By David Fugoyo
The Great Commission
is the call for every Christian to embrace the task of doing mission seriously.
Many Christians over centuries have devoted their lives to be missionaries
within their territories and outside the borders they are familiar with.
However, the work of mission has been misunderstood for long time. Many think
that the venue of doing mission is in continents such as Africa, Asia and Latin America. The reason for such assumption and
thinking has been because of the idea and feeling that ‘the poor need the
Gospel most,’ forgetting the sinful rich!
Today, when one hears
of someone mentioning the word ‘mission’ or ‘missionary,’ what comes into one’s
mind? The first impression is that mission field is somewhere in Africa,
specifically in places like Darfur in Western Sudan, Somalia in the horn of
Africa, or somewhere where there is sever poverty and where people die of
hunger and diseases. The impression about a missionary is that he is a white person from one of the rich
Western countries. This kind of thinking has not only made the people of God
misunderstand the meaning of mission, but it has also made them lose the vision
of winning to the Lord sinful souls, including that of the rich.
Sin does not only
exist where the people without access to medicine, clean water and food are. Sin
is a disease that cut across cultures and social statuses. Today, it is the
rich (in this context, those living in cities or places where there is no lack
of basic needs of life) who struggle with pornography most because they can
easily access it, they are surrounded by and struggle with many kinds of
addictions and marital unfaithfulness. Sinners are also found in urban areas,
and I can say their sin is also urban! Those sinners like any others are in
need for salvation; they need freedom from the work of the Devil; they need to
know the Lord and depend on him. When Jesus said, “Therefore, go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you,” (Matthew 28:19-20), and when he said, “Go into all the world
and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15), he did not talk about
the poor only, neither did he mean that the Gospel was to be preached to those
in Africa, Asian and Latin America only. He meant “every creature.” The Gospel
is for the rich and the poor, the black and the white, the educated and the
uneducated, the healthy and the unhealthy.
Let the focus of
missionary work not be Africa alone.
Missionaries should also consider America
and Europe. There is need for the work of God
to be done in every continent and country. In fact, there is a global witness
that the center of Christianity (Gospel) is shifted to Africa.
If that is true, why should Africa still be
seen as the only field where missionary work is to be done? My point in the
whole article is that the Gospel be equally taken to the needy people who are
found everywhere in the world, and that the need for the Gospel and Salvation
not be equated with the need for food, clean water and medicine.
