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What is a ‘pocket of lostness’ in North Carolina?
Michael Sowers
April 18, 2017
2 MIN READ TIME

What is a ‘pocket of lostness’ in North Carolina?

What is a ‘pocket of lostness’ in North Carolina?
Michael Sowers
April 18, 2017

Three years ago, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina launched a strategy to impact lostness through disciple-making starting in the most concentrated areas of lostness located in eight population centers. Within these eight population centers is where we find our top 100 “pockets of lostness.”

Michael Sowers

These pockets are geographic areas that range from one-half to 2 miles in radius. The people in these pockets are often very diverse. In most cases, there is ethnic, income, education and other areas of diversity present, which has been documented through demographic and field research. The key understanding of these pockets, however, is lostness.

In each of these pockets, there is an extremely low number of people who identify themselves as having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

In most cases, more than 70 percent of the people in these pockets would not claim to have a personal relationship with our Lord.

The numbers are staggering, but the reality is that these numbers represent people who need Jesus.

In many cases, the pockets are in areas where disciple-making efforts among the people living there are sparse or non-existent. The reality is that without the development of new disciple-making strategies, the number of lost people will continue to grow exponentially.

In addition to these 100 most concentrated pockets of lostness, there are 150 more pockets that have also been identified across the state.

It is imperative we answer the call to work together as local churches, associations, the state convention and individual believers to engage these pockets of lostness with the gospel.

The people living in these pockets of lostness are in desperate need of Jesus, so we must become desperate to be on God’s mission to take His gospel to them.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – Michael Sowers serves on the BSC Strategic Focus Team as the strategy coordinator for the Triad region.)