The Horizon of Eternity

By Dr. Michael G. Loftis, President

"The higher the observer, the lower and more distant is his visible horizon," so says Encyclopaedia Britannica in its definition of "horizon." The question arises, "How high or low is our horizon?"

Not long ago, I stood on a hillside in Cyprus overlooking the Mediterranean Sea where the apostle Paul once landed as he journeyed to bring the message of the gospel to those who had not yet heard of Christ. I wondered what thoughts passed through his mind as he viewed the horizon stretching before him. My thoughts were drawn to what he wrote to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 4:15-18.

"The things which are not seen are eternal." I believe Paul was trying to get us to view the horizon of this world from the shores of eternity. From that perspective, we will surely smile at what seemed to be an impossibly distant horizon while we were on earth.

From our present perspective, as we gaze at the vast billions of lost people on this planet, the task is overwhelming. Yet, looking back at 75 years of ABWE missionary work, we cannot but rejoice at the wonderful work God has performed through the faithful service of His obedient servants. In the beginning, we were just a handful of missionaries. Now over 3,000 newly-planted churches scattered on every continent are eager to join hands with us to send their own national missionaries into the harvest fields of the world.

As we look at hundreds of national brothers and sisters in Christ who are being trained in the 65 Bible Colleges and Seminaries established by ABWE missionaries, we begin to see what God has been doing. We believe we are on the verge of a massive multiplication of missionaries from every nation where our missionaries serve to every other people not yet reached with the gospel. We are committed to seeing that vision become reality.

We believe that every missionary with ABWE, every team, every administrative worker must strive toward this end, that our labor will result in church planting movements that result in missions movements to the glory of God. We sometimes like to use this formula to help us remember it: CPM » M² » G². Only in this way will we be able to reach our present world with the gospel before it is too late.