A recent headline caught my eye and triggered an alarm about America’s global influence. The headline read: “US Withdrawal from Niger Could Signal a Significant Shift in Western Influence in the Sahel.” The Sahel is the region surrounding the Sahara Desert in Africa, and it has recently come into focus again as Russia and China are stepping up their involvement. At the same time, the United States is being sidelined. “Withdrawal” is not an accurate word – Niger pretty much kicked the U.S. counter-terrorism military force out in favor of Russia, which is seeking to expand its influence in the region.

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It might seem insignificant. After all, “this is Africa, and nobody cares what happens in Africa,” as the famous line in the movie Sahara (starring Matthew McConaughey, Penelope Cruz, and Steve Zahn) goes. And it only concerns a small force of 600 military personnel.

But it is not insignificant. It is symbolic of a rising shift in influence toward countries hostile to the gospel, which should raise a warning flag for intercessors concerned with the fulfillment of the Great Commission. There are several reasons:

First, countries aligning themselves with nations hostile to the gospel (such as Russia, China, India, and Iran, which are all vying for influence in Africa) will be influenced by that hostility. They will be less open to Christian missions, which are still, to a large degree, seen as the spiritual arm of Western culture. China and Russia are adept at capitalizing on the discord and poverty of African countries and seem to have unlimited resources to pour into them despite their teetering economies at home. The result is a massive improvement to developing countries’ infrastructures and economies in exchange for property ownership and political say-so that is hard to get rid of.

Secondly, the American decline in economic, political, and military influence in Africa parallels the decline of American missions. As far back as 2013, mission strategists have been signaling that decline. Global missions as a whole are surging. However, former mission fields are now becoming sending bases, and former sending countries are becoming mission fields. Missiologists have noted that the American Church has turned so inward that they have forgotten to sacrificially engage in missions at home and overseas. As a result, the population of Connecticut is now less than 2% Christian, and the population of Greater Atlanta is heading in that direction while mosques and Hindu temples are springing up everywhere.

There was a time when the American Church was the main driving force behind global missions. The U.S. Center for World Missions infused it with data and strategy. The most prominent offices of stalwart global mission agencies like OMF, WEC, Wycliffe, and many others were in the U.S. A bold new wave of young missionaries fanned out across the globe with groups like YWAM, Campus Crusade for Christ (now CRU), Intervarsity, the Navigators, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Hundreds of millions of dollars were poured into taking the gospel to unreached people groups, reducing its number to just over 7,000 and making the Great Commission a finishable task in our generation. Not so much anymore. Current trends signal a decline in the American Church pouring money and manpower into global missions.

That is a matter for urgent prayer because lack of participation in the Great Commission grieves the heart of God, Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (see 1 Timothy 2:4). The American Church stands to lose great blessings by neglecting global missions. Meanwhile, the center of spiritual gravity is shifting to the southern hemisphere, and churches in South America and Africa are now sending missionaries to the U.S. to evangelize Americans.

It is important to know that engagement in evangelization and missions brings great spiritual rewards to the Church. It revitalizes prayer and people’s walk with Christ. It broadens the horizons of what God is doing around the world and increases believers’ faith—and generous giving results in bountiful supernatural provision from God.

How To Pray

The most significant influence America should peddle overseas is not military and political aid but the gospel of Jesus Christ. To that end, we must pray for an awakening to the urgency of missions in our backyard and across the globe and for understanding and identification with God’s broken heart for the lost. We can’t manufacture that on our own. It is a work of the Holy Spirit in us. Unfortunately, many have learned to lean on their comfort zones and are afraid to engage in evangelism next door and in the workplace – let alone engage in missions overseas. We sometimes forget that even the most upstanding patriotic American we know is still hellbound without Christ and that it takes us shining forth the light of Christ to lead him to salvation. If Christians don’t do that at home, how can they be expected to be interested in seeing people saved in foreign lands?

1. Pray for Holy Spirit-induced brokenheartedness over people near and far who are hellbound without Christ.
2. Pray for a renewed sense of responsibility to release our wealth and manpower into global missions.
3. Pray for the American Church to lose its inward focus and become outward-focused and missional in its mindset.
4. Pray that God will raise up a new generation of missionaries willing to go to the unreached and commit to the long haul to plant churches, translate the Scriptures, and make disciples for all nations.
5. Pray for a resurgence of prayer for missions, through which the Lord quickens our hearts and draws us in to become fully engaged with the Great Commission.

Father of nations, forgive us for our inward focus and lukewarmth toward the Great Commission. It must grieve You to see our inward focus and preoccupation with creature comforts while we have lost sight of the spiritual battle over people’s souls. Awaken Your people in the U.S. to the urgency of fulfilling the Great Commission so that we will release our wealth, resources, ingenuity, and people resources into global missions. Raise up a new wave of fearless missionaries to infuse global missions with new energy and momentum. May the gospel be once more the most significant influence that America exports. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Remco Brommet is a pastor, spiritual-growth teacher, and prayer leader with over 40 years of experience in Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the U.S. He was born and raised in the Netherlands and pastored his first church in Amsterdam. He moved to the U.S. in 1986. He and his wife, Jennifer, live north of Atlanta. When not writing books, he blogs at www.deeperlifeblog.com and assists his wife as a content developer and prayer coordinator for True Identity Ministries. Jennifer and Remco are passionate about bringing people into a deeper relationship with Christ. Photo Credit: Maria Stewart on Unsplash.