An estimated 5.8 million lost people live in North Carolina and that number is growing. The Strategic Focus Team of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina helps churches take a missionary​ ​approach to North Carolina’s pockets of lostness. Every Baptist across North Carolina has a role to play in pushing back the darkness that exists in neighborhoods across our state. Check out our pocket of lostness map to see where your church can be involved.

What is a pocket of lostness?
Pockets of lostness are small geographic areas, usually 3 to 7 miles in diameter, with extremely high concentrations of people who don’t know Christ. In most cases, more than 70 percent of the people living in these areas would say they don’t have a personal relationship with Christ. In these areas, the population is growing faster than the church and knows less about the Bible than ever before.

Where are pockets of lostness?
Pockets of lostness are everywhere. There are 250 identified pockets of lostness across North Carolina in both urban and rural areas. Chances are high that there is a pocket of lostness in close proximity to your church and neighborhood. Without the development of new disciple-making strategies, the number of lost people in these pockets will continue to grow at a high rate.

Every Baptist across North Carolina has a role to play in pushing back the darkness that exists in neighborhoods across our state.

A missionary approach
Many of our neighbors living in pockets of lostness will not come to Christ on their own. We must take Christ to them. Changing communities presents unique challenges. A missionary approach strengthens existing churches and empowers them to plant new churches.

How you and your church can get involved
You can identify where high concentrations of lostness are through our online map. One of the quickest ways to see lostness is to get out and prayer walk. If you see someone, ask them how you can pray for them. The Strategic Focus Team is here to assist your church in building a strategy to impact lostness through disciple-making.