To the Ends of the Earth

“But you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.” I have always thought to myself, hmmm, I wonder what it would be like to go to the ends of the earth. Well, I think I have finally discovered what that is like. My team and I were on a research trip recently and we came upon a village that was faaaaar down a dirt road. When we pulled into the village we saw rows and rows of stick and mud buildings. Most of the buildings had thatched roofs, but a few of them were lucky enough to have corrugated steel for their roof. As soon as I stepped out of the truck I was immediately greeted by the smell and sound of the ocean. I could hear the waves crashing into the shore; at first I thought it was thunder because the waves were so loud. I could hear and smell the ocean, but could not see it. Instead, all that I could see where these stick and mud buildings and the people who called them home. As we started walking through the village, the ocean became louder and louder, I knew we were getting close. Eventually we made our way through the village to the ocean; I felt like I had reached the ends of the earth. There was literally nowhere to go but the ocean or to turn around and go back through the village. I walked down onto the beach and watched as the fishermen brought in their catch from the day. I watched as the children of the village filled little bags with sand to be used as weights on the nets. Everyone had a role; they knew what to do and how to do it.

It is really kind of cool to just sit in a village and watch the people do their daily tasks. They live such different lives from you and me, and yet, they are not really all that different. The Father has made them in His image, just as He made you and me and in His image. He loves them just as much as He loves you and me. I sit and wonder sometimes how it is that people can live in a village that is so far out there. When I think about all of the things that you can find in the city it amazes me how they are able to live so isolated from everything. There are a few people in the village that have a generator to run power and most everyone in Africa has a cell phone today, but I am always in awe of the people who make their homes from sticks and mud. I am also in awe that in the year 2014, there are still people who live on the ends of the earth who have never heard the Good News.

As I go into these villages that are so isolated, I am truly amazed that the Good News has not reached them. I was reading a book the other day and it was talking about where the Good News has and has not gotten. It was saying that it seems more and more the places that have yet to hear are the places that really are at the end of the earth. My desire is to go to those kinds of places. There are some places in West Africa where you have to walk for several hours just to get to the villages because there is no road for car or motorbike; I desire to go to those places. My heart is for the people in those hard to reach villages. I desire to make the terms Unengaged Unreached People Group and Unreached People Group obsolete. I serve an awesome Father and I know He desires for all to hear, otherwise He would not have said that we would be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. I get so excited at the idea that He would even let me go and share the Good News with those who literally are living on the ends of the earth.