Expanding to New Regions

Moving into new ministry fields

East-West is committed and open to following the Holy Spirit’s lead into new areas of ministry. Our parameters for launching new fields are driven by gospel need.

We specifically work among people groups and places characterized as unreached, defined by Joshua Project as “a people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group without outside assistance.” This means that they have no access to a Bible, believer, or local church to learn about the good news of Jesus Christ.

In these places, we send in cross-culture and near-culture field workers to share the gospel, disciple people who indicate spiritual interest, and plant new churches.

Mission trips to the unreached

Explore upcoming opportunities to serve alongside our missionaries and national partners in the world’s spiritually darkest places.

How to pray for new ministry fields

  • Pray for creative and strategic ways to access new unreached areas
  • Pray for courageous laborers who are willing to risk their comfort to share the gospel, make disciples and plant churches in new fields
  • Pray for church planting movements to start in unreached places

Exploring an Uncommon Text

Ministry in unreached areas can be a slow process and is covered in prayer. It’s common for missionaries pioneering new gospel movements to spend countless hours in prayer, walking the streets and seeking out persons of peace.

These three steps—praying, walking and seeking—are what two East-West missionaries living in the Middle East set out to do in their community when they met Hayden, a local shop owner.

They paused their prayer walk to engage Hayden in conversation. As their conversation flowed, the pair had an opportunity to explain they were followers of Jesus. It turns out, Hayden had a unique interest in Jesus and had even downloaded a Bible to his phone—an uncommon text in his Muslim nation.

The missionaries asked if he had any interest in reading the Bible together. Hayden’s response shocked them.

“I don’t just want to read it, I want you to explain it to me!”

Soon after that initial encounter, they started meeting with Hayden each week to drink tea and read Scripture in the back of his shop. Sometimes he responded to the text with childlike receptivity and eagerness. Other times his cultural and religious background created hesitancy, doubt or confusion.

But as God would have it, the topic of sacrifices came up during one of their tea times, leading their conversation to a full-blown gospel presentation.

Hayden has yet to trust in Jesus, but he is one of a few persons of peace in the missionaries’ community. He’s even introduced the couple to his family, and his wife now serves as one of the missionary’s language teachers.

Give to the General Ministry of East-West

Are you passionate about reaching the unreached? You can participate in our work in the world’s spiritually darkest areas by giving to support the ongoing ministry of our faithful field workers.