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Reached vs. Unreached vs. Unengaged

Our friends at Global Frontiers Missions define an Unreached People Group as an identifiable group of people distinguished by a distinct culture, language, or social class who lack a community of Christians able to evangelize the rest of the people group without outside help. The only opportunity for the people group to hear the Gospel is through an external witness. Most missiologists consider 2% of the population becoming Christ-followers as the “tipping point” at which the group is generally considered “reached” with the Gospel.

According to FINISHING THE TASK, there are 164 remaining Unengaged People Groups numbering over three and half million that are still beyond the reach of the Gospel. These 164 ethnic groups (with populations of 500+) are the most desperate as they have no church, no missionary, no mission agency, no one who has yet taken the responsibility to tell them about Jesus Christ. They are not only unreached, they remain unengaged.

Suggested Learning

PERSPECTIVES is a robust resource. Since 1974, more than 80,000 believers in North America and 20,000 more around the world have taken the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course. Each year, about 200 classes are hosted in churches and community centers around the country. This link at Perspectives locates the course closest to you. The book Perspectives on the World Christian Movement presents a multi-faceted collection of readings exploring the biblical, historical, cultural, and strategic dimensions of world evangelization. Writings from more than 150 mission scholars and practitioners (over 60 of them new to this edition) portray the history and anticipate the potential of the global Christian movement. Every one of the 170 articles and sidebars offers practical wisdom enabling Christians to labor together in bold, biblical hope to finish the task of seeing that Christ is named and followed among all the peoples of the earth. The Fourth Edition contains over 60 articles and sidebars that are new to this edition. Many articles have been updated and revised.

The book When Everything is Missions is a great read from our friends at sixteen:fifteen “Pastors, mission committees, mission agencies, and church leaders would do well to read the new (and short!) book When Everything is Missions. ...Spitters & Ellison remind us that if we think all of this is missions we will end up neglecting the very task laid out for us in the Great Commission. When everything is missions, missions gets left behind”. — Kevin DeYoung, Christ Covenant Church, Senior Pastor Click When Everything Is Missions for more information.

The Urbana conference is used by God to reveal his glory and call generations to surrender to Christ’s lordship. Urbana is a sacred space where students find calling and joining the Lord’s global mission whether across campus, zip codes, or the world. During this five-day conference, participants engage in a kaleidoscope of experiences including 16,000-person worship sessions, Bible exposition, messages and seminars, manuscript Bible studies, testimonies from the global church, and prayer ministry. The next conference is December 28–31, 2022. Click Urbana for more information.

The book Shadow of the Almighty is one of the great missionary stories of modern times. It is the life and testament of Jim Elliot, as told by Elliot’s widow, author, and evangelist Elisabeth Elliot Gren. It’s the true account of Jim Elliot's martyrdom, along with four fellow missionaries, at the hands of Ecuador’s Huaorani Indians. About this important and enlightening book, Eugenia Price writes, “It proves that Jesus Christ will bring bright creativity out of any shadow which might fall across any life and any love.” A story that has inspired Christian readers for more than half a century, it poignantly recounts a tragic event that was presented from the Huaorani perspective in the 2006 feature motion picture, End of the Spear.

For additional learning resources more suited to your personal needs:

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