuth and the tone of how we express ourselves about other nations. I will be praying for the team to continue to reinforce the good work that God is doing in France and Europe to bring more people closer to God the way "they" intended without pressuring people to get closer to God only in our ways.
Diego Bianco, your brother in Christ.
This message was sent with love and it does not intended to hurt the Sapp's.
Diego Bianco
Diego,
Your blog is a perfect example of how we can discuss something with love of Christ and not resort to negative words. So thank you for that.
I use the term unevangelized as a positive term. Imagine seeing thousands of fields of crops. Let us say that to your left were several fields that were already harvested and to your right were many fields that were not harvested. Your mission is to harvest. Would you go to the left or the right? The left are a few fields unharvested and people need to harvest those. To the right are many more fields ready for harvest. To say that America is evangelized is not to suggest 100% evangelized. There are people in America who have never heard of the Gospel, but I would suggest that is a fairly low number. The number of those who have not heard the Gospel in France is extremely high. I hope my analogy has made sense. If someone said that, really America is unevangelized, they would be on firm footing, but not to the extent of France or Kenya or Iraq. That does not make us better, it gives us a greater responsibility.
I would not go to my new neighbor and say, “How are you. You are a lost, dark person in need of God’s love through Jesus Christ. Here are some cookies, have a nice day.” I would not choose to use a lot of negative terms for France. My fries are still French Fries not American Fries.
So my use of unevangelized was meant to be positive, not negative. I like the positive terms you used. Sometimes we use words like dark and lost to describe a situation we are concerned about. You have given me something to think about and I appreciate your openness and honesty.
Press On,
Darren
Your message is well taken. And your lesson is also appreciated.
As our mission is to harvest, we should do it with a good start. With a friendly initiative. With diplomacy. An initiative that uses a more positive title inviting people with love to do something better for themselves.
If I were French, I wouldn't like people to call my country "An unevangelized Nation.
I still believe negative titles are taken in so many bad ways and we could use more easy-to-understand and proactive titles supporting our mission as Christians.
Diplomacy should be the way. Not confrontation.
The same here helping an overweight person. Would you tell that person that is fat and he/she should lose weight because eating too much is sinful?
Nope.
We don't see ourselves helping each other saying that we are fat. Simply because of respect.
But, I learned that eating too much is sinful and he/she should eat well and not over do it.
Something that I even have to work on it and I don't do nothing about it. But, I honest and I admit it.
I am fat and I need to change that. But I don't have Christians telling me this problem with titles that hurt my feelings.
With love,
Di
Darren,
Thank you for your desire to serve God by serving His people. Thank you for pressing on toward that goal to which God has called you. With a full-time job and four kids, it isn't always easy and I will be praying for you, Kevin, and your team as you travel.
Darren - I think this is an awesome thing to do, and I will pray for you and your family. Through the years, I've seen your heart for God and I understand your need to do His will. I know it's difficult to go on mission trips with a family and so many responsibilities - and yet you've chosen to go where God leads. God's blessings to you and your family!
And a side comment to the gentleman Diego. . .
Rest assured that Darren’s heart is good. He and I have been on mission trips together, and his goal is to do as God commands and spread the good news to all nations. Perhaps Americans do not always use the right words when we speak of this idea, (very likely indeed!), but if our hearts are in the right place, God will use us for His purpose.
Americans have a long way to go with their cultural shrewdness (too true), and yet, we must go into other nations and do the work of evangelists nonetheless. God commands it.
There are evangelists working in America too. However, most Americans who are not Christians have already heard of Christ and rejected his teachings. In many countries around the world, there are those who have never heard about Jesus Christ. This is to our shame. Perhaps France is not one of those countries, I honestly couldn’t say.
However, we cannot wait for perfect cultural understanding before we travel. We cannot wait for the perfect words before we write of our desires as evangelists. In our imperfection, we strive to do God’s will, and we know that He will take our efforts and use them.
