Hello there, friend. There’s a good chance that you can make Jesus known in your community with little to no friction. You can share the gospel with your coworker without the fear of being thrown out of your job. You can mention your love for Christ without being disowned by your family. Most likely, the worst that could happen is for them to roll their eyes at you and move on. 

But for some of our brothers and sisters, not only do they have to endure hardship and persecution, they also have to walk through the long, slow journey of planting gospel seeds without seeing any fruit. They may get to see one person come to faith. And they still do it with joy and hope in the One who’s called them to this glorious task.

In today’s edition:

• Why God created planes and the internet

• How churches are surviving Alaska’s darkness

• Praying for 1 and 2 to be more

💻 God created planes and the Internet so you could tell others about Jesus.

“For such a time as this.”

It sounds like an ordinary phrase. But it comes from an extraordinary story.

Mordecai sent a message with these words to Esther in the king’s palace as the Jewish people faced potential death due to the king’s edict. “Who knows, Esther, whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

In response, Esther realized she had an unprecedented opportunity to address an urgent need. So she fasted and prayed, and then this Jewish queen risked her life in an effort to change the king’s mind. She stewarded the unique grace she had been given, and in a stunning reversal of a royal declaration, God used one Jewish woman to save his people.

I want to share this story with you because, well, I actually believe it’s your story. And mine.

Do we realize the time in which we’re living? There are more people today unreached by the gospel than ever before in history. That’s more people than at any other point in time who are on a road that leads to an eternal hell without having ever heard the truth about the One who alone can give them eternal life. That sounds like an urgent need to me.

And you and I have unprecedented opportunities to meet that need. Just think about it.

It took Paul the apostle not just days, but weeks and months to travel from one city to the next. Sometimes by foot, other times by ship, and it wasn’t always the smoothest of trips! He never could have fathomed a machine that will pick you up and carry you through the air just about anywhere in the world in less than a day. With snacks along the way!

It also took Paul weeks and months to write a letter and have it delivered to someone else in a different city, then weeks and months to get a reply. He could never have imagined being able to communicate with people around the world in real time in multiple languages through a device we carry in our pockets!

Do we realize the time in which we live? Yes, there are more people unreached with the gospel than ever before in history, but we also have more opportunities to reach them than ever before in history!

God has graciously placed you and me in a unique time in the world where we have truly unprecedented opportunities to meet eternally urgent needs for the gospel. So what will you and I do?

Let’s not squander the grace God has given us. Instead, let’s steward it. Let’s each look at our lives, let’s fast and pray, and let’s do whatever God calls us to do for the spread of the gospel around the world.

Who knows, brother or sister in Christ, whether you have not come to the world for such a time as this? 

— David Platt

🇹🇭 Only 1% in over 200 years.

The Details: Despite Christian missionaries going to Thailand for over 200 years, only about 1% of the population is Christian. The country has a majority Buddhist population. Often, Thai identity is closely connected to being Buddhist. Also, freedom of expression is limited by the government.

The Takeaways: In such hard ground to plant gospel seeds, we can pray for God to send missionaries and for Thai people to have open hearts and minds to the gospel. Pray that Thai churches and believers may be united and show Christ to their neighbors. Lastly, pray that Thai believers may be bold in their witness and may strengthen and encourage one another. 

🏔️ Why there are still hard to reach people in Alaska

I’d never paid $17 for a gallon of milk. Until I landed in McGrath, Alaska. 

There’s no highway leading there. No easy way in or out. Everything—groceries, fuel, supplies—comes by plane. Prices skyrocket. Life is different.

That’s what my friend Brad discovered when he moved to McGrath to pastor one of the few churches in remote Alaska. Surviving here would mean learning from the locals.

Meat doesn’t come from a store—it’s hunted. Heat doesn’t come from a gas line—it’s chopped, stacked, and burned. In McGrath, survival isn’t just a challenge. It’s a way of life.

For Brad, it’s also the path to ministry. If he wants to reach people, he has to live like them. Build trust. Share their burdens. Walk their roads.

But it’s not easy. The winters are brutal. The landscape is unforgiving. Ministry in Alaska is as tough as the land itself.

And yet, this is where the gospel is taking root.

So, what does it take to make disciples in one of the most remote places on earth? We explore that question in our latest episode of Neighborhoods & Nations on YouTube. Watch the full story today.

— Steven Morales

🇯🇵 Being a Christian isn’t illegal anymore, but there’s still work to do.

For hundreds of years, Japanese Christians were dubbed the name “Kakure Kirishitan” or “Hidden Christians.” In order to practice their faith, they had to meet in secret. These Christians truly knew the severe cost of following Jesus.

Since 1873, Christianity has been legalized by the Japanese government. Even though there are over a thousand missionaries and thousands of Protestant churches in Japan today, only about 2% of the population identifies as Christian. 

How to Pray: With such a small gospel presence, pray for more believers to go to Japan to share the gospel, and for churches to be planted throughout the country. 

Since loneliness is pervasive throughout Japan, pray that more may know the friend and comforter that is Christ Jesus. Pray for Japanese Christians to find community and encouragement among the family of Christ. 

Lastly, in a country that is known for slow gospel growth, pray for the endurance and strength of Japanese believers as they hope to share the salvation that they have received through Christ.

📍 Attention Worthy

• Discover Alaska, a state of extremes—both physical and spiritual—in our latest Neighborhoods and Nations episode.

• Sometimes, our struggles with anxiety, fear, or hopelessness are directly related to our view of God. A good question to ask is, “Is Your God Too Small?”

• Why do good churches send bad missionaries? A plea for churches to assess and equip missionary candidates before sending them out.

• We should be loving, wise, and compassionate in our evangelism, but that’s not the same as being timid. Consider: Is your Christianity too quiet?

THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS:

Selah Lipsey, Steven Morales, Jairo Namnún, David Platt, Camille Suazo

MAKE YOUR LIFE COUNT!