Our soul winning passage from the Word of God today is 1 Corinthians 12:27 which reads: "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."

Our soul winning quote today is from Alan Redpath. He said: "We need, men so possessed by the Spirit of God that God can think His thoughts through our minds, that He can plan His will through our actions, that He can direct His strategy of world evangelization through His Church."

Our soul winning devotional is part 104 of our series titled "What Evangelism Is" from Dave Earley and David Wheeler.

Our continent is starving for the hope of the gospel of Christ. In light of that fact, let’s examine 10 critical reasons you must prayerfully consider being a part of a church-starting effort. We will look at the first reason today:

1. North America Desperately Needs More Churches

The questions are common: Why plant churches in North America when so many churches are dead or dying? Shouldn’t the focus be on returning struggling churches to health? Why plant churches in North America when so many churches have so many empty seats? Shouldn’t churches work to fill all those seats before we start other churches? Is it worth the time, money, and effort to train church planters? Are new churches really needed?

The answer to the last two questions is a resounding, “Yes!” Let’s examine some data that shows just how much America needs new churches. As unbelievable as it may seem, recent research indicates that there are now more than 200 million nonchurched people in America, making our nation one of the largest unchurched countries in the world. Author Justice Anderson has stated, “The American church is in the midst of one of the largest mission fields in the world today. Only three other nations - China, India and Indonesia - have more lost people.”