Where Are the Missionaries?
By Matthew Leffler and Hannah Jobe
In 1904, P.T, Magan received an offer that could have made him a millionaire. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg invited Magan to take charge of stock sales for his Corn Flakes company, offering him $10,000 and a permanent position once the company was organized.
And why not? Magan was in need of change. Disagreements with church leaders had led him to resign from his position at Emmanuel Missionary College (now Andrews University), and his wife had died within the past week.
But he decided to take up the matter with the Master. He spent most of the night in prayer wrestling with God under a maple tree.
“And as the morning light broke,” Magan later wrote, “I had decided that in spite of all the difficulties with brethren I must stick to this Message and give whatever time and talent I had to the making of Adventists rather than to the making of Corn Flakes.”
In a recent FaithCamp sermon Matthew Leffler said: “I don’t want to miss the fact that this was the health food business. Magan wasn’t being asked to work for a beer company. This was a good business, making Corn Flakes.
“But this story stirs me deeply, for I’m afraid that many of us have chosen the other path. Too many of God’s people have chosen to use our time and talents in things that are not what God has put us in this world to do.
“Making Corn Flakes is doing the good and comfortable things instead of what God is calling us to do. And we’ve been doing the wrong things very successfully. That’s why today, I can find Corn Flakes in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand. You can find them where the poor people shop, and you can find them were the rich people shop. But where are the Thai Adventists?
“Where are the Thai Adventists in Nakhon Sawan province that has over a million population? Where are the Thai Adventists in Pichit, Uthai Thani, and Chai Nat?
“You can find Corn Flakes in every one of these provinces. But where are the Adventists?
“May the Lord save us from a sinful contentment in using our time and talents to give the billions of people in the world Corn Flakes instead of the Gospel.
“Four years after Magan made his choice under that maple tree, Ellen White would write these words: ‘Brethren Sutherland and Magan are chosen of God and faithful. And the Lord of heaven says to them, “I have a special work for these men to do at Madison”…a work of educating and training young men and women for mission fields.’
“The work that began at Madison (now Madison Academy) caused ripples that echo throughout the world to this day, the sum of which will not be known until eternity.”
How many more cities and towns in Thailand can you find Corn Flakes, but few to no Adventists? How many cities in India, Japan, Türkiye, Pakistan, Cambodia, or Indonesia?
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has a presence in nearly every country on earth, yet 42% of the world’s population is still unreached by the Gospel.
What are we going to do about it?
Christ is coming very soon, and He alone has the power to finish this work, but He has called us to be a part of it. We must take up the Great Commission, put on the Gospel armor, share our Savior’s love with those who have not heard. And as we do, we can count on His promise to be with us always.
We want to invite you today to spend a night under a maple tree and ask God what He wants you to do with the time and talents you have left. You may be like Magan, called by God, chosen by the Lord of heaven for a special work. Will you say yes?
Quotes and statistics are from the following sources: P.T. Magan letter to W.A. Spicer, April 21, 1930, p. 3-Paul A. Gordon and James R. Nix, Laughter and Tears of the Pioneers, 1989, pp. 26, 27. Spalding and Magan Collection, p. 422. https://joshuaproject.net. This story has been shared with permission of Jesus for Asia.
World Church Prayer Requests
December 12 — 18, 2025
• Brazil: Pray for thousands of young people from Brazil and South America as they convene December 18-21 for GYC Brazil in Santa Catarina. Pray for the Holy Spirit to be poured out and for many to give their lives to Jesus.
• Ireland: Pray for the Clogheen Adventist Church. This is a new church begun in 2022. Pray that the Holy Spirit will speak to each individual person so they may continue worshipping Jesus together and sharing Him with Gospel to all the people around them. Pray also for other new churches opening across the country.
• United States: Pray for the Sacramento Central SDA Church as they are seeking the Holy Spirit’s direction for the Personal Ministries and Prayer Ministries teams to do the work God has commanded them to do.
• South Africa: Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide the new members of the Loerie SDA Church as they learn more of Jesus and share Him with their friends and family members.
• Tanzania: Pray for peace in Tanzania as the country is experiencing some political upheaval around the Independence Day celebrations. Pray that God will work His will in the lives of His people and their communities.
• Papua New Guinea: Pray for the Yambo SDA Church, a very small group of fewer than ten members. Their community is very eager to study the Bible and learn more of God’s truth. Pray for dedicated individuals to commit their time to this work.
• Mozambique: Pray for the Holy Spirit to prepare hearts and minds for Impact Mozambique 2026, a country-wide evangelistic series in May 2026.