Nearly 90 professionals and business owners came together to study God’s Word and marketplace missions

Marketing for Jesus

Equipping Chinese believers to reach the unreached in the urban workforce

Dear Friends,

BOOM(!) is the best way to describe the economic climate that has characterized China over the past few decades. This has caused millions of villagers, from remote regions, to migrate to the nation’s mega-cities. Much of this new surge in the population are from unreached people groups and, although this means that there are still millions of souls who have never heard the precious name of Jesus, God has continually paved the way so that we may be able to reach China’s unreached with the gospel in ways we’ve never been able to before.

But China’s network of house churches was birthed in the countryside, so this mass migration has posed new challenges for church leaders. One of those challenges is the need to help believers adapt to the urban marketplace so they can find work and build relationships with unreached coworkers.

A dear friend of mine, Uncle Tang (name changed for security purposes), has been imprisoned many times for his courageous faith. He is a respected leader and patriarch within China’s largest network of house churches. Recently, he asked me to help him train and equip believers for the marketplace. We knew full well that this was to be no small endeavor, as security is a challenge in any venue—due to the Chinese government’s paranoia about Christian gatherings. But the Lord has again already made a way, and provided a great location in the mountains that was both safe and secure. Our training was conducted completely “off the grid”! The Spirit of God was present and the King of all Kings was worshipped freely and loudly.

We brought in Christian experts to teach on servant leadership and business organizational skills to impart their experiences and wisdom in maximizing God’s potential for believers in the marketplace.

At this Marketplace Missions Conference, practical input was taught—like how morals and biblical principles translate to business principles, because “a business that is operating on biblical principles is a business on a mission.” We also taught that the workplace is sanctified and sacred. It is a place where God can be both encountered and glorified, a place where souls can be brought into the kingdom and where disciples can be made.

The feedback we received from this training was incredible. Nearly everyone was impacted by the need to be servant leaders. Close to 90 people attended in all, and each was equipped with a manual for marketplace missions. Of the 90 in attendance, 68 business professionals professed a commitment to implement the biblical principles they had learned at the conference! The event had such an impact on all who attended, that we have been asked to provide 3 more training seminars in 2018! I look forward to hearing testimonies from this fruitful training for years to come.

Faithful prayers and generous contributions to the Unreached People Groups Ministry can continue to lay the foundation for God’s Word to penetrate hearts in the darkest places on earth. This financial partnership helps God’s good work to go forward both in preaching and in action.

Because of Him,

Todd Matthews
Director, Unreached People Groups Ministry