Unreached People Groups are Still Waiting - Will you Pray?
Did you know there are 4,487 unreached people groups in the world today? That represents 43% of all people groups worldwide. Behind that number are millions of men, women, and children who have little or no access to the Gospel.
According to Joshua Project, an unreached people group is “a people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group without outside assistance.” In simple terms, unreached people groups have little chance of hearing the name of Jesus unless someone intentionally goes to them or shares the Gospel with them. Many live in places where there are few Christians, no churches, no Bibles in their language, and very limited Gospel resources.
What makes this reality even more heartbreaking is that the smallest percentage of missions funding and cross-cultural workers goes toward reaching the unreached. While many parts of the world have repeated opportunities to hear the Gospel, billions of people still have never heard the name of Jesus even once.
As followers of Christ, we are all called to take part in the Great Commission — to go and make disciples of all nations. While not everyone is called to travel overseas, every believer can participate in God’s global mission through prayer. Prayer is powerful. Through prayer, we can stand in the gap for people who have never heard the Good News. We can pray for open doors, for cross-cultural workers, for Bible translation efforts, and for hearts to be prepared to receive the Gospel.
One simple way to begin is by using the resources available through Joshua Project’s Unreached of the Day Prayer Guide. They offer daily prayer opportunities delivered through email, text messages, and even an app. Considering how much time most of us spend on our phones each day, what if we used some of that time to pray for unreached people groups around the world?
Imagine the impact if thousands of believers committed to praying daily for those who have never heard the name of Jesus. God works through the prayers of His people, and our prayers can help bring hope and the Gospel to places where Christ is still unknown.
Tomorrow is International Day for the Unreached. It is celebrated on Pentecost - the day when the gospel was heard in many languages so it could be taken throughout the world. Would you consider praying each day for the unreached? Would you consider inviting your children and grandchildren to join in these prayers, raising up the next generation of prayer warriors?
New Wineskins Missions Network exists to equip Anglicans for global missions, and reaching unreached people groups is an important part of that mission. Together, through prayer, sending, giving, and going, we can participate in God’s work among the nations.
Canon Shelly Sorem
Canon Shelly Sorem serves as Assistant Director of New Wineskins Missions Network and is a deacon in the Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast. She holds a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. She serves on the Women’s Leadership Network within the Anglican Church in North America’s Provincial Leadership Network, on her diocesan women’s ministry team, and holds the role of Canon for Global Missions in her diocese. In addition, Canon Sorem serves as Vice President on the Provincial Council for the Order of the Daughters of the Holy Cross and is a member of the Board of Trustees for Trinity Anglican Seminary. She is deeply committed to advancing global missions and is passionate about seeing the name of Jesus proclaimed to the ends of the earth. She regularly leads women’s conferences and retreats both nationally and internationally and is dedicated to fostering collaboration among Anglican organizations to further the Kingdom of God. Shelly and her husband, Bill, have been married for 34 years. They have two daughters, two sons-in-law, and four grandchildren.