Written By Dr Ian Kibet (Medical Doctor)

A century and a half ago, the fulfillment of the great commission depended on the ability of ministers to overcome unprecedented challenges. Many remote communities scattered across the world were virtually impenetrable. Besides, their priorities and challenges were so significant that they gave no precedence to new ideas presented to them. And yet, eventually in Africa, Christianity gained ground through missionary efforts that advanced and shaped Christianity as we know it today. Although the idea of having faith in Jesus seemed alien to many Africans, the missionaries found ways of practically demonstrating the humility and power to combat the innumerable challenges they faced through a life of godliness and service. Undeniably, we owe gratitude for our salvation to them. And yet, in these end times, we are faced with the same obligation for this generation. Although the challenges faced globally are now vastly different, they still hinder millions from accepting the light of the gospel. It is no longer easy to present the truth to the world that calls evil good and threatens to silence those with dissenting views. In counties where great revivals once broke out, more and more pulpits are being closed.  But in what seems like a strategic plan by the enemy to end the Christian faith, Jesus promised us something more precious than what our predecessors had, the latter outpouring of the Spirit. To withstand the strategic assault of Christianity, missions should be approached differently, and the marketplace tasked with the great responsibility of penetrating the impenetrable places and presenting solutions from the throne room of God to a broken world.

Matthew 9:37-38

"The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So, pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields."

In 1834, Dr. Peter Parker, a graduate of medicine and divinity from Yale, set sail to Canton, China. Intending to serve as the first full-time protestant medical missionary in the region, Peter had great ambitions to preach the gospel to the largely unreached population. In the first few months, however, he was met with a rude shock of suspicion, alienation, and rejection from the indigenous people. No amount of preaching would turn many of these people to God. But in that moment of discouragement, he realized the power of ministering through service. With his training in medicine, he started a hospital in a then-remote area of China. This hospital became a platform to serve and minister to thousands of locals, and by the end of the first year, he had admitted 2000 patients and ministered to thousands more. By providing a service the Chinese people so evidently needed, he drained away suspicion and won the hearts of thousands. In the same land that would persecute and imprison rugged ministers like Watchman Nee, Dr. Peter Parker opened many to the gospel and forever redefined medical missions.

It is through this model that missionaries were able to conquer many unreached places, including the dark continent of Africa. The earliest missionaries on the continent, such as David Livingstone, initially struggled to make any lasting impact through direct evangelism. So discouraging were his evangelistic endeavors in Southern Africa that he shifted his focus towards exploration and antislavery. But the foundations he set made it possible for more influential missionaries to travel to Africa, setting up mission centers which included hospitals, learning institutions, and churches. By meeting the needs of thousands of Africans, Christianity was quickly accepted across the nations. It is now hard to visualize Central Kenya without the Presbyterian Church, Rift Valley without the African Inland Church, or Western Kenya without the Friends Church. It is unfathomable to think that, when biblical Christianity was under great attack in the 16th Century, the impact of unconventional reformers such as John Knox would have such a transgenerational impact. Dr. Clive Irvine from the Church of Scotland, founded by Knox, would travel to Kenya 350 years later and set up a mission hospital in Chogoria that would serve the needs and minister the gospel to thousands of Africans. But as we celebrate the selflessness of such men, it is discouraging to think that the heritage that was preserved and passed on for hundreds of years in the church will fizzle away if our generation fails to understand our responsibility of contending for the great commission among the unreached in the last days.

Having worked across different mission hospitals in Kenya, I have noticed a great conundrum. In the 21st Century, it is no longer easy to win the hearts of many by simply offering a pill. Perhaps it was easier for Dr. Clive to minister the gospel because Chogoria was the only place the sick would come. But now, many government and private hospitals with no spiritual emphasis are only a few kilometers away. Unfavorable government policies have made mission hospitals more expensive, making it hard to wave the flag of altruism. The emphasis of visiting missionaries has gradually shifted towards training the next generation of local healthcare leaders to be equipped to maneuver these complexities in their communities. And yet, as young Christian African health professionals, we are still myopic about the responsibility of contending for the gospel in our rapidly changing world. It is no longer possible to carelessly recycle the tools that were once effective in ministering the gospel and hope they will have the same impact in the workplace. In this age more than ever, it is necessary for us to become dependent on the outpouring that God is releasing upon all flesh to reveal God in peculiar and uncommon ways to conquer the territories that even our fathers struggled to. 

