Get a map. Seriously. The last story I did on the plight of Christians in Eritrea was heartbreaking. 200 people arrested for their faith in Christ, thrown into a shipping container in the African sun for nothing more than believing in Jesus Christ and following the Scriptures.

On October 17, two hundred believers were arrested, and their churches and affiliate humanitarian aid programs were shut down in the latest raids focusing on ridding the country of Christians. The reports circulated, albeit difficult to substantiate, since most of the witnesses were also being detained. Our news team was working on tracking down some contacts on the ground in Eritrea who weren't running for their lives or being chased down by government agents, when I got a call from an irate listener.

She told me we were embarassing Christians everywhere by not telling the story right. I thought, at first, she was repudiating the factual information, but further conversation revealed she was talking about geography. She did not believe there was an African country called 'Eritrea'. She thought we were talking about 'Ethiopia'. As I tried to describe the country's flag to her, and explain that her objection was exactly why we were telling the story, she cut across my response with 'You should get a map. Eritrea doesn't exist.' Then she hung up on me.

I went back and forth between outrage and incredulity. Eritrea is locked in a border war with Ethiopia. The line of demarcation is on hold, and all things are open for argument and debate. In the meantime, the government cracks down on those who do not follow the Muslim faith. Eritrea is 16th Open Doors' World Watch List 2005, a list is based on information from Open Doors' indigenous contacts, field workers and members of the persecuted church.

I doubt that the caller was that well-researched enough to understand the politics of eastern Africa. What I do think was that she was uneducated and uninformed. This was the same listener who called earlier, announced that she was a substitute teacher, and argued that Mozambique (she pronounced it 'moh-zam-beekway') was really in Indonesia. Now, I realize not everyone is like this woman; but what this really did tell me was that too many North American Christians sit in their comfortable pews on Sundays and Wednesdays, listening to the plight of people in far away lands and leave it at that. Far away.

They do not bother themselves with the unity of the body of Christ, with the encouragement spoken of by Paul on his travels, with the support of those who struggle. They think missions is a tract on a restaurant table or a once-a-year-homeless-shelter-good-deed. There is no world outside of their backyard.

And yet, there is a world created by God, ready to be saved by his Son, Jesus Christ. It's wonderful news, and here sit a group of fat, comfortable, materially wealthy people who call themselves followers, denying the needs of others by ignorance.

Shortly after this incident, I spoke to one missionary who has been on the run for his life, chased by Eritrean officials. When I mentioned this and asked how best to respond, he said, "If she doesn't know Eritrea exists, her church needs to get a map."

Get a map. Study it. Find out what is happening in the Body--because what happens to other believers really does have in impact on all of us. Sooner or later we will feel it--and the question will be 'Were we watching?'