Volume 5, Issue 3
Perspective
07
UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS: IN SEARCH OF THE BEST WORD
O
ver the years, ‘reached’ and is no longer prioritised by people in their contexts. Thus, their Christians have some churches for mission work. strategies can accommodate the ‘deaf developed vocabulary Additionally, a percentage reveals community in Mali” or “the miners of to try to describe the nothing about quality of faith. There Potosi, Bolivia.” A community is the lost. One of the most- may be many believers, but their faith is dynamic, 3-D context of a person which used phrases is “unreached people only lukewarm. shapes their identity and narrative. groups” or UPGs. It has become so Ken Baker of SIM adds that while “a Even as we wrestle with the best common we take it for granted when UPG orientation has been helpful for vocabulary, we can remember what we pray, discuss and create our mission raising global mission awareness”, the Ramez Atallah, General Secretary of the strategies. But this language is not in PG category “simplifies identities for Egyptian Bible Society has said: “Love the Bible. Where did it come from? popular audiences. In current mission is the supreme missionary technique.” Decades ago, mission agencies practice, UPG identities are externally Just as air can never be caught in a net, focused on countries in need of assigned. A particular People Group so God’s love cannot be caught in our the gospel. However, even when identity is not necessarily how persons categories; nevertheless, air can fill a net missionaries founded new within that group would self-identify.” just as God’s love can fill our categories. work in a country, There are also many differences In 2024, the vocabulary of unreached, many ethnic within PGs. A PG may be with its successes and limitations, groups remained reached in a city, but will be 50 years old but the concept of without the unreached in rural prioritising peoples without the Gospel gospel. In 1974, areas. The older is as old as Philip explaining Scripture Ralph Winter, generation may to the Ethiopian eunuch or the Apostle founder of the US be reached, but Paul’s vision for Spain. It is the message Center for World not the youth. behind the parable of the shepherd who Mission, urged Also, trends sought one lost sheep among 100. (If we Ramez Atallah mission leaders to think in urbanisation, extrapolated a definition of ‘unreached’ differently. His term, globalisation and from this parable, then a people group with ‘hidden peoples,’ changed diaspora movements 99% believers would still be unreached.) the focus from national borders mean that PG categories are The wording of the Great to people groups. blurring in settings where many groups Commission has the sense of carrying The term ‘hidden peoples’ begged for live together. the Gospel further and further, ‘to the a definition. What is ‘a people’? Using Mission practice is changing too. utter ends of the earth.’ Clearly, divine the Homogenous Unit Principle, people Some missions now focus on causes love is thorough, if not efficacious. We groups became defined by ethnic and rather than UPGs or places. Causes serve a God who commands us to invest linguistic affinities, and put into lists. can include anti-trafficking, education costly resources and time on endeavors Next, what defined ‘hidden’? The term for girls, or access to clean water, all which have the merest chance, perhaps ‘unreached’ emerged with the technical combined with Gospel proclamation. not for years to come, of resulting in designation of a people group with less The mission organisation, SIM, now one new relationship between Him and than 2% evangelical Christians (and less uses the term ‘communities where someone created in His image. May the than 5 % of any type of Christian). Christ is least known’ which identifies Lord teach us to seek out this someone. This alternative to the focus on countries influenced every area of UNENGAGED missions and produced a wave of Over time, the term ‘unengaged’ emerged. This refers to PGs with no productive new work. Many groups such evangelical church planting strategy underway (www.peoplegroups.org). The as the AD 2000 & Beyond Movement, terms ‘unreached’ and ‘unengaged’ have acquired less technical cousins: leastJoshua Project, Adopt-a-People, reached and under-engaged. PeopleGroups.org, 10/40 Window, Mike Latsko writes in Mission Frontiers magazine that “the term Finishing the Task and more use UPGs ‘unengaged’ is the most offensive in missionary terminology. It is a blatant to describe those who need the gospel. acknowledgement of the missionary community’s refusal to fulfil the minimal In recent years some have apostolic prerequisite of being present among all peoples and beginning the raised concerns about whether this work of gospel proclamation.” * terminology has led to poor strategies in reaching the lost. If a people group *Christianity Today, Why Mission Experts are Redefining ‘Unreached People Groups’ is 3% Christian, it can be categorised as Submitted by the AfriGO editorial team
“Love is the supreme missionary technique.”
www.afrigo.org
