Unreached People Groups
There are 12,000 unique people groups in the world. Half of these—6,000 groups consisting of several billion people—are considered unreached by the gospel message. They live behind barriers of culture, terrain, language and orality.
In rural areas they dwell in deserts, on islands, jungles or mountains. They may be simple farmers, fishermen, hunters or livestock keepers. In urban areas they are the “huddled masses,” many of whom live in slums. Most importantly, they have no access to the gospel.
They are illiterate or functionally illiterate—perhaps the greatest barrier of all. Even if a Bible were available in their language, they could not read it. Yet, they have ears to hear.
What Is An Unreached People Group?
According to peoplegroups.org, for strategic purposes, a people group is the largest group through which the gospel can flow without encountering significant barriers of understanding and acceptance. An unreached people group (UPG) is a people group in which less than 2% of the population is Evangelical Christian.
Researchers have discovered that there is no known plan or specific effort to reach about half of the world’s unreached groups. They are called unengaged, unreached people groups (UUPGs), and they are the ones no one is trying to reach. The UUPGs represent the last frontier in missions. If you are interested in reaching them, read on.
What Are the Barriers to Reaching Them?
(Expand the barriers to learn more.)
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No Written Scripture
Many speak one of the 4,000+ languages that are without a written translation of the Bible. Many of these languages don't even have a written alphabet. Obviously they can't read about Jesus, but this also means there can be no evangelism tools that depend on a written translation, like films and traditional audio Bible recordings.
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Orality
The vast majority could not read or understand a written translation of the Bible in their language even if one existed. Orality is more than just an inability to read, it is a way of thinking that we literates do not understand unless we intentionally study it. Literate concepts like outlines or expository teaching are less effective with oral people, even when they are spoken.
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Culture
Each people group has an affinity not shared with any other people group because of language, religion, ethnicity, residence, occupation, class, caste or life circumstances. These cultural differences prevent the gospel from easily spreading from one people group to another, and this is the reason cross–cultural missions like StoryRunners exist.
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Geography and Climate
They are often isolated by geography and climate. There are people groups in Central Asia that are only accessible a few months out of the year due to severe weather. In other places, nomadic groups can be hard to track down.
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Hostile Governments and Oppressive Social Systems
Many of the world's systems are opposed to the message of Jesus Christ and actively try to stop it. Bibles and Christian media are confiscated or strictly controlled. Some classes of people are oppressed and guarded from outside influences. As a result, missions have difficulty accessing some areas.
Taken together, these issues form a formidable wall to the gospel. That's partly why, even after 2,000 years, more than a billion people still live in thousands of unreached people groups without access to the gospel message.
How Can You Overcome These Barriers?
This is exactly the question that launched StoryRunners in 2003. After years of research, testing and initiating different projects, the result is the Story Bible and the Story Bible Strategy to get to every last people group in the world.
The Story Bible solves the problem of no written scripture and no written language because the Bible is translated with an oral process that does not require people to write anything down. It solves the problem of orality and culture because an oral translation process produces stories told in a natural, spoken, culturally relevant style. The barriers of geography, climate, and governments are better solved when missionaries are nationals from the country or from near-by cultures.
Whether you are a church, denomination, donor, foundation or another mission organization, talk to us about how you can take the Story Bible and implement it or adapt it to your own context. StoryRunners offers training, consulting and turn-key projects that you can donate to right now.
Choosing a People Group
Unless you are a research specialist, the task of choosing a people group to reach can be daunting. First pray for God to lead you to the right people. Then try the StoryRunners People Group Finder, a fun and easy way to help you or your church get started. If we can help you in a more personal way, or if we can assist you in reaching a people group, please let us know.
You can find a summary of the top 30 countries with unreached people groups on the StoryRunners unreached people group research page. There are also links to maps and additional data.