There are cities of hundreds of thousands of people where there are no known Christians. These are the least reached.

One of our church-planting teams serving the least reached in Central Asia is working alongside a local family who experienced God’s grace in their lives in a dramatic way a number of years ago. The father, Hakan, was a businessman with a great job, beautiful wife and a bright future. Yet, he found himself depressed. He became more religiously zealous and prayed in the mosque five times a day, yet his depression grew deeper. One night he decided to take his life. Desperate, he cried out to God one last time for help.

Suddenly, Hakan saw a 3-foot tall hand reaching out to him in his bedroom. Terrified, he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, the hand was still there reaching out to him.

Hakan tossed and turned all night. Who could he trust to tell about this strange and wonderful experience? The face of a co-worker who he occasionally confided in came to mind. Hakan called him in the morning and asked to meet together. He shared with his co-worker the vision he had in his room and his distressed state the night before. His friend then told Hakan that he had been praying to Jesus for him with a group of other Jesus- followers. He explained that when Hakan was crying out to God for help, the Lord’s hand had reached out to him! Hakan asked to meet these friends.

The group met at a small church and prayed with Hakan for healing and freedom from everything that tormented him. As they prayed, he found the peace he had been looking for.

We believe that God has reached out to the world through his Son, Jesus Christ. “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). As we live and share this great news, we too are reaching out to those who have not yet responded to God’s message of salvation.

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God reaches into every cultural group in a unique way, inviting all to reach out and find Him. The stories you read here reveal the exciting ways He is working through our teams to transform lives and communities.

The spiritual darkness in least- reached regions defies rational presentations of the Gospel. Only the power of God’s Spirit can break through.

The apostle Paul spoke to a group of intellectuals in Athens, explaining that it was God who “made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that all would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” (Acts 17:26-27)

Culture is God’s idea! God reaches into every group in a unique way. His intention is that each person would reach out and find Him. He himself births the desire in humans to seek their Creator.

There are ‘least reached’ people groups and then there are the ‘least’ of the least reached. There are cities of hundreds of thousands of people where there are no known Christians. There are no Christian house churches or resources. No one in the region knows Jesus Christ, or is able to share how others can establish a relationship with God.

One of our teams recently visited a Tibetan Bhuddist nunnery in a remote region. Elderly people, fearful of their eternal destiny, walk endlessly and turn prayer wheels to ‘make merit.’ Sarah*, an MB Mission worker, was approached by Ani Pema*, an elderly Bhuddist nun who requested prayer because she was deaf. Sarah and her husband had been asking God for demonstrations of his power and grace in healing to bear witness to the Gospel. Sarah touched Ani Pema’s ears and asked Jesus to heal her. Immediately, Ani Pema indicated she could hear!

Soon others came with their illnesses and a long line formed. For five hours the Spirit of God was poured out in healing power. The deaf could hear, the blind could see and the lame could walk! A number of people confessed Jesus as Lord.

That night, when Sarah told the team what had happened, a team member pulled out an old photo of an elderly nun and asked if Sarah had met this woman. The team member had taken this picture at the same nunnery five years ago and had shown the picture in churches in North America, asking for prayer for her. The nun in the picture was Ani Pema!

*Names have been changed.

For five years our Father God has been collecting prayers on Ani Pema’s behalf. In His wisdom, He decided to pour out His grace and healing power on her. Our God is transforming the least reached in response to your prayers!