Done. Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention overwhelmingly approved the recommendations of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force with hopes that the changes made will ensure taking the gospel to North America and the nations. Part of the GCRTF’s recommendations were motivated by the estimated 138 million out of 151 million who are lost in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Canada, New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont. All of these are considered “unreached” areas since many are not states that were part of Old South where Southern Baptists originated and flourished. The GCRTF recommendations show a radical shift to reach these 138 million while eventually ending NAMB cooperative agreements with the “Old Line” states. Is this shift the best move for Southern Baptist North American missions? Missiologically speaking, “Probably not.”

      NAMB has publicized that there are approximately 258 million lost people in North America and Canada. If one subtracts the 138 million who are lost in the “unreached” areas, one concludes there are 120 million out of 190 million who are lost in the “Old Line” states, Midwest, and Pioneer areas. These statistics show that there is great lostness all over North America. So, why should NAMB focus on the West and Northeast while essentially leaving the “Old Line” states to finance their own missions?

      Amazingly, the migratory patterns since the 1990s actually show a shift in population to the South. According to the Census, the South region is the most populous region in the United States with over 113 million people, almost twice as many as any other region. Pew Research stated that the migration patterns of the population of the United States are going to the South. Consider their migration map at http://pewsocialtrends.org/maps/migration/. From 2005 to 2007, 1.419 million people from the “unreached” states have moved to the “Old Line” states (236,000 from the West, 396,000 from the Midwest, and 787,000 from the Northeast). In the same time period, only 265,000 people moved to the West. The Northeast has actually experienced a serious decline in migration. The Census published a study (http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p25-1135.pdf) that showed this Southward migration has been happening since 1995. It also showed that from 2000 to 2004, an average of 247,000 people per year migrated from the Northeast. Where did they go? The publication states, “The South remained the primary destination for migrants within the United States.”

     If these Southward migratory patterns continue, it only makes sense that some of the lostness of the “unreached” areas will actually be brought to the neighborhoods of the South. As these people move to the South, the South will need more churches to minister to the growing population. From the approval of the GCRTF recommendations, Southern Baptists desire to take the gospel to the West and Northeast and now God is bringing millions of them to our “base.” If we evangelize those who are migrating to the South, they will have natural connections to the West and Northeast. These connections will give further opportunity to reach the people who still live in the West and Northeast.

     Further, with millions still lost in the South, it is clear that Southern Baptists have not been as influential as we thought. The majority of Southern Baptist resources and people are in the South, but the amount of lostness is close to the lostness in the West and Northeast. Perhaps the Great Commission Resurgence should begin in our Jerusalem rather than going to Judea or Samaria first.