Unreached People Groups (UPG) is the term used to refer to groups of people who are less reached by the gospel of Christ around the world.

This term arises from the discussion about how to organize the church's missionary effort to fulfill the Great Commission.

When we speak of Unreached Peoples, we are referring to groups of people among whom there is no community of native evangelical Christians with sufficient numbers and resources to evangelize their own people without external dependency.

 

This concept has been revolutionary because it has shifted the focus of missionary efforts from reaching geopolitically established countries like Brazil, China, India, and so on, to focus on specific peoples or ethnicities.

Therefore, we need to understand three fundamental elements:

1. What is the biblical importance of this concept,

2. What are peoples, and

3. What does it mean to be unreached?

The Biblical Importance of the Unreached Peoples Concept

Evangelizing all the peoples of the Earth is a task given by Jesus to the church.

 

In the Great Commission text in Matthew 28:18-20, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations," Jesus makes it clear that it is not an invitation to evangelize, but a command or mandate, "go." It is also clear how significant the task is because the term "all nations" in the original biblical text comes from the expression "panta ta ethne," which means all peoples or better, all ethnicities.

Even back then, Jesus did not think in terms of geopolitically defined countries. The target of the command he gave was directed at every people or ethnicity on Earth, defined by language, culture, and religion. In various passages in the Bible, the concept of peoples and the mission given by Jesus are affirmed, giving us the conviction that God's plan of salvation includes all the peoples of the Earth.

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations (panta ta ethne), and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:14) "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations (panta ta ethne). Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you." (Psalm 67:1-5) "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'" (Revelation 7:9-10)

The image described by John in Revelation reveals the ultimate result of missionary effort. People from all the peoples of the Earth before God, giving Him the worship that only He is worthy of receiving. A diverse and multifaceted multitude, expressing their love for God through their unique cultures. This unique picture shows us that missions are the central aim of those who desire to see our God worshipped by all.

One day, the mission will come to an end, meaning it will finally be fulfilled, but worshiping God is eternal.

But, what exactly are Peoples? According to the dictionary, a people is a group of individuals who speak the same language, share similar customs and interests, have common histories and traditions, and live in a community within a specific territory, nation, or society. In Brazil, for example, despite all of us being within a certain geographical area and being Brazilian because we are part of the same country, we have 323 peoples spread across our territory. Each people has its own language, history, and culture, such as Tupinambá, Caiapó, Roma (Gypsies), Tamoio, and so on.

How to Identify an Unreached People? According to the Joshua Project, an unreached people is an ethnic group with fewer than 2% evangelical Christians or fewer than 5% confessing Christians from all traditions. These criteria were created to strategically assist the global missionary effort. While there may not be consensus about these criteria, we use the Joshua Project's concept as a starting point. The central idea is that these are the minimum conditions required for the Christian presence in a specific people to endure in the long term without the dependence on foreign missionary efforts.

According to the Joshua Project, there are around 17,000 peoples in the world today. Of this total, 7,406 peoples are considered unreached. In other words, there are 7,406 ethnicities that have few or no evangelical Christians, with little or no Christian history. There are about 3.23 billion people within this group of 7,406 peoples. This means that 41% of the global population still doesn't have a Christian movement capable of surviving in the long term without foreign missionary presence. Within this 41%, the overwhelming majority has never even had the opportunity to hear the gospel in their own language in a contextualized manner. Within the unreached peoples group, there are also the Unengaged Unreached Peoples (UUP), which are ethnicities that have no Christian presence. In other words, no church, no missionary agency, no individual or group of individuals have taken on the responsibility of evangelizing this people.

Natural Barriers The process of evangelization among UP involves many intrinsic barriers. These peoples have a particular worldview, meaning another way of understanding the world around them, a different language, worship other gods, and have their own ritual and cultural practices. The missionary needs to be able to overcome these barriers to spread the gospel among these people. Christ desires to be worshiped by all peoples, and it's only possible to distinguish one people from another through their cultural particularities. Additionally, many of these peoples are small, with around 50, 100, or 300 individuals living in hard-to-reach places, in forests, mountains, or amidst religious/political persecution.

There are also blocks of the world's religions that are harder to reach. We use the acronym THUMB to identify them: Tribal, Hindu, Unreligious (without religion), Muslim, and Buddhist.

Another significant barrier is access to the Bible in their native language. Many peoples don't even have portions of the Bible translated into their own language, and among these peoples, some are oral cultures, meaning they don't have a written language, only spoken. In such cases, missionaries need to create an alphabet for that spoken language and then proceed with Bible translation.

Missionary Effort Less than 10% of the missionary force is among unreached peoples. This means that out of the 100% of missionaries in the field, 90% are working among peoples who have already been reached by the gospel. Furthermore, the financial resources invested by the church in work among unreached peoples are completely insufficient. It is estimated that 99% of the offerings collected in the church worldwide are used for local maintenance. Only 1% of resources are allocated to missions, and of this 1%, only 0.05% is directed towards work among unreached peoples. In other words, very few missionaries are working where Jesus is not yet known, and financial resources are also severely limited, hindering the progress of projects.

What Now? The acquisition of relevant knowledge should lead us to practical changes in life. It is undeniable that the entire body of Christ around the world has been called to engage with this cause that lies at the heart of Christ's Great Commission. We need more brothers and local churches to join us in this adventure, participating alongside national missionaries from other countries who are going further to make the name of our Lord known.

Source: Etnos Group

FONTE:  Grupo Etnos

Clique no botão abaixo e junte-se a nós no processo de alcance de todos os povos do mundo.