An Open Door

“See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut” (Rev. 3:8).

 The world is on the move! The United Nations reports that the number of international migrants — persons who have left the country where they were born — reached 244 million in 2015, an increase of 71 million (41 per cent) since 2000.[1]

Never before in history have there been as many people on the move as there are today. And they are coming to us. North America alone has received 54 million of these international immigrants. Europe has received even more with 76 million.

What does all of this mean? What if we could reach the ends of the earth – the world’s least reached people groups – right here at home? What if God opened a door for us to reach untold millions of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists right here in our own cities and towns? This is the open door that God has set before us.

How will we respond? Global Gates believes it is God’s vision for us to reach the ends of the earth through the people groups He has brought to our global gateway cities. Global Gates’ aim is to plant multiplying Christ-centered, Bible-believing churches among every unreached people group now found in our own open-access, global gateway cities, and through these people groups to reach the very ends of the earth from which they come.

Today’s great human migration has presented us with an unparalleled opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission. In 2016 Global Gates missionaries saw new believers in Jesus Christ from every major non-Christian people group. By ministering to these people groups in North America we have also seen the first churches planted among these unreached peoples in their homelands overseas.

At Global Gates we believe that these migrations are no accident, but that God is orchestrating them to advance His Kingdom. Acts 17 says, “From one man God made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him” (Acts 17:26-27).

Global Gates missionaries are now ministering in 16 cities across North America, and we expect this number to more than double in the next few years. We have already seen that unlike previous generations of immigrants, today’s migrants are remaining connected to their homelands. This is new. Through Skype, telephone, and Internet access – something that was unthinkable just two decades ago – these immigrants remain in daily contact with their families back home. As we reach them here, they are sharing the good news with family and friends on the other side of the world.

God has indeed set before us “an open door” to the very ends of the earth. Global Gates missionaries are seizing the day – reaching the ends of the earth through global gateway cities – and boldly walking through the door that God has opened.

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[1]http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/publications/populationfacts/docs/MigrationPopFacts20154.pdf

David Garrison
Director, Global Gates