The State of the World
01:00 — What Keeps You Going?
03:35 — Greatest Obstacles Facing National Church Planting Ministries
06:39 — Concerns for the Future
10:30 — What Excites You Most About Missions Right Now?
12:00 — Closing & Call to Action
JOY: Welcome to Asked and Answered, the podcast series that answers all your missions-related questions. With me in the studio today are Ron and Charis. Welcome, guys!
OK, so Ron, today I have a series of questions for you — to kind of dig into that mind of yours and figure out what’s going on in there for all of our listeners.
OK, so before you can change your mind, my first question is: What keeps you going? What keeps you moving forward at this stage in life — traveling, working, doing all that you do?
RON: The needs and opportunities in the world are greater now than we’ve ever experienced before. In other words, this is what we were praying for, and this is what we’re going to do — win people to Christ. We’re just seeing them come now by the millions, and therefore, I just… I just cannot stop.
I mean, that alone — like, that’s it, you know? You just don’t do that. If you pray for something and always wanted to be a part of something like this, and then when it comes, you just basically walk away? That’s ridiculous in my mind.
That’s why — no, there’s no stopping. And it’s not a matter of waiting for something. We’re talking every day. There’s something new — new emails, new calls. They’re coming in from all over the world.
Oh yeah, and it’s not just a certain country where you can put your hands around it and just go in and out a little bit. This is worldwide now. Probably 40 countries are experiencing phenomenal growth where they weren’t before.
Empower has been going for 20 years, so you and Charis have both invested in this, and now you’re seeing the most incredible results.
JOY: Oh, exactly.
RON: And we were involved in missions before that. Since 1975, when we returned — Nancy and I were trained as missionaries — that’s when we really started. The world at that time had some opportunities. Some little areas were popping, but the fire hadn’t come down yet.
But now? Oh, it’s here. Starting in ‘89 to ‘91 in Europe, and now it has really kicked off.
JOY: Oh yeah.
RON: And nobody — nobody believes it.
JOY: That seems crazy.
RON: Right? I’m always looking for new opportunities to go into churches and tell the story — that this is actually happening — to convince people
JOY: And to encourage them.
RON: Oh yes!Yeah, exactly.
JOY: But the disbelief is real.
RON: It’s huge — simply because it’s not on television. It’s not on the news, so people assume it must not be happening. We’re controlled by what we see in the media.
CHARIS: Another aspect is that our partners around the world — we’ve been working with them for years. These aren’t just some workers on the other side of the world that you can walk away from. They’re family. In fact, this is family. There’s a commitment from them and from us.
RON: Oh yeah.
JOY: You can’t walk away.
RON: And it’s not a financial tie that binds us — it’s something deeper. We have a heart for them. We love them. We’ve become part of their personal families. Their second, third, and fourth in command — many of the workers on the field — we know them personally.
So no, you can’t walk away from that. People might walk away from family.
JOY: OK, my second question is a little different. What do you think is the greatest obstacle facing national church-planting ministries right now?
RON: Funding. The opportunities are there.
In India, we were talking to the leader of a massive church-planting network in the northern part of the country. I was recently there for a Jesus Festival. When I arrived, there were 3,500 people. By 5:00 that night, there were 5,000.
The same thing happened in another location, and these are going on all the time. I was just on the phone with the leader three or four days ago, and he said, “Ron, the opportunities are without bounds.”
The guys are just running with it. We’ve had to cap what we could do based on the funds available. It costs $350 to put on a four-day event for 3,500 to 5,000 people, and the numbers keep growing. Sometimes, folks, you’ll hear me talk about 6,000, then 7,000 — that’s how fast it’s happening.
JOY: And you recently experienced a Jesus Festival yourself, which was incredible.
RON: Yeah, I couldn’t believe it. Sixteen villages in the surrounding area — all came to the Lord. Every single person.
JOY: Wow.
RON: I saw the place where the last man in those villages accepted Christ.
And this can go on and on and on. But there are other parts of the world experiencing the same thing.
In China, we’re distributing 850,000 Bibles this year alone. They need 40 million.
JOY: Wow.
RON: So really, it’s just a matter of financial support to keep up with what God is already doing. That’s the biggest obstacle.
Now, I can’t always come out and just say, “I need your money.” I try to inspire people by telling them the stories. But people often ask me, “Are there other opportunities?”
Absolutely.
These have the highest return on investment we’ve ever seen. We’re not talking about a dozen evangelists here — we’re talking thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands. Just sending out evangelists in Ethiopia three times a year brings in numbers that are staggering.
It’s not false. These aren’t weak commitments. These are people transforming entire countries.
JOY: OK, thank you.
My third question is: What concerns do you have about the future? Maybe the future of missions?
RON: My concern is for the church in North America.
We’re losing our burden for the lost. Our evangelistic passion is cooling down, and missions is being put on the back burner.
Not that God will stop building His church — but we are going to lose the blessing.
For hundreds of years, we’ve been sowing into what God is doing around the world. But now that the exciting part is here, we’re not excited about it.
I go into churches, and it’s a hard sell. Pastors and congregations are shifting their focus. We’re either spending more on ourselves or rationalizing why we shouldn’t get involved.
CHARIS: I also think the older generation — the ones who were sowing into this — are aging. The younger generation isn’t hearing the stories.
RON: Exactly.
Many are leaning toward a more humanistic approach — improving people’s earthly conditions rather than focusing on their eternal destiny. And while there’s nothing wrong with helping people, when that becomes exclusive, we forget their lostness.
The biggest concern? Do we believe that without Jesus, people are lost? Because if we believe everyone will somehow “sneak into heaven”, then why bother sharing the Gospel?
And that is my concern.
JOY: OK. And finally, what excites you the most about what’s happening in the world right now?
RON: We didn’t see it coming!
This has turned history upside down.
We’re seeing Muslims accepting Christ by the millions.
In El Salvador, hardened gang members are picking up Bibles and truly being born again.
China — communism is falling apart, and the church is blossoming. One leader told me, “It’s like a bulldozer — unstoppable.”
In India, a brother told me, “Ron, when you were here in May, it was good. But now, in August, it’s even greater.”
We didn’t expect this.
JOY: Wow. Well, thank you!
And to our listeners — if you visit our website, there are so many opportunities to donate and support workers in countries like Serbia, China, Vietnam, and India.
And don’t forget to check out our other podcasts, where we share story after story of these faithful workers.