If our understanding of another country is limited, then I’m sure you can forgive our ignorance, but at the same time appreciate our fervor. We are striving to be God’s hands and feet, and although many times this means blundering our way into other cultures and displaying our lack of international savvy, we are still called to go.
Just as there are different parts of the body working together to make a human being, so there are different parts of the “Christian body” working together to do God’s will. We cannot expect everyone to approach their calling with the same perspective—just as we cannot expect our hand to perform the same function as our lungs, or our kidneys. But, when all the parts work together, great things can be accomplished!
I know you are doing your part for the Kingdom, just as I know Darren is doing his part. I may not always agree with the methods of the evangelists around me, but I respect the fact that they are attempting to do God’s will.
Peace and blessings to you Diego, my brother in Christ!
-Becky
Darren,
LOVED your response! This topic fits so perfectly with Steve's message on 3/18, "Different Strokes" (still available on lakepointe.org).
Also at the heart of this issue, I think, is the fact that adding the prefix "un-" to a word doesn't necessarily render the word negative or inflammatory. To describe a seat as "unoccupied" isn't an inherent insult to that seat, but is simply stating a fact. It could also be useful information to someone looking for a place to sit! When someone is described as "unassuming," it usually carries a positive connotation. Mary herself has this quote on a blog interview regarding their ministry: "Consider this: 74% of Dallas is churched. Compare that to ½ of 1% of folks in France are evangelical Christians. The need is tremendous." (This interview is linked in her blog,relevantblog.blogspot.com)
"Unevangelized" is not a slam, it's a fact. It's not meant to inflame, but to inspire.
Press on, friend.
Sorry for my grammar. Rebekah is still sleeping to help me with this message.
I agree with your messages and thank you for your responses. There are a lot of good things there. I am happy to see what you see. But, I am not referring about the good of what it is being done in France. We already know about the good and most of the time, we glorify ourselves about what we do as Christians more than what we should change to become better Christians. Don’t you think?
DON'T YOU SEE HOW POSITIVE YOU ARE WHEN YOU WANTED? YOUR MESSAGE WAS GREAT AND LOVING. LOOK AT THE TONE OF YOUR VOICE WHEN YOU WROTE YOUR NOTES. THEY ARE PERFECT! NICE AND KIND.
WE ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER WITH KINDNESS AND LOVE.
BUT WE DEFINETELY DON'T DO THAT WITH THE WORLD. TRUST ME! I KNOW THAT. ESPECIALLY BY SAYING BAD THINGS ABOUT A COUNTRY.
There are a lot of great things I didn't say about what they are doing in France.
But, going back to MY ORIGINAL POINT: we approach nations with negative titles that may mean something positive but only understood by who wrote it.
Nations don't interpret our way of writing and the American English as you may think.
Things are not understood the same way we say things here.
We won't make peace with France by saying: you people are unevangelized. President G. Bush won’t say to our soldiers in Iraq that this war is a mistake and you are useless and you are not doing a good job. Even if this war was a mistake or things are not doing well, the president has to be optimistic about it.
Did I make my point?
Ok here some more:
There is no preacher or no teacher in the world that is going to say this to a 350LBS person visiting the church for a first time: you are too fat and sinful.
Instead, they will talk to her/him with kindness.
SO, ARE WE NICE WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD?
Nope. And don't get me started about what the USA does to the world just for us to have a better living here.
I READ IN MY BOOKS BY CHARLES F STANLEY THIS:
If your children are in drugs and they are living a life with horrible habits, you would stop everything to make sure you are going to give them the education they need to become great kids. Is this correct?
You will be focused on your family first, then to help others. God tells us that you can't help others if you are not helping yourself first.
So here, in THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, there is a lot to do with our brothers and sisters.
We have crime within our Christian families...
We have young teen going to church half naked. How can us as parents, allow our daughters to go to church with clothes that barely cover their bodies… Then, it is the boy’s fault to be in trouble…Right?
We have inappropriate sexual relationships within our Christian families… Christian couples get divorce and there is nothing that would stop them.
We have preachers abusing of women sexually…
We have church staff moving from church to church for a better pay.
