Hope in Hard Places: Chad and Sudan

Do you ever ask yourself, “What, ultimately, is God trying to do?”

The fundamentals for my answer to that question come from the front and the back of the Book: Genesis 12.3 where God says he’ll bless Abraham so Abraham can be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth. And Rev. 7.9 where John sees the result of that pledge. 

Someone from somewhere must take the beautiful blessing into the people groups who’ve yet to have it. Until that happens, John’s vision of some from all peoples worshiping God is not realized. 

Therefore, as recipients of the blessing of God, it is our collective (and maybe personal) responsibility to do our part to get that blessing where it isn’t yet. 

That conviction has led me and a band of colleagues to pledge ourselves to doing what it takes to see the blessing of God get to the 1600 people groups who have yet to have a start. We call them “unengaged.” They are unreached for sure, but form a subset of unreached peoples who do not have anyone trying to reach them yet. 

Our focus 10/40 Window countries this week are Chad and Sudan. Together they have about 100 unengaged Muslim people groups. One hundred units of humanity who have no one in their midst living out and giving out the life of Jesus. 

I’ll go out on a limb and guess that Chad and Sudan are not at the top of your vacation list. (Although Sudan has some world class scuba diving. Wanna go with me?!?) They are challenging places to live if you’re born there and quite rigorous if you move in. In fact, Chad has the planet’s lowest life expectancy. Poverty, disease and corruption battle against the blessing of God. Tribes cross the border, but given the vast geography and low population density, it’s tough to even get to people to hang out. 

But the church in Chad will not give up. They’re growing and going to some the most challenging assignments on the planet. Let’s get behind them in prayer and perhaps in presence.