We wrote earlier of the Necessity of sharing the Gospel: Teach a man to nourish his soul from 5fish, and he may well live forever!

But how urgent is this?

The Need: 11,000 Languages, Few Scriptures

Well, there are about 7,000 languages spoken in this world. Perhaps almost another 4,000 “language varieties” (formerly called “dialects”; think of the difference between American Southern English, Scotland Englsh, and West African English) brings this number to almost 11,000.

Of all these languages, only about 750 have a complete Bible translation. Another 1,750 have the New Testament translated. (The Jesus Film relies on the book of Luke for its script, so adds no more languages hearing the Gospel.)

The Reality: 80% Without Written Scripture

This means that about 80% of the world’s languages have NO written Scriptures. Thus, those people will only have a chance to understand God’s Good News in their heart language if they hear it orally.

The Mission of GRN: Reaching the Unreached

This is the ministry God called Gospel Recordings (now dba Global Recordings Network or GRN) to over 85 years ago. This is the ministry we try to be faithful to today. We do have recordings in most of the world’s largest languages. But those groups now have churches, radio programs, devotional materials, and teaching materials. Our heart is for those “last, least, and lost” – the small, neglected and even forgotten language groups — especially the ones with absolutely no Christian witness or material in their language.

[Go here for a list of perhaps the 38 last such language groups.]

A Call to Pray and Act

We have a very small number of recording teams around the world. They are doing sacrificial and crucial work each day to reach those last groups. Pray for them, and for the Lord Himself to reach those last groups by any way possible: our recordings, a missionary called to them, a young man in a canoe paddling to them. [The Voice of the Martyrs, June 2022 or see video]

How You Can Help Reach the Unreached

But you, too, can have a part in this great work. There are many groups for whom recordings have already been made, but no one is using these recordings. May the Lord call people to GO to those groups and share the Gospel already recorded. May He raise up a horde of clever young people who – from their computers at home – can “boost” links to targeted groups on Facebook and other platforms (e.g. to “people age 20-35 in India who speak [small Indian language]) – links that will lead them to the Gospel in their language. May the Lord inspire us all to pray and give and go as He leads us. For His glory, and the growth of His Kingdom of Light.