By Jordan1, team member on a recent trip to South Asia

South Asia: Wow!

I was not prepared. Despite living in Europe for ten years and extensive travel throughout Europe and South America, I was not ready for what I experienced in South Asia. Yes, I knew they drove on the left side of the road (mostly). But the many languages, customs, sounds, and smells struck me, as did the conditions in which many people live.

Population and Poverty

I was stunned by the population density of this land and the challenges that this presents for the people. South Asia would occupy just over half of the United States but with many times more people. The population density of the United States is about 94 people per square mile, which pales in comparison to South Asia’s nearly one thousand people per square mile.

I was also deeply saddened by the challenges of poverty that exist in South Asia. In the major cities, nearly 80% of the people live on less than six dollars per day. I can hardly get out of Starbucks on that! While on this trip I was memorizing Isaiah 61:1-3. My meditation made me consider the call of Jesus and my own call. Like Jesus, the “Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me” and the Lord has anointed me “to proclaim good news to the poor,” to “bind up the brokenhearted.” All of this and more that we can do is for the display of His splendor. That’s what missional enterprises are doing.

Missional Enterprise in South Asia

What does proclaiming “good news to the poor” look like in South Asia? Charity, or simply giving, is not the solution to poverty. Truly it’s said, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish and you feed him for a life.” In Jewish culture, the greatest form of charity can be to give a person a job. Our missional enterprises in South Asia employ local people to work alongside followers of Jesus. Through engaging in business and hiring these local people, our missional workers in South Asia share the Good News with employees and seek their welfare (Jeremiah 29:7).

Missional enterprises operated by Kingdom workers throughout South Asia are accomplishing the advance of the gospel by teaching people to “fish” and by providing meaningful work for people who are disadvantaged in their cities. I’m committed to supporting these missional enterprises.

From our team in South Asia, I’ve learned some simple actions to engage in missional enterprise that take only about five minutes each:

1. Pray: Buy a map (and use it to pray).
2. Give: Set up at least $1 per month giving to a cross-cultural worker.
3. Welcome: Approach someone from a different nation, learn their name, and tell them you’re glad they’re in your university or neighborhood or community.
4. Mobilize: Ask one person to pray about going on a trip similar to the one you just did.
5. Go: Spend at least five minutes asking God what he has for you in reaching the nations.

Verse(s) of the Week:

They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Isaiah 61:4

This verse, which follows closely after the one quoted in the article, describes how the work of God’s anointed one transforms the poor into “oaks of righteousness,” who then rebuild and restore their ruined cities. Let’s prayerfully consider steps we can take (like the five listed above) to be part of this transforming work.