The Kingdom of Heaven is Near
A group of Frontline team members and Tunisian partners has set an ambitious goal: to establish a Gospel outpost in each of Tunisia’s 24 regions. These courageous Gospel risk-takers travel from a central location into remote areas to share the Good News with people who have never heard it before. In some regions, small groups of two or three new believers are already beginning to gather — early signs of a growing Christian presence in long-unreached places.
Each trip into a remote region costs just $80 — covering transportation, food, and lodging for one individual to travel and minister over an entire weekend. The following report will bring you along on one of these journeys and give you a glimpse of the incredible work God is already doing.
It’s seven in the morning and already hitting eighty degrees Fahrenheit. This is just another day at the shuttle station, one more day of people going to and from faraway regions. It’s already a busy morning, as drivers are standing by their vehicles, calling out the name of their destination. They’re hoping for enough passengers to justify the trip. Passengers are hustling, hoping to find a seat before their shuttle fills up. And so, the people go on hoping.
Omar, a young man who follows Jesus, arrives at the station. He too is hoping but sees with different eyes. Omar believes the kingdom of heaven is near, and he hopes to see Gospel advance today. He hears the names of the regions called out. Each region represents so many people, and he can’t help but feel the great need. Then he hears the name of the place he’s going.
He grabs one of the eight spaces on the shuttle and waits for it to fill up. Jesus said, “Take what you need for your journey,” and Omar has just that: money for food, a cheap hotel, and transportation back home afterward. As the shuttle leaves the station and heads toward the highway, he gets ready for a three-hour ride.
As the shuttle takes him further north, the city disappears and golden fields come into view. Then the highway narrows and winds around the beautiful mountain landscape. A mosque towers over every village they pass by. Omar remembers his instructions: pray, go, meet people, and share Jesus.
As he waits, he’s thinking about the events of the trip. He’s supposed to meet two believers for lunch. After that he will have coffee with someone who is asking questions about faith. He won’t make any evening plans, because this coffee meeting is top priority. The next day he will be delivering a sermon at a small gathering and heading back home.
The shuttle arrives, and the passengers exit. Gospel advance starts with feet on the ground. Omar grabs a taxi to a restaurant where he can meet the two local believers. It’s hard to grow in faith without much fellowship, and meeting with another follower of Jesus is a huge encouragement to these men. They share hardships and victories over some rotisserie chicken and a kind of fire-roasted salsa, and they talk about potential opportunities to spread Good News in the region.
These believers feel alone and outnumbered, but this visit resets their vision. They are reminded that they are the salt and light in this place and that they can see God work even today. They talk big: maybe one day there will be a stable and growing church, a place to meet, and a budding network of believers in their region. They need to be ready for exponential growth, because the kingdom of heaven is near, whether they’re ready or not. They pray together and then Omar gets into another taxi, off to meet the man who doesn’t yet know Jesus.
At the coffee shop full of people, card games, and cigarette smoke, Omar sees his friend. Just last month he gave him a copy of the Bible to read. And now the man has some questions. Omar has been a Christian for seven years and while he doesn’t have a seminary degree, he knows the path out of this person’s darkness, for he walked it himself. He is exactly what this person needs: someone who has been in his shoes, and there found Jesus.
They talk and ask questions and even joke a bit about life as the hours pass. His friend has been reading Matthew chapter five, and he wants to know what it means to be poor in spirit. Omar answers his questions and gives him some more questions to ask of the Bible. And Omar reminds his friend, “The kingdom of heaven is near, whether you’re ready for it or not.”
Some plant, some water, and God gives the increase. And as networks grow and believers get to know each other, some in this area have started a gathering on Sunday. After a night in a hotel, Omar joins the meeting and brings the Word. This week, some isolated believers from nearby regions come to hear sound biblical instruction. And even though the Sunday service is small, they are encouraged by one another. A little salt goes a long way.
After the service, they have lunch together, and Omar hears about the joys and struggles of trusting Jesus in this faraway place. In this experience, he too is growing. He is learning to carry the burdens of others, and he is building up a treasure trove of knowledge of Christ to share wherever he goes. He also builds a lot of discipline waiting in the heat for all those taxis and shuttles. It’s a small price to pay when the kingdom of heaven is near. He ponders these things on the hours-long way home—and gets a bit of sleep as well.
There are 24 regions like this in Tunisia that need visitors like Omar. They need people to pray, go, meet people, and share Jesus. We praise the Lord for the few believers already scattered among them, and we expect tall trees from small seeds. And we praise the Lord for those who go to remote regions that are impossible for us to access. We trust that as they do their part, we will do ours. The kingdom of heaven is near, and Gospel advance might just happen today.
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