Joel 2:28- 29

In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

A few months ago, during a retreat, I was privileged to meet the CEO of MedSend, an organization that equips health professionals to serve in the mission field. In our brief conversation, his burden for the unreached was so palpable. He greatly emphasized how harder it has become for Westerners to serve as missionaries across the world and expressed his desire that African-trained Christian doctors would venture into the mission field in hostile areas such as Northern Africa and the Middle East. But all through the conversation, I kept thinking, What can I possibly offer such men to make them want to hear me? It is only over the last few months that I understood that in the end times, God strategically hid Himself in broken vessels like us to meet the worlds greatest needs.

 As health professionals, we interact with thousands of patients each year, most of whom are at their most vulnerable. Our identity as medical ministers are dependent on how accurately we minister Christ to each of these. As a young Christian doctor, my medical practice is my greatest opportunity in ministry. Through private and public prayer for my patients, and openly declaring our dependence on God, I have had many opportunities to  influence patients and colleagues alike to appreciate a Spirit-led life.I have learnt the willingness of the HolySpirit to guide all interactions when He is given the room to interrupt and minister as He pleases. I recently worked with a visiting missionary surgeon who made altar calls after all consultations and prayed with all her patients. When I was younger, I used to choose who to minister to,  she once told me, But I realized I would miss someone God wanted to minister to. You can never judge men from the surface. Over the two weeks I worked with her, over 10 people gave their lives to Christ in her consultation room. This is more important to me than any medical intervention I offer.  She told me. This experience made me appreciate the great potential of influence and impact that lies in the marketplace, moreso in medical ministries. Many professions would envy the trust and reverence given to health workers by the general public. The enemy is well aware of this and will greatly exploit this to advance some of his greatest ideologies and deceptions to unsuspecting masses in the last days. And yet as Christian we often overlook this God-given access to directly reveal God through our day to day interactions in ways church services and open crusades are not able to.
  

Colossians 3:23-24

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

In our rapidly changing world, the battle most of the world faces is no longer a lack of access to medications or physical needs but the obscurity of personhood and our godly identity. In the 21st Century, the places that need the gospel the most are often the most developed, where many have been institutionalized into complex worldly systems oblivious of their heavenly purpose on earth. As a result, most people live in palpable emptiness despite constantly seeking and meeting their physical needs. The challenge in healthcare in many places globally is no longer lack of access to treatment  but over-treatment. People are likely to run toward any medical and technological advancement, unmindful of their long-term implications. In some countries, euthanasia is now indiscreetly offered to patients with treatable conditions to offset their suffering.  Children that are hardly allowed to access alcohol are paradoxically allowed to undergo gender- modifying surgeries. Challenges such as gender identity and transhumanism, which were largely alien to other generations, now threaten to plague a generation because the sanctity of the human body and the concept of godliness have become an afterthought. The generation is plagued with broken relationships, sinful addictions, and mental challenges because of detachment from the power that resides in Gods Spirit in us. Even more heartbreakingly, it seems that the ones who need the gospel the most are the ones who sent it to us. And so, as much as missionaries concentrate on reaching people with overly structured cultures and religions such as Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, the African church has a great responsibility for such as these. Medical missions in the last days may look less and less about providing medications and surgeries and more about revealing the essence of personhood through the love, joy, and peace in Christ, as these will be the worlds greatest needs.

2 Corinthians 5:20

We are therefore Christs ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christs behalf: Be reconciled to God.

For many years, I hoped to visit Germany, one of the worlds most advanced nations. When I finally did, I was shocked and disappointed at the emptiness that plagued their cities. Despite having undeniably efficient systems, all public places seemed like hubs for drinking and smoking. I remember exploring a major city with my hosts, and on maybe one or two occasions, I mentioned my faith in Jesus. Even though those moments felt insignificant, I later noticed how much interest they took in faith by them interacting with my Christian blog posts. In a land that seemed to have it all, I witnessed a sense of grace and internal freedom that was uncommon. Sadly, that is probably one of the few opportunities they would ever have to hear the gospel, as would many more in that city. For many years, their cathedrals have ceased to be places of worship and instead became tourist attractions. And because of the fear of persecution from secularism and liberalism, few men ever rose to reveal the truth to them. And so, their lives slowly transitioned into a cycle of emptiness, individualism, and loneliness. But through online spaces, it is now possible to minister the message of Christ to this overlooked demographic.

