Eye opener for the American Church?

While reading "Revolution in World Missions" by K.P. Yohannan, I came across some eye popping stats and statements. I've been on missions trips to see how blessed we are in America. But man, I still don't completely realize it, neither does the rest of America. I hope what you read below will sink in and hopefully you will pass it on.

"Many North American Christians live isolated from reality- not only from the needs of the poor overseas, but even from the poor in their own cities."

Wow that is so true. So often we focus on giving money to missionaries and feeding the poor around the world, but we forget about the poor and hungry around the corner from our church. Don't get me wrong, giving to missionaries and feeding the poor around the world is very much needed. Im not saying we should do less of supporting missionaries or donating to different organizations who help feed and water the world. But I am saying we do forget about the people closest to us and the people we could so easily help right in our own backyard.

"The United States has about 5,000 Christian book and gift stores, carrying varieties of products and many secular stores also carry religious books. All this while 6,800 of the world's 13,500 languages are still without a single portion of the Bible published in their own language! In his book My Billion Bile Drea, Rochunga Pudaite says, "Eighty-five percent of all Bibles printed today are in English for the nine percent of the world who read English. Eighty percent of the world's people have never owned a Bible while Americans have an average of four in every household."

Astonishing! 85% of Bibles are in English and only 9% of the world speaks English. Think of the thousands of languages in Africa that don't have one Bible in their language, or even in the forest of South America! Thats millions and millions of people who haven't heard the Gospel or even read it because there isn't a Bible in their language!

"The United States, with its 600,000 congregations or groups is blessed with 1.5 million full-time Christian workers, or one full-time religious leader for every 182 people in the nation. What a difference this is from the rest of the world, where more than 2 billion people are still unreached with the Gospel. The unreached or "hidden peoples" have only one missionary working for every 78,000 people, and there are still 1,240 distinct cultural groups in the world without a single church among them to preach the Gospel. These are the masses for whom Christ wept and died."

My heart breaks just to read this stuff. I pray that the Lord continues to call people to reach the unreached and hidden peoples of the world.

K.P. Yohannan wrote, "From India, I always had looked to the United States as a fortress of Christianity. With the abundance of both spiritual and material things, affluence unsurpassed by any nation on earth, and a totally unfettered church, I expected to see a bold witness. God's grace obviously has been poured out on this nation and Church in a way no other people ever have experienced. Instead I found a Church in spiritual decline."

That is right on! Its sad that in a religious free nation, Christianity is actually decreasing. And thats nothing new, Christianity has been decreasing for decades. By 2030 China is suppose to be the largest Christian nation in the world. Granted they have over a billion people but they live in a country that spreading the Gospel is illegal. Yet Christianity is growing faster in China than it is in the United State.

As the American church we need to take a hard look at ourselves. How can we live more outwardly as Christians rather then inwardly? I will be thinking about praying about this fervently.