A Billion Souls Need to Hear
Dave Oakley
Dave Oakley is the coordinator for Billion.Global. Email doakley@onemissionsociety.org for more information.
Billion.Global is a network of more than 160 global ministry partners with a passion to reach one billion people with the Gospel by 2026.
…talk about difficult situations. This is the greatest of all injustices. This map reveals a gut-wrenching reality: millions of people around the world either have critically low access to the Gospel or no current access to it. While most reading these words have heard the Gospel message over and over again, many have yet to hear it even once. This is grossly unjust and must change!
To help address this critical issue, Billion.Global was born. The vision: to give at least a billion people the opportunity to hear, understand, and believe the Good News of Jesus by mid-2026. This is about sharing sufficiently to feel comfortable to invite them to repent and believe. For those who trust in Jesus for salvation, we want to do all we can to promote and provide tools for their growth as new disciples, helping them obey him as Lord. This is not about a quick coat of Gospel “Lite” being sprayed over a large population and then moving on rapidly to cover many more people. Rather, it’s about making disciples who can develop into disciple-makers!
We knew from the start this would be met with challenges and opposition. Despite this happening, we are convinced God is in this. Hudson Taylor’s words are inspiring: “There are three stages to every great work of God: first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.” The concept of a billion, a God-sized vision, feels humanly impossible. It cannot happen apart from His empowerment. Desperate pleas for this supernatural enabling are frequent among Billion.Global partners. Only through many parts of the body of Christ discovering ways to share and collaborate can a vision like this be realized.
The Billion.Global network was created to bring a diverse group of ministry partners together to make connections and learn new ways to collaborate. Surely we can do more together than any of us can do alone. This means leaving egos and silos at the front door, seeking to exalt Christ above all!
There are currently 160 ministry partners participating in the network: individual churches, denominations/church networks, and parachurch ministries of all sizes and shapes. I have the privilege of meeting with these partners, and then connecting the dots so one ministry’s strengths can offset the weaknesses of another. This leads to increased effectiveness.
Often a missing piece one partner is lacking is available from another partner. My role is to help partners find that elusive piece. When it’s in place, the impact grows.
I am constantly amazed not only at the diversity of the body of Christ but also by how open-handed partners are, willing to share and help wherever they can. It’s thrilling how God is orchestrating Billion.Global as a way to introduce many of these ministry partners to one another, leading frequently to kingdom synergy, enabling more and more people to have access to the Gospel!
"New partners have also been discovered through media contacts. Because generous donors make Billion.Global possible, there is no fee for participating."
Billion.Global partners minister to children (for example Child Evangelism Fellowship, New Life Advance International, Association of Christian Schools International, Coaching4Christ), college students (Fusion Movement), secular young adults (Steiger International), those who are deaf (Deaf Missions, DOOR International) or those who are part of oral cultures (Davar Partners International), those who live next door (Bikes4Christ), and those who live halfway across the globe (Uncharted, Christar, Harvest Bridge, Every Community for Christ, Bible League International). These are just a few of many examples demonstrating the diversity of this growing network.
Having Organic Outreach as a partner, providing training and encouragement to make sharing Jesus a natural part of a Christian’s life, is a great joy. With God’s help, I want to discern well every opportunity to stimulate other partners to consider using Organic Outreach’s tools and strategy.
These diverse ministries make the Billion.Global family rich in God-given talents and resources to reach many. A more complete listing of partners is available at www.billion.global.
A strong effort is made to keep prayer at the center of Billion.Global. We work at praying specifically for Billion.Global partners weekly. We also promote the prayer of Billion.Global partners for one another. Regular communications are sent, encouraging intercession for others in the network. Without divine intervention, all of our human efforts are destined for failure, so we lean into Him for his empowerment.
Without working together, this vision is unattainable. The Billion.Global Exchange is an online marketplace where ministries can share resources and best practices … usually free of charge! The open-handed posture ministries have shown has been incredible. “God has blessed us with this resource, and we’d love to share it with others” is a common response. Kingdom growth through collaboration and good stewardship of God-given resources is a strategic part of strong, Christ-honoring partnerships.
Billion.Global is delighted to have new ministry partners join the network almost monthly. This best happens through handshakes when one partner connects another with Billion.Global, leading to conversations about this vision and how the multi-dimensional partnership functions. New partners have also been discovered through media contacts. Because generous donors make Billion.Global possible, there is no fee for participating.
You are invited to visit www.billion.global to learn more about this network and the growing movement God is producing from it. We use the 1974 Lausanne Covenant statement of faith (https://www.lausanne.org/content/covenant/lausanne-covenant#cov) to express the network’s theological underpinnings. And we rejoice that more than 231 million people have had the opportunity to hear the Gospel since this network’s inception in July 2016. We long for more to be given the Good News. Much remains to be done. As Isaiah 52:7 states, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” Let us pray for more beautiful feet to walk and work in partnership to get the Good News to at least a billion people.