Over one billion people, according to a report published within the past year by IMB, fall into the categories of unengaged and/or unreached with less than 2% Evangelical Christians and no active church planting within that group during the past two years.[1]
These recent IMB (International Mission Board) statistics indicate that these 1+ billion are scattered around the globe in approximately 5,000 separate people groups. (See chart below.) Many of these groups are small, isolated and difficult to engage. The challenges could be political, geographical, spiritual, linguistic, and more!
However, it’s been almost 2,000 years since Jesus commanded us to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” What would it take for them to hear and believe? How will the message of the Gospel be sent to the last people groups on earth?
Paul asked a similar set of questions in Romans 10: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent?”
Paul gives us part of the answer to his own questions just a couple verses later!
“How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel . . . So then, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” So who will take up the challenge of bringing God’s Word to these remaining people groups in a language and a way they can understand for themselves?
This is the calling of the church today. Are we going to be faithful in this calling?
Let’s pray that the Lord of the Harvest would send forth (ekballow—thrust out) many more laborers into the remaining fields.
Let’s also pray for the All-Nations teams that already have gone forth into the harvest, that God will strengthen them today with might by His Spirit for the unfinished task ahead of them.
—Joel Martin
[1]See GSEC Overview (updated monthly) at https://grd.imb.org/research-data/. ↩
