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![The Perfect Storm
In the perfect storm, the right conditions come together at the right time to create unusual forces of nature. God is brewing a "perfect storm" in the Spirit, to complete the task of Global evangelism.
Dear Elijah Company Friends,
A few years ago a leader named N. J. Vargese invited me to join his ministry in Bihar state in India. During the times I have been to India, I thought there is no place on earth that seems to be as opposite to western culture. Some westerners find it overwhelming, but I love it! N.J. and I, and a few others piled into a Toyota Land Cruiser and drove painfully slow, hour after hour, on barely passable roads until and we found ourselves driving across an open field. I didn't know it at the time that in minutes I would have another of those moments that missionary’s dream of.
Along the way we passed two young men walking in the soaring heat of the day. I paid little attention to them as they arrived at the little church that was to host us for the evening. Everyone sat on the floor as we talked about the things of God. I asked the two men where they came from and why they were there. No one from the church knew who they were, and their response amazed me. They said, "We are from a town two hours walking distance from here. Someone in our town told us that we could come here and learn about a man called Jesus.” After I collected my thoughts about what they just said, I realized that these men and the village they came from knew nothing about the Lord. My mind raced asking, "Where do you start when someone knows absolutely nothing?" So I started teaching the Bible from the beginning, showing them the line of redemption from Genesis to Revelation and how Jesus was the Savior of the world, and all who trust in Him are saved. Those two men believed that day.
I can remember similar experiences that highlight the fact that the harvest, in many non-western countries, is ripe but the workers are few. In 1995 the Lord brought us back to the U.S. to use our experience in equipping others to go and do the same. We have trained hundreds, many of whom are working in non-western nations and seeing great fruit. Watch the video called Missions Was On God's Mind at http://www.elijahcompany.org/GodsHeart.htm.
The Perfect Storm for Completing the Great Commission
We are living in the last days. Never before has there been such a universal sense of the soon return of the Lord. A rallying cry has come from Matthew's 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come." Many are saying the Great Commission can be completed by 2020 A.D.! In the perfect storm, the right conditions come together at the right time to create unusual forces of nature. God is brewing a "perfect storm" in the Spirit, to complete the task of Global evangelism. What are the conditions of this perfect storm?
Strategic Partnerships
The Call2All Conference (http://www.call2all.org/) has been a place to rally ministries all over the world to join hands to complete the Great Commission. Hundreds of churches, ministries, missions, and business partners are breaking ranks with traditional sectarian associations and looking geographically as places to join hands. Well-known Charismatic ministries are in collaboration with Baptists, Campus Crusade with YWAM, and unity in the body is happening in the perfect storm.
Strategic Mapping
Technology has enabled us to strategically map the world and know exactly who lives where and what needs to be done. There are 639 unengaged unreached people groups world-wide. Unreached people groups (UPGS) are socio-linguistic groups having more than 100,000 people with less than 1% believers in Jesus. An unengaged unreached people group (UUPG) is the same where the only difference is that no one is working or planning to work among them. See Finishing the Task - The 639 List at: https://finishingthetask.com/639.aspx.
Business Partnerships
In January 2008 Elijah Company formed a strategic partnership with a businessman from Ohio who pledged to provide funding to raise up and send a missionary team to an unengaged unreached people group. In June 2008 we took a step of faith and selected a group of refugees who are Sunni Muslims. I took a trip into the desert in Africa to visit with them, and I was blessed to see how the Lord has prepared the way for them to know Him. At this time we have potentially five people to complete this team. What is more, we are able to link arms with other networks, such as the House2Harvest house church network, a church network in Texas, and the Toledo local chapter of Call2All. There also exists the possibility to adopt other unreached people groups that could be funded by Kingdom building business people.
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Apostolic Mentorship
The reality is that there are many who are called, but they haven't been told they are called. Those who do want to go often have little idea how to be sent. That is why God called Elijah Company into being. Our next Missionary Training Camp is from March 5-8. The information is posted on our web site at http://www.elijahcompany.org.
Intercession
Prayer is another very important element to this "Perfect Storm" of completing the Great Commission. The mission’s movement and the prayer movement have joined hands and God's house (His people) are becoming a House of Prayer for all nations. Intercessors Arise and the International House of Prayer have been plying the way for this to happen (http://www.intercessorsarise.org).
The Alter Call
When the Titanic was sinking people abandoned the temporal to save the eternal. Diamonds, gold, and all belongings were left behind to pursue the saving of their souls. In a sense, the Titanic is sinking again. The time is short. Now is an opportune time to catch the wind of God's Spirit and be carried into the eternal purpose He has for you.](Perfect_Storm_files/shapeimage_2.png)
