What are “Unreached People Groups?"
An Unreached People Group is an identifiable group of people distinguished by a
distinct culture, language, or social class who lack a community of Christians able
to evangelize them without outside help. Their only opportunity to hear about salvation
is through an “external witness.”
What is A People Group?
The Lausanne 1982 people group definition says "For evangelization purposes,
a people group is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church
planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance".
Almost 2 billion people (27.9% of the world) are still essentially cut off from
access to the Gospel and have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. . Many of
these peoples live in major urban centers. Some are more remote and rural. All continue
to be largely “ignored” by the Great Commission Christian world.
There are two barriers cited, (1) understanding, and (2) acceptance. The barrier
of understanding suggests that language always is important when defining a people
group. If for a particular situation the understanding barrier is more important
than the acceptance barrier then defining people group by language, perhaps exclusively
by language, is appropriate. And this seems to be the case in most cultures and
situations.
In other situations the acceptance barrier may be as high, or perhaps higher, than
the understanding barrier. The reasons for lack of acceptance may include caste,
religious tradition, location, common histories and traditions, and other subtle
cultural distinctives. In these situations the barrier of acceptance should be considered
on an equal footing with the barrier of understanding, and sometimes acceptance
is a higher barrier than is the barrier of understanding.
The 1982 peoples definition began a process of identifying the unreached peoples
of the world that is still not complete. Various ways of defining people groups
has lead to several types of peoples lists and sometimes confusing counts of peoples.
Ethno-linguistic Peoples Lists
Because of the remarkable language research compiled in the last 100 years, the
first people group lists have generally been ethno-linguistic, meaning that a people
generally was defined by language and/or dialect. Because of language research and
the somewhat definable nature of language, ethno-linguistic peoples lists generally
have uniform definitions across all countries and tend to be an "apples-to-apples"
comparison. Ethno-linguistic peoples lists have great usefulness, particularly for
language-oriented outreach and ministries.
Ethnic Peoples Lists
While language is a key barrier to understanding, in parts of the world factors
other than language form barriers of acceptance across which the Gospel will not
naturally flow. For church planting purposes, it is helpful to allow factors other
than language to define the boundaries of a people group. An ethnic peoples list,
in addition to language, allows distinctives such as religion, caste and culture
to define a people group.
In parts of the world where peoples are defined by their language an ethnic peoples
list and an ethno-linguistic peoples list are virtually the same. However in places
like South Asia, parts of North Africa and China, where religion, caste and culture
are more determinative than language in defining a people group, an ethnic peoples
list and an ethno-linguistic list can be quite different. For example, in India
there are approximately 450 ethno-linguistic people / language groups but over 2,300
ethnic people groups when caste, religion and cultural factors are considered.
Does moving from Ethno-linguistic to Ethnic Peoples get messy?
Yes. Ethno-linguistic peoples lists tend to have uniform definitions and global
standards and generally yield "apples-to-apples" results. However, an
ethnic (cultural-ethno-linguistic) peoples list allowing language, religion, caste
and/or cultural distinctives to define a people group can occasionally introduce
a bit of "apples-to-oranges" comparison. National and local people group
researchers in one area of the world may use slightly different definitions based
on their perception of onsite realities compared to another area of the world. Each
may differently evaluate the barriers of acceptance. Even with these limitations,
the hope is that an ethnic peoples list can help continue to define the church planting
task of the Great Commission.
Why Unreached People Groups?
Matthew 28:19 and Luke 24:47 are key Great Commission passages. When coupled with
Revelation 5:9 and Revelation 7:9, God’s intent for the extent of the gospel becomes
clear. In both the Matthew and Luke texts Jesus uses the Greek word “ethne” to explain
what a biblical “nation” is. The gospel is not intended only for every geographical/political
nation, but for each ethnicity within every country.
The Revelation 5 and 7 passages give a glorious glimpse into the end-time reality
of worship in heaven. The worldwide worshippers of Jesus will come from every “nation,”
which is more fully defined as “all tribes and peoples and languages.” The unmistakable
conclusion is that the elect from every ethnicity on the planet is the expressed
intent of the death of Christ, and thus, every people group must be the target of
the gospel.
An unreached people group is an ethno-linguistic group that shares a self-identity
among themselves as a distinct culture, language, social class along with their
own collection of customs, and shared history that sets them apart from other people
groups.
The thing that distinguishes them as unreached is the fact that there is no evangelical
gospel witness established among them. To reiterate the importance of that statement:
Unreached means much more than merely being unevangelized. Unreached means there
is no access to the gospel among that people group. There is no witness for Jesus
among them!
Nearly 2 billion people (27.9 % of the world’s population) live in these unreached
segments of society (people groups). These peoples are cut off from any access to
the gospel and are largely ignored or unknown by the Christian world. Sadly, nearly
90% of the missionary work force and finances are targeting already reached regions
with the gospel.
“American Christians spend 95% of their offerings on home-based ministry, 4.5% on
cross-cultural efforts in already-reached people groups, and only 0.5% to reach
the unreached.”