E-“VAN”-GELISM:  Mobilizing the Gospel into Every Unreached Village

The immutable heart within every facet of Body of Christ Ministry is our singular focus on getting the Gospel into every village of India where the Name of Jesus has not yet been heard….and there are plenty of them.  As near as anyone can figure, there remain about 500,000 villages throughout India where no one knows who Jesus is, nor how He has saved us by His Blood. That constitutes nearly a billion people, the rural 75% of the world’s second largest nation, tucked away within the vast fabric of her obscure villages. Every BCM school, outreach, clinic, conference, crusade, distribution, well, project and program is designed and scrutinized for contributing ultimately and significantly toward that goal. As a visiting American, this author has lost count of the number of villages I have journeyed into with BCM teams, observing people that are hearing the Gospel for the very first time. That spark of faith and hope, quietly arising in a sea of faces cloaked in curious doubt, is . . . a compelling and unforgettable sight.  It is costly for a Hindu villager to publicly decide to follow Jesus, and turn against the tide of a thousand years of idolatrous bondage.     But turn they do, in village after village.  God faithfully confirms His Word to them through authentic and amazing miracles, to strengthen their faith through the specter of opposition and loss that will follow.  He heals and delivers their bodies and families, and faithfully fills them with his spirit. We have witnessed those faces, those miracles, those transformed lives, and can think of no better way to redeem our earthly time and talents, than getting the Gospel to them, as soon as possible.

BCM has a clear vision from God: We are committed to launch one hundred dedicated van teams to accelerate this work, by any means available. The history of village evangelism during the past thirty years in India has been a powerful and sacrificial saga.  However, the facts point to those efforts now being seriously outpaced by the accelerating growth in population. Within fifteen years, India will surpass China as the most populous nation on earth.  While the churches of India field individual evangelists, most equipped with little more than sandals, bikes and zeal, India is adding to their task, with the equivalent of one village of a thousand people every three days, in real population growth. To effectively reach India with the Gospel will require sacrifice and bold action. ( For example, in the early 70’s the United Nations covered all of India in only two years, with the small pox vaccinations they knew were required to stop that scourge for good.)  With a determined will and a multiplied, rippling effort, all of India can be reached for Jesus within this next decade.

THE PLAN:

BCM has now begun, one van at a time, to build what we hope will become a fleet of 100 fully equipped ten-passenger vans, each complete with generator, sound and video equipment, camping gear and tools for every sort of creative evangelism.  Each fully loaded van will initially cost over $35,000.  One by one, American church congregations are catching the realistic potential of this vision, and looking to raise the initial cost of one van. 

Each van team will consist of about ten trained and dedicated disciples, whose skills will overlap into each area of evangelism: teaching, driving, music, drama, child evangelism and audio/visual technology.  A typical tour in one particular region will extend for one month, covering on average three villages per day.  They will work with a BCM village pastor already in that region, who will be able to effectively follow up on the doors that open there, for more pastors to come, planting churches and starting prayer cells.  The operational cost for an entire team and van for one month, including fuel, team support, accommodations, medical and communications is about $1,500.  Over the course of a one-month outreach, this translates into about 75 villages being creatively saturated with the Gospel, at a cost of less than a nickel per person reached for Jesus.  Multiply that team by one hundred dedicated vans, equipped, and staffed with fervent evangelists, and Body of Christ Ministries could impact one hundred million people within a decade.