Why Paris? Why the Han?

Thanks for coming by to read about our mission trip this summer. Aimee and I will both be posting things that are on our hearts and minds before, during, and after this amazing opportunity.

I'll try to post something every day before the trip explaining why we are going, who we are ministering to, how we are ministering, and what we hope to accomplish with God while we are in Paris.

So, I'll start with the first item in my list today... WHY PARIS? WHY THE HAN CHINESE?

The Han Chinese are the largest unreached people group in the world. An unreached people group is a group of people that share culture and language but have less than 2% Evangelical Christians. Tom Elliff (as the new president of the International Mission Board for the Southern Baptists) cast a vision on the final convention day for Southern Baptists to reach the unengaged people of the world. It begins with a call of commitment for each of these 3,800 groups to be adopted by a church within the next year. Our church (First Baptist in Broken Arrow) had already begun the adoption process of two new groups last year. FBCBA has had tremendous success with the Tanti people in India and felt it was time to reach out to more. The two groups that the church is now adopting after prayer and consideration are the Han Chinese in Paris, France and the Armenian refugees in the Netherlands.

Now that you understand 'why the Han' I can begin to explain 'why Paris'. First, it is very difficult to reach out and minister in China because of the government and the sheer daunting task of a billion people. Paris is a lot easier to get to for an American without medical training or a business. Second, there are around 250,000 Han in Paris that are unreached and unengaged. That means that there are less than 5000 Evangelical Christians (we believe there are far fewer than that). Paris is a mission field among these people, and Christ told us to GO! Third, the pastor of the church we will be primarily working through in Paris is asking for our help. They have never asked for help from anyone outside the Chinese, much less Americans.

And a final broad stroke to this trip is that we hope to minister to, encourage, and disciple the believers in Paris so that they will return home to share in China, that they will win and disciple souls in Paris, and that those in turn will do the same when/if they return to China. They will have many more tools to begin that work in places we cannot go.

Next time I'll answer why Aimee and I chose this mission and call over so many others our church offers. My heart and mind is so full of things right now to post and talk about. I'll try and limit it each day so I don't overwhelm anyone coming in for the first time.

More Information:
Article about SBC Service and Committment for Unreached/Unengaged
Information about the Unreached and Unengaged

God is good!! We are so blessed to be called his children and be on mission with Him!