With the increased emphasis on church planting in large cities over the last decade, we cannot minimize the fact that the Holy Spirit calls people to small towns too. While Jesus did ministry in the cities of Israel, He also went and proclaimed the gospel in small towns as well. We understand big cities need more churches, but doesn’t every town need at least one gospel preaching church focused on reaching the community with the Good News?
A report from World Atlas calculated that out of the 50,000 cities in the world, there are 4,416 cities in the world with a population of over 150,000. It is said that a medium sized country has 300-400 cities. There are still many medium-sized cities across our globe needing the gospel.
Take India for example.There are approximately 4,000 cities and towns in India. About 300 cities have population over 1 million people. Seven cities have populations more than 3 million. That means there are still 3,697 small cities and towns throughout India.
The fastest-growing medium sized cities are located in Asia and Africa. Globally, more people live in urban areas than in rural areas. In 2007, for the first time in history, the global urban population exceeded the global rural population. The urban population is expected to continue to grow, so that by 2050, the world will be one-third rural (34 per cent) and two-thirds urban (66 per cent). By 2030 these small cities and towns will still be home to around 45 per cent of urban dwellers.
The task to reach our world is enormous. When Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion. We have large, medium, and small cities filled with people of whom most have never heard a clear presentation of the Gospel. May our hearts break with compassion for all these people and may we pray for more laborers!