Unreached Peoples

COMMISSION

Let the nations be glad!

We can be grateful to the pioneers and others who are responsible for bringing missions to where it is today. But, the remaining task is still huge and the workers are few.

While there were many amazingly significant events, people and groups prior to the eighteenth century, there have been three main eras of mission history beginning with William Carey in the late 1700s. The goal of this era was to reach the coastlands of the world. A second era began almost a century later in 1865, focusing on the inland areas and was pioneered mainly by Hudson Taylor and later by the Student Volunteer Movement. Then, in the 1930s, two men – Cameron Townsend and Donald McGavran pioneered a third era of missions. Townsend focused attention on the languages lacking bible translations across the world while McGavran pointed out all the bypassed social groupings. This is where Ralph Winter and other mission leaders in the USA coined the term ‘unreached peoples’.

The term ‘people group’ is “a large group of individuals who have in common either their language, religion, ethnicity, residence, occupation, class or caste or a combination of these”. The term ‘unreached people group’ is “a people group within which there is no group of local believers able to share the gospel with the rest of the people group” These terms have been  designed to help bring clarity to the remaining missionary task.

Job done?

We can be grateful to the pioneers and others who are responsible for bringing missions to where it is today. But, the remaining task is still huge and the workers are few. According to Ralph Winter and others, the workload is unbalanced. 74% of missionaries today are currently working among people who have already been reached with the gospel. But progress is being made. One third of the world would at least claim to be Christian, another third are non-Christians that live within reached peoples. The final third are non-Christians within unreached peoples.

We are in a third era of missions and God is moving throughout the world to fulfil his promise to the nations. More so than ever, missions has become a global, cooperative movement. No longer is this just a western task. On the contrary, the impetus now is from the so-called two-thirds world. The centre of gravity of Christianity has shifted away from the West and those who for years were receiving missionaries are now sending out some of the world’s most passionate, dynamic and spiritual missionaries. Worldwide, the potential is there to get the job done. And now, obedience to the Commission is needed more than ever – Rev 7:9 assures us that worshippers from every nation, tribe, people and language will be standing before the throne of the Lamb.

The question remains as to what part you will play in His Story?