Ripe for Harvest

This book is dedicated to

the indigenous peoples everywhere,

to the people-groups and nations for which Christ sent the apostles into the world to win (Matt. 28.18-20),

those nations which have fulfilled and are fulfilling God’s sacred oath that the families of the earth would praise his name (Ps 22.27-28), those villages and hamlets which have repented and believed in the saving power of Jesus for salvation (Luke 24.44-48), those urban neighborhoods teeming with souls who desperately need to hear of the love of our sovereign God (Jonah), those who, though poor, are rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom to come (James 2.5), those dear ones who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will sprout to be oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord (Isa. 61.3), those fellow warriors who will embody the life of Jesus in languages and cultures different from our own (Acts 10-11), and those whom God has called to be citizens of heaven, and ambassadors of the living Christ (Phil. 3.20-21; 2 Cor. 5.20). To these for whom Christ died, for whom missionaries sacrifice, and for whom redemption was won, to these people, all over the world, we dedicate this work anticipating the empowerment and transformation of hundreds of communities through the power of the Gospel of Jesus. to them, and for their sake, we dedicate this volume – and our lives.