Through my career in medicine, I have had the privilege of visiting places a minister of the gospel would struggle to and meeting people that would never walk into the four walls of the church. And in many moments, I have seen the Holy Spirit rise within me to make Himself known to these people. I have intentionally worked with people of different faiths on projects to influence them indirectly towards the Christian faith. Through The Encounter, I have ministered the gospel to people with vastly different backgrounds and sown valuable seeds about Christ across nations. While a preacher would probably never get an opportunity to minister in Northeastern Kenya or Southeast Asia, as a medical missionary, I have the privilege of accessing and influencing the most vulnerable of men there. Often, it is through informal interactions that people are most impacted by. A young doctor from a Caribbean country I recently met, for instance, recently told me about how my blog posts have rejuvenated her faith . This perplexed me because I could not remember a time I shared the message of the gospel explicitly with her. But the compelling power of the Spirit frequently transcends our understanding to achieve His desires.

In as much as the marketplace presents a great opportunity to minister in others lives, the importance of our personal devotion and consecration cannot be overemphasized. Unlike in churches where purpose is generally shared, the genuineness and purity of our faith is easily tested in the mission field around those with vastly different worldviews. Different altars contend for our lives' influence daily, and without a daily walk of consecration, tuning their hearts to God's voice in the middle of their workflow and being spiritually conscious, it is possible to be the victim of spiritual warfare. The basic tenets of the Christian faith such as prayer, mediating on the word of God and consistently fellowshipping with other genuine followers of Jesus greatly helps to establish our foundations and epitomize the superiority of our altar, and through the Holy Spirit, influence nonbelievers to know Christ. 

1 Peter 3:15:

"But in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to answer everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

In this season, when the world is increasingly closing doors for the church, the eyes of ancient witnesses in heaven are set on us to rise above the confinement of worship places and reveal Christ across all spheres of society. The destinies of cities that have been colonized by false religions, paganism, and lawlessness are looking at us with earnest expectation. Like Dr. Peter Parker, we have something precious to offer the world. It is neither silver nor gold but the glory of being in a relationship with God in a world fueled by vain humanism. The enemy"s end-time agenda is a call to believers across different industries, whether in teaching or politics, engineering or farming, designing or business, to give expression to God- given solutions to the world. The success of the end time army is dependent on our ability to establish the Kingdom of God and fulfill the great commission through our day to day engagements. Our God-given vocations are beyond money and gain. The marketplace is not just for profit, it is your pulpit. The greatest spiritual battles do not happen in worship places but across the mountains of influence. In our workplaces, we can freely minister light to those who don"t go to church and exemplify the risen life of faith, love, and purpose through empowerment by the Holy Spirit. In the last days, the marketplace may have been the only access Christians have to many unbelievers and the unreached people groups. To fulfill the great commission, we must therefore understand the great potential hidden in marketplace missions and harness it through ingenuity and boldness from the Holy Spirit. 

If you're reading this and you are yet to receive Jesus Christ as your savior, this is your moment. No worldly  success, accomplishment, or desire will fill the void in your heart. A life of  hope and fulfillment awaits all who make a conscious decision to follow God.  Jesus Christ is ready to give you a new heart, a renewed mind, and an eternal purpose. Pray this from your heart:

Lord Jesus, I recognize that I need You. I've tried to live life on my own terms, and it hasn't worked. I believe You died for my sins and rose again to give me eternal life. I confess You now as my Lord and Saviour. Come into my heart, renew my mind, and help me walk in truth from today forward. I am Yours. Amen.

If you just prayed that prayer, welcome to the family of God! You are now born again by the Spirit of the Living God. Your next step is to find a Bible-teaching, Spirit-led church near you where you can grow, be discipled, and walk in your new identity. If you don't know where to begin, reach out to us. We would love to help you take your next steps.