EDITORIAL
The figure is so large that it makes the eyes widen in disbelief. “Who came up with that number?” we ask incredulously. “There cannot be so many. Perhaps it is a typographical mistake.”
But no, the number is not a mistake—unless the Savior makes mistakes. It’s a number larger than the population of the Netherlands, or of Israel and Sweden combined, or of Laos, El Salvador and Liberia taken together. More people than the urban sprawl of Buenos Aires, Moscow, Paris, or Los Angeles. And though startlingly large, it rightly represents the way that heaven views the world membership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Every member a missionary. Every believer a witness. That’s the way the Savior counts. And in the end, only His reckoning matters at all. His mission is not only for paid church employees, or those blessed with eloquence or nerve. “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21, NKJV),* Jesus continually reminds us.
This month our magazine brings you the story of two remarkable people who gladly count themselves among the 17 million. Like so many others, they serve in a challenging place under difficult circumstances. But they have found—as you will—that the grace of God travels to the places God may call you. As you read the quiet, practical faith of Hein and Melissa Myburgh, you will surely sense that there is something you can do for the kingdom within the orbit of your daily life.
I’m praying that you will see yourself as Jesus already sees you—a missionary for His kingdom. In that special identity you will know the continuing joy of being always in the center of His will.
*Text credited to NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
—Bill Knott
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