Called to Go. Faithful to Stay.
How Mobilization Carries the Gospel Further Than the First Yes
Liam and Samantha never imagined that a short-term mission trip would reshape the trajectory of their lives. Married for just a year, they were deeply rooted in familiar rhythms. Liam worked as a personal trainer. Samantha served in marketing while also pastoring at a local church. Life was full, meaningful, and stable. Then came Northern Asia.
“God was not inviting them to visit. He was asking them to go.”
For Samantha, something shifted almost immediately. Surrounded by a culture far removed from her own, she became acutely aware of how many people had never heard the name of Jesus, not because they had rejected Him, but because no one had ever come. In that moment, the call became clear. God was not inviting her to visit. He was asking her to go.
Back home, Liam felt the weight of that same calling. While Samantha was overseas, he prayed and something awakened in him. A burden. A certainty. God was asking him to leave what was familiar and step into the unknown to take the gospel to a nation with 442 unreached people groups representing more than 140 million unreached people.
The calling was clear. The path was not.
Over the next four years, their journey was marked by delays and disappointments. Plans stalled. Visas closed. Then the pandemic shut down borders entirely. The timeline they imagined disappeared. But obedience did not. Instead of pulling back, Liam and Samantha leaned in. They served faithfully where they were. They encouraged others toward missions. They held fast to the vision God had placed in their hearts, even when progress felt invisible. And during the waiting, the Project42 community stayed with them.
“The timeline they imagine disappeared. But obedience did not.”
Funding did not lapse when doors closed. Prayer did not slow when timelines stretched. Encouragement did not fade when the process became costly and exhausting. This is what mobilization looks like, standing with workers not just when they go, but while they wait.
Eventually, the door opened. It was not wide. It was not certain. But it was God-ordained. They said goodbye to family, friends, and comfort and stepped into a region where following Jesus carries real risk. With support from this community, they were able to launch, travel, and wait for visa approval in a neighboring country for an undisclosed period of time, weeks, months, even years, without fear of resources running out.
Today, more than a year into life in Northern Asia, they are seeing God move in quiet, unmistakable ways. Samantha works at a preschool, faithfully teaching and silently praying over the children in her care. One day, the school’s principal shared a quiet confession. She too follows Jesus. A divine appointment God had been writing long before Samantha arrived.
Liam spends his days in parks and public spaces where basketball becomes a bridge. Through simple games and daily language learning, relationships are forming. Recently, they shared about one young man from a people group with no known believers who has begun spending time with Liam, one conversation at a time. This is how the gospel moves forward in unreached places. Slowly. Faithfully. Relationally. And the need remains staggering.
Visit our Stats page for more stats on the unreached.
Mobilization matters because the gap is real and the call is urgent.
Pray for the Xij** people group. Project42 is the first known group to reach this people group. Pray for the first believer. Pray that the strongholds of atheism and ancestor worship would be exposed for what they are, and that blinders would fall so many might see Jesus.
Liam and Samantha’s story reminds us that mobilization does not end with a calling or even a departure. It continues through delays, hardship, quiet faithfulness, and long obedience.
Project42 exists to walk with workers through all of it, because the One who calls is faithful to complete the work.
