‘The kingdom is breaking open’

Joel Wright said his collaboration with a translator named Hezekiah (name changed for security reasons) had a spiritual power the global worker has seldom seen in more than 40 years of ministry.

In 2019, as the Converge global worker first visited Muslim background believers in an East African country, Hezekiah translated Wright’s words to 120 Christians.

“They have the church effectively restarted there, and they have many dozens of former Muslims following Jesus,” Wright said. “It’s a network of our brothers and sisters in a very difficult place, yet they are making remarkable new inroads.”

The Illinois man later realized Hezekiah’s their pastor. But Wright didn’t know that the Spirit had called the African man to pastor a church after someone martyred the previous minister.

Some believers left the village and others hid after the killing. But the same Spirit who pointed people to Christ 20 centuries ago can’t be defeated.

“Hezekiah has survived three attempts on his life,” Wright said. “The last was a year ago.”

Wright and the village pastor and translator now talk every week, learning together how to lead the church and make disciples. During their friendship, the African man shared what the Lord once told him: “My church is not dead; I have the keys. Reopen the doors!”

So, Hezekiah obeyed and God formed house churches, a Sunday worship gathering, a water project and social care for children and widows. As a result, a least-reached village is watching as Christ transfers people from the domain of darkness to his kingdom.

Wright’s ambition is to train the generals

Wright, a least-reached peoples strategist for Converge, taught seminary at Baptist Theological Seminary of São Paulo, Brazil, for 20 years. He and his wife, Barbara, moved back to Chicago in 2007 after serving over 1000 students who lead many different ministries.

They quickly partnered with international churches in that area to keep doing cross-cultural ministry.

Mainly, Wright works with staff on the Lausanne Global Diaspora Network and the Global Diaspora Institute at Wheaton College’s Billy Graham Center. He’s involved with global diaspora missions to encourage and equip disciple-makers and pastors among least-reached people resettled in open countries.

Wright explained that this cultural moment means people are on the move, and God’s people can embrace new opportunities. Hundreds of millions of Chinese, Indians and other least-reached people have scattered around the globe. Thousands of new diaspora churches formed in the U.S. over the last three decades.

Plus, new resources like Bible studies that interpret Scriptures about Africa through an African paradigm have a significant impact. For example, Chinese pastors in Chicago who have relationships with church leaders in Africa recently arranged for Wright to share seminary education with African pastors.

“The kingdom is breaking open and these dear brothers and sisters of faith are doing miraculous things,” he said.

Related: ‘Are we trying to get the gospel to every tribe, tongue and nation?’

He describes these Christian leaders as generals of the kingdom of God who already know the language and culture of the least-reached peoples around them.

“These are high-powered global leaders,” Wright said of the seminary presidents, heads of mission agencies or coordinators of national networks of Christian ministry leaders.

God’s love brings leaders together to bring the prodigals home

During Easter 2021, Hezekiah and Wright organized a Zoom conference focused on God’s Love for Africa. More than 800 people participated from Kenya, Mozambique, the United States and Europe. Since that event, Wright also visited believers in Egypt, Rwanda, South Africa, Turkey and Israel.

“The whole region there has broken open in whole new ways,” he said.

One of God’s most powerful tools has been men like Hezekiah, pastors who are often bivocational servants who desire more theological education and ministry training.

“These leaders are so dry they’re like a sponge,” Wright said.

That’s why Wright regularly prays and meets with pastors. For example, he meets every month with about 75 pastors of Indian heritage. These leaders serve in India, the Caribbean, Singapore, Canada and South Africa. They are eager for help learning to preach about Christ, answer questions or speak of the coming of the kingdom.

In addition, he said $100 or $200 can enable a pastor of a 100-person church to amplify his ministry’s influence. With that income, that pastor could do less farming or day labor and instead witness as a regional evangelist who serves more than 1000 people in a year.

Partnership is powerful in the Wright’s marriage and ministry

Joel wasn’t alone in his passion for reaching the nations. His wife, Barbara, served children through Awana and Child Evangelism Fellowship in Brazil. Through her work, hundreds came to know Christ as their savior. She also worked as a mission treasurer in Brazil to oversee financial matters, a skill she continues using for Converge.

That set of skills means she’s now supporting about 3000 pastors, church staff and Converge global workers with present retirement needs or future planning. Her work with finances comes from the same heart as Joel: enabling servants to focus on God’s work so that more people hear about Jesus through solid local churches.

“We’re supporting national workers who are doing amazing things for the kingdom,” he noted.

One example is Charles Mully and his wife, Esther, who rescued 15,000 Kenyan kids off the streets. Wright and the Mullys work together in this ministry of social care that stimulates gospel movements among the least reached. When God’s Love for Africa happened again this past April, Mully was there, and Wright also preached this year at Mully’s church.

The diaspora of believers and the scattered least-reached people groups generate incredible missional opportunities. Some of these people are in communities a Western man or woman could never serve, much less visit.

“Why can’t we engage with those God has already raised up who are internationals in our own backyard?” Wright asked.

Related: A Converge church does just that among the numerous refugees resettling in Kentucky.

Wright said he talks weekly with a pastor in the northern Himalayas who resembles many of the exemplary servants he empowers. It’s people like that Himalayan pastor, Hezekiah, and so many more who lead to breakouts of the kingdom in Muslim and Hindu countries with few disciples.

Wonder working power

Christ can build his church, even when the leaders of mosques near Hezekiah’s home try to silence the gospel. The rocks don’t get a chance to cry out there because ordinary people start a church and the Spirit calls someone among them as pastor.

The diaspora — which means “through seed” — is a powerful word picture of how people are scattering around the globe. It’s movements of the Spirit like that which bring Wright and his pastor Hezekiah together.

For all the sovereign relocations of least-reached peoples and the persecution of those who never leave their unreached, unengaged communities, the gospel is for the diaspora. That means the Wrights will continue empowering wonderfully devoted but under-resourced kingdom servants however they can.

“Just a little bit of our help can mean so much between major kingdom success and nothing at all,” he said.

Converge is asking God for a gospel movement among every least-reached people group — in our generation.