We have a church in almost every 20 miles or less. We are so hateful that we have to have so many different churches because we, the citizens of United States of America can’t get alone when glorifying God.
More churches are built in America to comfort people with what they want and how they want to glorify God.
God is not in first place in many occasions.
We are so hateful that people of color have to build their own churches because they don't feel welcome in many churches.
We have to spend millions of dollars with multimedia to entertain people to listen the word of God. If not, nobody would show up and the Church will not collect money. How sad….
We are making churches a Hollywood entertainment company making movies for every message we have to say – If not, half of the audience will be sleeping or won’t come back. How sad...
Then, when we are in mission trips, we pretend a single man from a very poor village listen to us with only a Bible, a paid meal, a poster and our own words. We pretend for them to be excited and crazy about God just with the things we said and showed them, just the Bible.
Yes, that should be enough, right?
Actually it is not in America.
Why do we need so much TV and entertainment to get the message of God? And please don’t tell me that this is a new technological era and that is the way we live our lives. It is because of our addictions.
We have kids killing other kids in schools. We have teachers having sex with kids every other month. We have poor ethics and the wrong motives.
We are so materialistic that we listen more to who owns a HUMMER than who drives a holly life.
We believe we can save the world when our own country is dying and breaking a part.
Our law makers are the people that are trying to remove God from our lives and we will pay the consequences for that.
We can’t go to Disney according to church leaders because it is said that Disney promotes the wrong morals. Since then, we can't say we are Baptist anymore. Even our Church removed the sign so people would feel more welcome.
Christians can’t be honest with themselves. And I experience that.
We tolerate sin. We watch the NFL, NBA, and MLB. These are organizations that promote prostitution after games – Cheerleaders being sexually abused. These organizations sell alcohol during games and we still go to the games or watch them on TV. We even use some football players as an example to our kids. How a Christian would play in an evil organization?
If we were to stop sports for a year, New Orleans could have been already rebuilt. I won’t even take an atomic bomb for Americans to take solidarity seriously. Sports won’t even stop if an atomic bomb hits America and that is very sad my friends.
A lot of people tolerate what they want and they are Christians the way they want to be, thinking that everything they do is ok. How sad…
That is partially why there is a church every 10 miles. Not because we need more buildings to glorify God, because we can't get together as one. We can't even get alone because the way we believe in God. We chose a church that is convenient to us. How sad.
You know what my father used to say?
Let's have only one church and bring everybody inside. Let's learn to love and make friends no matter our personalities and backgrounds. He was in South Africa when he said that bringing the white and the blacks together. A risky operation in that region.
And I can go on and on about the things we should do and say about America. But, we are so predictable that we speak badly about other nations. Go figure why people hate us all over the world.
God wants us to help ourselves first to be able to help others.
I AM SO SAD THAT PEOPLE DON'T SEE WHAT I SEE. IT IS SIMPLY BECAUSE I EXPERIENCE CULTURES AND COUNTRIES MORE THAN OTHERS AND I AM NOT AFRAID TO SHARE TRUE FACTS.
I AM SAD THAT SOME OF MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST LIVE A BLIND LIFE ABOUT THE REALITY IN THE WORLD AND WHAT THE UNITED STATES DOES AGAINST IT TO GAIN PERSONAL INTEREST.
If we ALL were to stop going to places around the World for at least 5 years and to help EACH OTHER AND WITHIN the people of America, our own brothers and sisters, we will be a better nation and we will be able to help the world much better.
How can we educate others without educating ourselves?
So, these long message answers many of your comments and add real issues that are not taken in consideration because we are too busy criticizing other nations, pointing fingers to other neighbors instead of helping our own first.
Glorify God first within your family so then, we can help others and bring them to Christ.
Yes, this message was written with love.
Di
Darren Sapp,
I love you man. I love my church and my friends.
I don't get the chance to interact with you very often but I see a lot of good things coming from you.
However, this is my problem with the Christian world. I am sad about how bad choices Christians make in general and how bad the speak of others without knowing or solving their own problems.
