Why Do We Focus on Unreached People Groups?

What would it take to see more people follow Jesus? Big topic. Let’s address it.

Our mission: discipling all nations

Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus issued a series of powerful mandates to His followers.

As the Father had sent Him, so He sent them.

Their mission was to go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to the whole creation, and preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins to all nations.

They would receive power to be His witnesses to people everywhere, make disciples of all nations, baptize people and teach them to do everything He’d taught them. He told them He had all authority in heaven and on earth, and that He would be with them always.

Like everything else Jesus said, these words are not just for them, but for all of us who come after.

How are we doing?

Even though the hope of the gospel has been spreading for thousands of years, billions of people alive today have never had much (if any) chance to hear it. A third of the world is still cut off from the gospel—unreached.

We want to change that.

We long to see more Jesus-followers embrace His global purposes and more follow Jesus. If more people knew what they’re missing out on? Well, it could change everything.

What does it mean to be “unreached”? That’s a question worth asking.

Imagine two people, neither of whom has placed their faith in Christ.

One lives in a mid-sized city in Africa or America. She has a neighbor who attends church, a coworker who talks about his faith and perhaps a Bible on her shelf. She might even have a Christian relative or memories of Sunday school. She may have heard the gospel but misunderstood or rejected it. You could say that she is “lost”—but she is not unreached.

The other person lives in a remote valley in Central Asia. His entire community follows Islam. No one in his village has ever encountered a Christian. There is no church within a hundred miles. No Scripture exists in his dialect. He may have heard stories about Jesus, but his knowledge is not  sufficient to illuminate the path to the truth. He is not just lost; he is unreached.

It is the lack of opportunity to hear the gospel and see it lived out by people like them that separates unreached people from those who are reached, but may be unsaved, lost or unevangelized.

A third of the world is still cut off from the gospel.

An unevangelized people group may have many individuals who haven’t heard about Christ, but there are enough Christ-followers and churches to give people the chance to hear. Unreached people, on the other hand, don’t have that kind of access to the gospel. Usually, there are no churches in their neighborhoods, and they may have never met a Christian, at least not one who speaks their language. If you asked them about Jesus, many would say, “Jesus who?”

If you asked them about Jesus, many would say, “Jesus who?”

Those of us who know Jesus for ourselves know what they are missing. We are not content to share Jesus only with people we know and those who are culturally close to us. We also long for everyone to have the opportunity to know and follow Jesus.

If you wrestling with this or looking for ways to communicate it, we have some great resources to help you, below.