XXXXThe Western church has largely been unaware of one of the largest and most expansive missionary efforts ever done. It was simply because it was effectuated by the believers of the East church and obscured by the church conflict at the time, thus never reached the consciousness of the church historians in the West:

XXXXXXDuring the first millennium, the Assyrian church brought the Christian faith to the Middle East and the entire Asian continent!

It is a significant fact for us from the West, who are concerned about reaching the 10-40 Window for Christ, to know that many of the nations who are presently dominated by the five major world religions, have a Christian heritage reaching back almost two millennia! We have been erroneously taught that, apart from a few brave pioneer missionaries in the 18th and 19th century in the likes of Taylor and Carey, these nations have been void of the Light of the Gospel.

To give justice to this amazing missionary effort, I have chosen (with permission) to quote excerpts from www.nestorian.org:

“The headquarters of the church was at a strategic place on both banks of the River Tigris, the center of travel between Europe and Asia. By the middle of the sixth century, the church had spread into Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Ceylon, China, and Mongolia. This church had great missionaries. They expanded rapidly into Asia which was widely covered by their impact. They had no funds to support their mission stations financially; there were no mission boards to direct their activities like Western missionaries of later days who followed the colonial Empires.

It is time to hear from our long-forgotten past the thrilling story of our missionary enterprise during the early centuries of the Christian era. These Christians did not have great material means, nor were they able to engage in planning great missionary strategies computerized and perfected in world conferences, to win the world in our time. They carried the torch of the Gospel all across the vast Asian continent at the cost of great personal suffering and often martyrdom, for untold numbers of laymen and clergy alike were led by the Holy Spirit to push the frontiers of the Kingdom of God far and wide. They went to preach, teach, and cure. At the end of the eleventh century, this church was the single largest Christian denomination at that time".

Assyrian missionaries were working from the Mediterranean to the Pacific Ocean, from the Black Sea to Siberia, from the Arabian Sea to the Indian Ocean. Asia Minor, Cyprus, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Persia, Afghanistan, India, China, Japan, Mongolia, Manchuria, and Turkistan — all had missions where the Gospel was taught by zealous workers of the Assyrian Church of the East.

The church historian John Stewart writes: "Whole peoples with their rulers had become Christians and it seems certain that there were few places in all Asia that were not reached at some time or another ‘ The missionaries included bishops, priests, monks, and deacons. It is said about these men — the messengers of the King of kings — they were as gentle as lambs, unassuming, but courageous and fearless with the hearts of lions. They sacrificed life and health in unknown lands and did their work among the heathen with faith and trust in God.

(Above: Assyrian church in Ankawa, Iraq)XXXXXX

XXXXXX"The missionaries traveled on foot; they had sandals on their feet, a staff in their hands, and carried a basket on their backs, and in the basket were the Holy Writ and the Cross. They took the road over deep rivers and high mountains thousands of miles. On their way they met many heathen ethnic groups and preached to them the Gospel of Christ. The heathens who worshipped idols were told about the Savior who took their sins upon Himself and saved them. They sowed the good seed in the field, worked zealously and won many souls among them.

"The work of the mission became a blessing to the nations, as the missionaries influenced greatly those among whom they worked. They went to the palaces of the kings and to the cottages of the poor. Kings and princes heard the words about the love of Christ; they believed, and their subjects followed their princes. With their own hands, they destroyed the temples of their idols; those that they had formerly worshipped and from whom they hoped to get help and comfort. Great gifts were given to the missionaries, and they distributed everything given them in the best way to serve the spreading of the words of Christ, and many souls were won”.

XXXXXX In the 11th century, the Muslim Kalif Alhakim, charged through the Middle East and parts of Asia, burned 30,000 churches and missions and massacred untold number of believers. In 1380, Tamerlane, a cruel warlord from Central Asia whose ambition was to re-conquer and re-establish Genghis Kahn’s Mongol Empire, invaded most of the territories won for the Gospel with his barbaric horsemen hordes. A mixture of Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein, Tamerlane killed, burned and looted his way through Asia and the Middle East. A small remnant of believers took refuge in the mountains of Iraq and Iran, where there are still alive, active Assyrian churches today. The light of the Gospel dimmed, and the Dark Ages set in.