After thirty years serving in Northern Brazil, I’ve seen what a “ripe field” looks like: people hungry for truth, villages asking for churches, open doors, and open hearts. We’ve helped plant nearly a hundred churches, including many remote ones, in that region, some in places where the gospel only recently arrived for the first time.
- It’s amazing.
- It humbles us.
- It exhilarates us.
- It also gives us a glimpse of what Jesus meant when He said, “The fields are white unto harvest.”
But lately, I’ve been walking the cobbled streets of Portugal.
- It’s beautiful. And hard.
- It’s not just that people are uninterested in the gospel—it feels cold. Or irrelevant.
- It’s not new.
- It’s “old news” distorted by history, politics, or painful memories.
- The soil is dry. The field is challenging.
- Oddly, it reminds me of something I sense from friends and supporters about Canada and the U.S.
Two Very Different Fields
In the North of Brazil, the gospel feels fresh.
People are still surprised by the grace of Jesus.
The name of Jesus still carries beauty, still stirs something hopeful.
Even people who don’t fully understand the gospel still show up with open ears, open hands, and often open hearts.
We’re not talking about a place with decades of deep Christian history. These are river communities—some only remotely connected to the outside world. There’s often a childlike curiosity when discussing the Bible, prayer, or community.
But then I went to Portugal, and I saw the opposite.
The gospel has been present there—in name—for centuries.
But so often, it’s tied to colonial history, political power, or cold institutions.
People are weary of religion, skeptical of church, and often feel that Christianity has nothing meaningful to say anymore.
And here’s the truth: both kinds of fields need laborers.
An Encouragement to My Friends in North America
When I visit Canada or the U.S., I feel the same tension.
You love the gospel. You want others to know Jesus.
But it feels like your neighbors don’t care.
Young people are wrestling with doubt.
The next generation seems to be drifting.
Church feels harder than it used to.
And you wonder if your prayers and faithfulness still make a difference.
Let me encourage you:
You are not planting in vain.
The ground may be dry, but the seed is still alive.
And if we’ve learned anything from history—from revivals, awakenings, and quiet movements of God—it’s that spiritual renewal often begins in the hardest places, through the least likely people, in the most ordinary acts of faith.
Jesus never told us to go only where the results were easy.
He told us to go to all nations, all people, and the ends of the earth.
Some places are ripe—like Northern Brazil.
Some are dry—like urban Portugal, downtown Toronto, or rural Alberta.
But the call is the same:
Sow faithfully. Water consistently. Wait patiently. And trust God for the harvest.
He sees your faithfulness.
He sees your prayers.
He sees every time you choose kindness when it’s not returned, hope when it’s not visible, and witness when it’s not welcomed.
We’re in This Together
One of the most beautiful truths about the global Church is this:
We need each other.
Those of us in “ripe fields” in the majority world need:
- Prayers
- Support
- Generosity
- Wisdom
- And friendship
And those of us in “resistant fields” and wealthy, post-Christian nations need:
- Stories
- Encouragement
- Reminders that the gospel still changes lives
- And friendship
We are not separate teams but one body—serving the same Lord in different fields.
And we all depend on the same Spirit.
The Gospel Advances Slowly—And Then Suddenly
The gospel often works like yeast in dough or a seed in the ground.
Nothing seems to be happening—until everything starts to rise at once.
Don’t resent the slowness if you’re in a dry or difficult place.
Don’t underestimate what God is doing in silence.
Some of the most powerful gospel movements began in places that once looked barren.
- The Celtic Church in Ireland was born through decades of quiet obedience.
- The early church in Rome grew under oppression and suspicion.
- Modern revival in parts of Asia began through one or two faithful witnesses who refused to quit.
The gospel never truly dies.
It just waits for the next faithful heart to carry it forward.
An Invitation, Not a Burden
And maybe God is inviting you—not to do more, but to go deeper:
- Deeper in prayer
- Deeper in trust
- Deeper in friendship with those on the frontlines
- Deeper in your neighborhood
- Deeper in listening to what the Spirit might be saying today
The Mission is One. The Fields Are Many.
Ripe. Resistant. Remote. Urban.
It all belongs to one harvest.
Let’s not compare fields.
Let’s bring our whole selves to the One who owns them all.
So wherever you are—on the rivers of Brazil, in the cities of Portugal, in the suburbs of Vancouver, or in the cornfields of Ohio—keep sowing. Keep praying. Keep showing up.
The harvest is coming.
And we get to be part of it—together.
