1 to 7: Where are the single men?

Were single men not part of the great commission?

I was recently reading Nik Ripkin’s latest book, “The Insanity of Obedience“! I was struck in chapter 7 by this statement:

“A careful examination of the mission community reveals an intriguing reality: for every single man in overseas service, there are approximately seven single women.”

What an amazing statistic!

Why are there so few single men heading to the mission field?

Since I am not a missiologist or anthropologist, I have not studied the reasons behind this strange phenomenon. But one thing I do know, we need to challenge, encourage and mobilize single men to consider the call of God into missions.

I have created a challenge for single men called the 1 to 7 Challenge!

I would challenge all single men to complete this 7 step challenge. This is not something that I take lightly. This is for single men who are passionate about Jesus.

This will rock your world! Please don’t start unless you plan to finish…

1 to 7 Challenge – Let’s Begin

Challenge #1: Find 2 other guys who will commit to doing the 1 to 7 Challenge with you. Spend 15 – 30 minutes praying together asking God to speak to you over the next 6 challenges.
Challenge #2: Listen to John Piper’s message call “Doing Missions when Dying is Gain.
Challenge #3: Read the fantastic but challenging book “Bruchko” about a 19 year old man who heads into the jungles to evangelize a murderous tribe of South American Indians.
Challenge #4: Watch AIM’s Video called “Men of Mission” which was inspired because 82% of their single missionaries are women.
Challenge #5: Read Matthew 10 out loud with the guys in your group.
Challenge #6: Read 2 challenging posts from Live-Dead.Org called “No More Death” and “Hard Work in the Hardest Places.”
Challenge #7: Take one day to fast and pray! Ask the Lord if He is calling you into a life of reaching the nations. The key is obedience! He may be asking you to go; He may want you to stay. Obey! No matter what God tells you!

Please! Please! Please!

This is not to be a guilt trip! This is a call for single men to seek God’s face and live their lives in obedience!

1 to 7 Challenge – Prayer and Share

Let’s pray that God will raise up a 1000 single men to answer His call.
Let’s pray for a 1 to 1 ratio in the next 5 years.
Please share this challenge with your friends, churches, and especially the single men in your life.

1 to 7 Results – What is God teaching you?

Once you have completed the 1 to 7 Challenge, we’d love to hear back from you. Please send me an email at contact@bam360.org or post a comment to this page. Let’s give God the glory for what He is doing.

Quoted from: Ripken, Nik (2013-12-09). The Insanity of Obedience: Walking with Jesus in Tough Places (p. 82). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top