We call it The Great Commission: Two thousand years ago, Jesus told us to spread the Gospel to every people on earth. And I think it’s fair to say that we’ve done a pretty good job so far. For centuries, Christians have circumvented the globe with Bibles in hand, preaching the Good News, to the point where Christianity’s now the largest religion in the world. It’s booming in Africa, Asia, South America — so much so that Christian leaders on these continents are now sending missionaries to us, the growing secular realms of Europe and North America.
It almost seems impossible that there could still be people who’ve never heard of Jesus.
Almost.
Six short-term missionaries from Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston spent some time in the Canary Islands this summer, helping with weeklong children’s camps. It’s good work — the sort of good work I love to talk about in this blog. The Baptist Press was on hand to tell me all about it.
One night, Candra Pennington, one of the missionaries, was reading quietly when one of the children walked up to her and asked her what she was doing. When Pennington answered she was reading her Bible, the child asked, “What’s a Bible?”
For me, that’s a pretty strong cautionary message. We shouldn’t assume that folks already know what we’ve been tasked to tell them. The Great Commission is still in effect.

















