Unreached people groups (upgs)

Unreached people groups (upgs)

1. Yeshua commanded: “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Greek: panta ta ethné, all the ethnies). He shed His blood to save all nations, tribes and language communities. (Matt. 28:19; Rev. 5:9-10)

2. A city/nation is a cultural mosaic of People Groups. Even though they may be living in the neighborhood, they would never hear the gospel from the cozy, middle-class Church. They would never know Jesus unless someone loved them enough to learn their language and culture.

3. It is widely recognized that two-thirds of all active Christians now live in former “mission fields,” that is, in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In many places the church is growing more rapidly than the population.

4. Furthermore, those mini but productive churches are strongly biblical and evangelical. They are Christocentric and believe strongly in the historic Christian faith.

5. There is much greater sensitivity to cultures than before; through the study of anthropology and missionary experience, we recognize that every culture has within it elements that can be used to communicate the gospel. To become Christian must not mean to become Western.

6. Seven billion people are living in 234 geopolitical nations on planet earth with over 16,000 ethne or People Groups (PGs). Of these, nearly 7,000 PGs are forgotten people, mostly in the 10/40 Window countries.

7. Unreached and unengaged means: PGs lacking in indigenous community of believers with no evangelical program and have inadequate resources to evangelize their own PGs. There are 639 such groups, each with 100,000 or more representing 535 million people.   

8. Reasons for least reached include: 

a. Geographic barriers, like harsh climate or nomadic people.                     

b. Linguistic barriers, like illiteracy or non-availability of the Bible in their own language. 

c. Political barriers, like restricted access or hostile environment. 

d. Cultural barriers, where Christianity is viewed as a foreign religion. 

e. Apathetic church, where the local church is simply unaware of her responsibility to the Great Commission.

9. It is no longer relevant to build worship centers that do not reflect kingdom concerns, such as reproducing disciples to the 4th generation. God says “Ask me and I will give you ‘goy’ (Hebrew for Gentiles, heathen, foreign nations, people) for an inheritance. (Psalm 2:8)

10. The current Church-Planting Movements have taught international Christianity the viability of non-clergy movements, that everything Christ commanded can be accomplished without money, clergy, chapels and power structures. Put more positively, the biblical patterns remain both viable and perhaps more effective, over time, than privileged, ecclesial power structures. (Matt. 24:14) 

11. Whether we know it or not or like it or not : The church must see that the harvest is ripe and ready and align herself with her Master, ‘This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness, then the end will come.’ Not doing so would prove disastrous.

12. World evangelization of all Nations is inevitable: "For thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Once more, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth and the sea. I will also destroy the power of the kingdoms.'" “The Son was given a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion.” (Haggai 2:6-7, 21-22; Dan. 7:14; Rev. 7:9,10)