Di
Andrew,
You wrote:
What if we were paralyzed by our own criticisms that we were unable to go into the world or unable to show our support to those that go out into the world?
We are paralyzed by several things, but not by critisicms. We don't criticize ourselves enough to help our own people to be a better nation.
Hurricane Katrine was a perfect example.
Sometimes, Christians go to other countries not because they were called by God to go but because they want to go there. They believe and think they are called but that is not the case on many occasions.
They get to choose countries like candies without even understanding the history of them.
As long as Christians go out for the right reasons, I am 110% supportive. But the numbers of good Christians are dropping.
Christians are always concerned about their money needs within the mission trips. They save, save and save and according to them it is never enough.
Unfortunately, we have to help ourselves here to be able to help others. We have to be good people here to be good people somewhere else.
THE WORLD DOES NOT DEPEND ON AMERICANS AND IT WILL NEVER BE.
GOD IS IN CONTROL IN EVERY COUNTRY AND GOD IS THE BIG BOSS IN EVERY CORNER OF THIS PLANET. HE ALLOWS THINGS FOR A PURPOSE.
We are paralyzed in many ways. We are going out to the world with such ignorance that makes me sad. We pretend that people are excited about us when we preach to them with just a Bible and a paid meal. And that is a mistake if you look at us needing TV screens, music concerts and nice churches to make us happy so we can continue to be followers of Christ.
IT IS VERY, BUT VERY SAD TO SEE THAT AND ALSO IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO BE A GOOD CHRISTIAN IN A RICH ENVIRONMENT.
MOST OF THE TIME, THE POOR HAS GOD AS THE ONLY RESOURCE AND THEY ARE BETTER BELIEVERS. THEY MAY BELIEVE IN A DIFFERNT WAY THAN US. BUT THEY ARE TRUE BELIEVERS.
I love to talk about this! I love to discuss and debate about these issues. I care about the US. I love this country more than a lot of Americans. And I do what I can to wake them up with some reality.
That is all I can do.
Di
Brother Diego,
Please hear this from an "anonymous brother" who cares deeply about all of this.
I believe that at this point in time - while Darren's team is actually in the field serving and obeying the Lord's commands in Acts 1:8 & Matthew 28 - this line of discussion & posts should be discontinued on this blog and moved to a more appropriate place.
Just as you are concerned about how other nations or people groups are affected by spoken or written words, please recognize what I believe to be a legitimate concern that your mostly negative comments on this blog do not support this team or their mission - again, a mission in direct obedience to the Lord's commands. Nor do your comments/posts support or encourage the team's family members and closest friends who are checking this blog to read about their progress (which was one of Darren's original and noble purposes for the blog).
You obviously feel strongly about some of the issues you have mentioned. While some of your points may merit discussion, for the time being that discussion should take place elsewhere.
I would encourage you to speak to someone in person or email someone privately (other than Darren, as his thoughts & energies are better focused on the work in France at this moment).
To Darren, Kevin & Team: Press on.
I do support missions. I do support Darren's families and I am a church Member as you guys are.
I love them.
I am a person with integrity and I have a Godly purpose. I have a responsibility and it is to speak with facts and be a servant.
Please share your name so I can get to know you.
I am sharing real things to real people. That is why I do share my name.
A Christian should not be a shame of what he/she says. Why to hide?
The truth hurts and it is real.
I am not being negative and I am focusing in more important things than just a mission trip.
This is the perfect place to share comments. To share our love and concerns.
I am not hurt but I am so opened to discuss with you the points you don't think are productive.
THIS IS THE PROBLEM: CHRISTIANS CLOSING THE DOORS TO OTHER CHRISTIANS THAT ARE TRYING TO TALK ABOUT WONDERFUL THINGS WE NEED TO CONSIDER IN EVERY MISSION TRIP.
I am sad. First, I don't get to know your name. You get to tell me that I should leave this place just because you and others don't accept the facts.
Wow!
Again, I am open to have a conversation.
And my name is Diego :)
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