Working for Christ on the Wrong Side of the Line

I called a church the other day and asked for a meeting to present our mission field.

Pastor: "What parallel is Puerto Rico at?"

Me: "We are at 18 degrees North Latitude."

Pastor: "Sorry, we can't support you. You are at the wrong parallel."

Ouch! I found out later that the 4 million people in Puerto Rico are 2 degrees off from their cut off point.

I have to admit that I was a bit confused by this conversation and the calculation. I guess I missed the section of the Bible that deals with missionary mathematics. I wonder if Phillip did any demographic research before he allowed the Holy Spirit to take him into the desert to minister to an area that had a population of 1, an Ethiopian in a chariot?

Somehow reducing missions to a math equation strikes me more as modern marketing than as a God ordained way to reach this lost world for Christ. I hope that I will always be the missionary that says: "Here I am Lord, send me" and NOT the missionary that says, "Show me the numbers Lord, and I'll let you know..."