November 01, 1995 by Rick Wood

Joshua Project 2000: Will We Die in the Desert?

With this issue of MF we are doing something we have never done before for anyone. We have given the entire magazine over to the AD2000 and Beyond Movement for the introduction of Joshua Project 2000--the largest, most credible, comprehensive global plan ever devised to reach the unreached peoples. This is the five-year battle plan of the AD2000 and Beyond Movement to establish a pioneer church- planting movement within 1,700 peoples. We present the list of these peoples starting on page 17. Please read carefully the introduction to this list which starts on page 12.

How do I begin to convey the importance, magnitude and scope of this cooperative effort. Never before in Christian history has there been such a large movement with so many sincere believers, churches denominations and agencies working together toward the common goal of a church for every people. This level of global cooperation is unprecidented.

I believe that with the launch of Joshua Project 2000, God has given us a divine opportunity that we dare not miss. Like the Joshua of old, we have the divine calling and opportunity to enter the Promised Land. Today, we face the Promised Land of the unreached peoples. God has promised us that there will be people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation represented in heaven. (Rev. 5:9) We cannot fail, unless we fail to try.

Will we be like the generation of Joshua who died in the desert because of their disobedience to the divine calling? Or will we be like Joshua, who in faith believed that God would enable them to defeat the giants and received what was promised to them? As in Joshua's day, there are many today who are eager to give an evil report saying, "It can't be done; the task is too big; so let's not

try." But if we fail to act now, we may doom the global church to years of aimless wandering and fruitless efforts in the desert of selfishness and materialism.

Now is the time to decide to get involved in this truly global effort to bring the gospel to every people. Now is the time for you and your church to join the battle. Walk through the 7 steps of Joshua Project 2000 in this issue to see how you and your church can be involved. This issue is one that you will want to hang on to for future reference. Be sure to request extra copies to hand out to your missions committee and send to your pastors and denominational leaders. We need as much of the worldwide Body of Christ involved in this effort as possible if we are to succeed.

Keep Up With the Latest Missions Information Online The number of subscribers to Mission Frontiers Online currently stands at over 275. MF is available in electronic form on a new missions oriented e-mail network called Brigada. In addition to the articles from Mission Frontiers we now have a weekly missions update that is only available to the online subscribers. I encourage you to subscribe today. See the box at right for more details.

Also take note of the box on page 54 which tells how you can access additional information on the Joshua Project 2000 peoples through the Brigada e-mail network.