The Gospel Shadow Effect
June 2024
The Atacama Desert in Chile, often hailed as the driest place on Earth, is an extraordinary expanse of arid land, particularly around the forsaken Yungay mining town. Averaging a mere half-inch of rainfall annually, some parts of this desert receive as little as 0.04 inches each year. Astonishingly, certain weather stations in the Atacama have never recorded a single drop of rain. In the central sector, framed by the cities of Antofagasta, Calama, and Copiapó, stretches of four rainless years at a time have been documented. Historical evidence even suggests that from 1570 to 1971, the Atacama as a whole experienced no rainfall at all.
There are topographical reasons why this desert region has experienced relatively no precipitation throughout its recorded history. Although the Pacific Ocean borders its entire western edge, its most arid region is positioned between two mountain chains, the Andes and the Chilean Coast Range. These mountains are high enough to prevent moisture from either the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean, creating a two-sided rain shadow effect. The land within a rain shadow is warm and dry to the point where no vegetation can grow and no rain clouds can form. On the other side of the mountains, beyond the shadow effect, the land is wet and cool, usually flourishing into a tropical paradise.
This physical phenomenon mirrors the spiritual scene we often observe with reached countries and their neighbors who live under the Gospel shadow effect. Although many people share the same or similar cultures and communication within these regions, one suffers an ages-long Gospel drought while the other thrive in Gospel rich soils. This disparity occurs when one group is content with having received the Good News of the Gospel of Christ for themselves but is not compelled to spread it into the dark and dry regions beyond them, where Satan has blinded the minds of millions. We call these near-to-the-gospel lands the “Under-reached” because they are literally under the shadow of lands long reached with the streams of the life-giving water of God, yet they continue to dwell in arid hopelessness.
We know God can open fountains in the midst of valleys and springs of water in the driest of lands (Isaiah 41:18). He can do the same with wells of Living Water in the hearts of those dwelling in darkness. If national churches will not send and support their own children to their Judea and Samaria, then let us send ours into our uttermost parts to see Jerusalems started anew.
Going Further On,
GFF General Director