It has always saddened me that many church-goers around the world seem to lead directionless lives, when there are so many opportunities to be involved in God’s glorious, expanding kingdom.
Many Christians have not even had their eyes opened to one of the great themes that weaves its way throughout the entire Bible:
The theme of God’s plan to redeem souls from every ethnic group (a concept that has been translated “nation” in most English Bibles).
Click here to get Operation China
Much of Scripture does not make sense unless we understand that God is working to fulfill His purposes among all the people groups of the world.
Indeed, the above Scripture speaks of “the register of the peoples” in heaven. I have always been encouraged by the fact that any work that reveals people groups to the Body of Christ here on earth is but a pale reflection of God’s full list!
God’s plan of redemption for all peoples runs through the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It started with His promise to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3).
His wonderful plan culminates with the Lamb of God receiving His reward in heaven:
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God people from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:7-9).
Those who have followed the work of Asia Harvest over the years will know that in the 1990s, as the ministry grew and branched out into the various projects we continue to implement today, I was privileged to write a series of books, including Operation China and Peoples of the Buddhist World, which profiled hundreds of new ethnic groups in Asia.
From the start, I was determined to portray these tribes and people groups in all their God-given splendor.
They are His creation, with unique customs and languages designed to glorify God.
I thought there could be nothing more ludicrous than to present such fascinating and vibrant people groups in a drab, colorless format.
That would be like writing a book on the beauty of butterflies or the world’s most exotic birds, and illustrating it in black and white!
Click here to get
Peoples of the Buddhist World.
Although the paper book versions of Operation China and Peoples of the Buddhist World have been out of print for years, the full-color PDF files, complete with photos and maps, can be downloaded from our website bookstore and saved to your computer for lifelong use.
There is a saying “a picture paints a thousand words,” so I have always insisted that these people group books be attractive, full-color productions that would not only provide information, but would instill in readers a heart for Asia’s unreached peoples and motivate them to pray for their salvation.
As an example of how a good picture can tell a story, please allow us to share some background information of the photos used in this letter by reading the descriptions we provided for you.
There is a tendency in the world today to think that all knowledge has already been revealed and there is nothing new to be discovered. '
People who think like that have obviously never been off the beaten track in Asia!
The first part of our new “Operation” series is Operation Myanmar (Burma). The research has already been completed, and in the coming months we will be releasing individual prayer profiles of people groups in this deeply troubled, war-torn country.
It is a perfect time to pray for Myanmar, for it is a failed state that is falling apart. Multiple civil wars are raging across the country, and millions of precious people are experiencing horrific suffering as a result.
Our plan is to release three one-page profiles of groups in Myanmar every week until we have covered the entire country.
This will take a while, as we expect to profile over 230 distinct groups in Myanmar.
Approximately 100 of these will be groups that the world has never heard of. It also will be the first time the Body of Christ has heard of their existence, including believers in Myanmar, where no proper census of ethnic groups has been conducted since the British colonial period in 1931!
Each profile will be presented in full color and will be accompanied by a quality photo of the group, and a map showing where that group lives.
Each profile will be in a simple format to help people pray for God’s salvation and purposes to be accomplished among them.
God willing, we hope Operation Myanmar will be just the first in a series of new profiles and books. Other possible books in the series include:
* A five-part Operation India series, dividing that extraordinarily diverse unreached country into five regions (North India, Central India, etc.). We hope to begin sharing the India profiles soon after the completion of the Myanmar series.
• Operation Laos
• Operation Vietnam
• Operation Nepal
• and possibly Operation Bhutan, Thailand, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.
It would be a great benefit if you or your fellowship group would consider taking time each week to pray for the peoples of Asia.
We believe that doing so will not only bless the work of the Kingdom of God in Asia, but it will also build your faith as you take your mind off local issues and life’s problems and invest time praying for the nations of Asia.
Finally, for the many people who are enjoying The China Chronicles, please don’t worry! By God’s grace the series will continue until it is completed, and a record of the wonderful things God has done in all of China’s provinces has been told.
Work is already well underway on the next few books in the series. We are excited about The China Chronicles and encouraged by all the positive feedback we receive from you each time a new book is released.
One of the greatest blessings of my life has been to see how dozens of previously unreached people groups have heard the Gospel from various ministries and now have thriving churches in their midst.
Although our research was only a small part in the process, I think that bringing them to the attention of the Body of Christ was a key link in the chain of events that resulted in many of those groups coming to the Lord Jesus Christ.
After researching and writing many hundreds of profiles of Asia’s unreached people groups, years ago I sensed it was time to put that side of my call aside for a while and focus on helping the Asian Church reach those groups with the Gospel.
That is how many of the projects Asia Harvest has undertaken came about. Every ministry decision we make first considers the strategic importance of how Bibles, evangelists, children’s work, relief, etc. will impact unreached peoples for the Lord.
A Chinese house church leader once honored me with the Chinese name 扬天民 (Yang Tian Min), which means “Advocate of Heavenly Peoples.” I feel it’s time for me to take up that mantle again and refocus my efforts on this part of my calling.
Even though I have never stopped researching and working daily toward the goal of seeing all of Asia’s peoples glorify the Lord Jesus, in recent years I have focused on writing different kinds of books and sharing testimonies about what God is doing in China and other parts of Asia.
I am thankful that God has used these books to encourage the faith of many believers around the world.
Now, as the years go by and I am beginning to operate at a slower pace, I believe the Spirit of God is prompting me to again take up the challenge of writing a few thousand new profiles of people groups in Asia!
We are calling this project the “Operation” series, as it is a continuation of the books that began with the publication of Operation China in the year 2000.
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