As this issue devoted to missions goes to press, Religious News Service has released a depressing report of missions retreat and retrenchment by another large denomination, the United Methodist Church. Its 1974 overseas budget for missions is $4 million less than that of 1971 and about $1 million less than this year’s. The number of missionaries has declined from 1,309 in 1969 to 870. The situation is quite similar to that previously reported in the United Presbyterian Church.
The need of the world for the Gospel is greater than ever before, and the opportunities to present it are countless. The response of God’s people is less than adequate to needs and opportunities.
We are praying that this issue devoted to missions will stir hearts to a new obedience and to genuine sacrifice to fulfill the mandate that binds us: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
Our digital archives are a work in progress. Let us know if corrections need to be made.
Annual & Monthly subscriptions available.
- Print & Digital Issues of CT magazine
- Complete access to every article on ChristianityToday.com
- Unlimited access to 65+ years of CT’s online archives
- Member-only special issues
- Learn more
More from this Issue
Read These Next
- TrendingAmerican Christians Should Stand with Israel under AttackWhile we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
- From the MagazineEmpty Streets to the Empty GraveWhile reporting in Israel, photographer Michael Winters captures an unusually vacant experience at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
- Editor's PickA Theologian’s Vision of ‘Peasant’ Politics Is Surprisingly Lordly in ScopeEphraim Radner’s “narrow” concern for protecting the mundane goods of earthly life isn’t so narrow after all.