February 23, 2026
By Karl Hargestam

Is Jesus already in the places we have not yet reached? We often speak of “taking” the Gospel to the nations. Of “bringing” Christ to unreached peoples. Of “entering” closed valleys and distant cities. But what if we are not bringing Him at all?

What if we are simply catching up?

The World in Real Time

We are the first generation in history able to watch the shifting of nations in real time. Conflict. Instability. Acceleration. The world no longer feels distant. Yet while information travels instantly, obedience still requires movement. Acts 1:8 was never a departmental strategy. It was identity.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses… to the ends of the earth.”

A witness does not manufacture a story. A witness testifies to what has already happened. Which brings us back to the question:

Is Jesus already there?

The Silent Valley

In 1996, I sat in the cockpit of a helicopter flying over the South Omo Valley of Ethiopia. Below us stretched a vast, sun-scorched expanse of bush and riverbed, ancient land, untouched by modern infrastructure. No roads. No visible access. Just silence and heat rising in shimmering waves.

We were not launching a project. We were surveying how far the Gospel had spread. When we descended, the blades cut the air violently. Dust spiraled upward in thick columns. The earth itself seemed to recoil at the intrusion. And then the engine quieted. The valley returned to silence. Out of that silence, they came.

The Bodi people did not approach cautiously. They did not scatter in fear at the sight of a machine falling from the sky. They walked toward us with steady expectation. That was the first sign something was different.

Nearly three decades earlier, a traveler had passed through their valley. He spoke of a Creator, a God who made the heavens and the earth. He promised he would return with more teaching. He never did.

The desert swallowed his tracks. Years became decades, but the seed remained.

The chief stepped forward. His eyes were steady. There was no confusion in his voice when he spoke. He did not ask who we were, he asked, “Why did it take you so long?”

Five nights before our helicopter touched that ground, he had a dream. In the stillness of the African night, a radiant figure appeared to him, a Man shining with light. Not vague, not symbolic but present. The Shiny Man told him that messengers would come from the sky. That they would bring teaching about freedom. That his people would understand. The chief asked the radiant figure who He was and the answer was simple.

“I am Jesus.”

When we landed, they were not discovering Him. They were waiting for us to explain what He had already revealed. We thought we were arriving with the Gospel but we were stepping into a story already unfolding.

Alignment Over Arrival

In Acts 10, before Peter ever reached Cornelius, an angel had already prepared the encounter. Heaven moved before the apostle did. This is the pattern. Jesus holds all authority in Matthew 28:18. The Holy Spirit goes ahead. The Church follows in obedience. But Peter still had to go.

Peter had to confront his own narrow thinking. He believed the Gospel was for the Jews alone. Before he could preach to Cornelius, God had to prepare his heart. The vision on the rooftop was not just about food. It was about removing barriers. God was preparing Cornelius, but He was also preparing Peter.

Romans 10 reminds us that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they believe if they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching? The Holy Spirit may go ahead, but people will not be able to respond unless someone obeys. We may hope that belief happens automatically, but the biblical pattern shows otherwise. Angels prepared Cornelius. A dream opened his heart. Yet neither angel nor vision proclaimed the Gospel. They still needed a witness!

The last mile is not about delivering Christ to an empty place. It is about aligning ourselves with where He is already working. When we believe we are the initiators, pressure increases. When we realize we are witnesses, clarity returns. A witness does not control the outcome. A witness testifies to what has already taken place, but someone must testify.

You may be the only witness a valley ever receives. You may be the voice the Holy Spirit intends to use. Be ready to hear the Holy Spirit when He asks you to go.

The Last Mile Still Exists

Technology has reduced distance. Access has improved. Communication is instant, but the last mile is not merely geographic. It is obedience, it is surrender, it is going when prompted. There are still valleys waiting. Still leaders dreaming, still seeds planted decades ago that appear dormant, but are not.

The Holy Spirit is not confined by remoteness. He is not delayed by terrain. He is not dependent on our infrastructure. He moves. The question is not whether Jesus is present.

The question is whether we are aligned?

So, Is Jesus Already There?

In that Ethiopian valley, He was already there. In places we have not yet stepped into, He is there now. The last mile is not about bringing Him somewhere new. It is about catching up to where He is already working. But valleys still wait, seeds may still lie dormant. People still call on a name they do not yet understand. The Holy Spirit moves ahead, but someone must still go. The question is not whether Jesus is present. The question is whether we will obey?

Are we ready to move?

Karl Hargestam, PCG Global Missions Director
International Mission Center