The Power of God on Display among the Nations in the D.C. Metro Area

Cherry blossoms in Washington D.C. are nearing peak season. Crowds of eager onlookers gather around these trees to behold their beauty every spring. People are surrounded by memorials and monuments reminding them of legacies past as they take in the vibrant colors in full bloom. It makes for quite the contrast as they celebrate what’s new and beautiful, while simultaneously remembering America’s forefathers, those who laid down their lives for the sake of freedom, and others who stood against Jim Crow laws in the fight for civil rights. As folks encounter God’s gorgeous creation and American history that forged the United States we know today, it’s important they don’t miss the fresh work the Lord is doing.

The metro area surrounding our nation’s capital is teeming with many of the world’s most significantly unreached people groups (UPG’s). It makes for a great need and opportunity to join God in what he’s doing to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth through this global gateway city.

*Henry, a Global Gates missionary, understands God’s call for the Church and his heart for the unevangelized diasporas in the D.C. Metro Area. Each week, he’s at a kiosk on a local university campus in northern Virginia, where he offers prayer, wisdom, and scripture from a variety of languages to students, faculty, and other passersby. This enables him to get into many spiritual conversations, including opportunities to interact with international students from Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist backgrounds.

A Muslim female student from Afghanistan named *Zahra has become a frequent visitor to his kiosk. Zahra told Henry about her sister *Jamila’s grievous medical condition, which caused her to spiral into a coma. Henry prayed with Zahra that very moment in Jesus’s name for God to heal Jamila.

Zahra returned a week later, to Henry’s kiosk with amazing news. She told him that her sister is out of the coma and is walking again. Zahra attributed this to Jesus.

“She believes in the power of prayer,” Henry said. “She believes in the power of my prayers, but I don’t think she has quite caught on to the fact that this is something Jesus is doing to reach her and her family, so that she will put her trust only in Him instead of Muhammad and what the Quran teaches.”

*Mary, a Global Gates missionary in northern Virginia, has seen God’s power on display through answered prayers, too. It has gotten to the point where her Afghan friends ask her to pray for them because they know He answers her prayers. For example, an Afghan woman needed to have a cyst surgically removed, but when she went in for a sonogram, it had disappeared. She knew God answered the prayers of her Christian friends.

Mary said God did another miracle when local believers prayed for 40 days for the Taliban to free the brother of another local Afghan friend, and he was released.

Another praise report to celebrate is that Jesus is building his church among Persian-speaking peoples in the D.C. Metro Area. An Iranian woman named *Sepideh began attending a small gathering of Iranian and Afghan believers that was started by Global Gates missionaries. She met Christians from her home country and heard worship music and scripture read and discussed in her heart language. It didn’t take long before Sepideh declared Jesus is her Lord and Savior and followed Christ in baptism. Life still has its challenges, but Sepideh now casts her cares on Jesus.

The D.C. Metro Area is home to unreached diaspora populations that include Saudi Arabs, Afghans, Yeshivish Jews, Uyghurs, Gujarati Hindus, Turks, Moroccan Arabs, Bangladeshis, Indo-Pak Muslims, Punjabi Sikhs, Indian Hindi-speaking Hindus, Iraqi Arabs, Tamil, Palestinian Arabs, Lebanese Arabs, Thai Buddhists, Persians, and Egyptian Arabs according to UPGNorthAmerica.com. As Jesus said, “The harvest is great, but the laborers are few,” which is why believers must pray earnestly for more laborers to enter into his harvest (Matthew 9:37-38 and Luke 10:2).

There are multiple ways for followers of Jesus to get involved that entail varying degrees of commitment. Global Gates offers short-term mission opportunities called Unreached Within Reach, which provide training and space to engage UPG’s in the D.C. Metro Area. The next Unreached Within Reach sessions take place June 19-22, July 10-13, and Oct. 9-12. This is a great introduction to cross-cultural ministry for folks who are new to missions.

Global Gates would be blessed to have the service of Christian graphic designers and social media experts to help with digital evangelism campaigns.

When it comes to long-term mission opportunities, the situation necessitates missionaries for an array of unreached peoples, especially workers who can.

For more information on how you can join us in what God is doing among the nations in the DC Metro Area, you can visit Global Gates online at https://globalgates.info/ or email us at connecting@globalgates.info. 

*Names changed for security reasons.