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Unreached Peoples:
Hearing the Gospel vs. not Hearing at all
by Justin D. Long
On this post-Easter Monday, I think it's only appropriate to consider again the thousands of people groups who have no Gospel witness among them.
Background
Tom Alberts of Gospel Lighthouse Ministries wrote in response to our recent request for questions. He asked: "Is there anything available to the missions community that would show which unreached people groups have not heard the gospel at all vis-a-vis those who have heard but have rejected it for now? I think this is a critical distinction. For it seems to me that the former group should be singled out as the first priority of frontier missions. I think the peoples of that group deserve a unique list of their own with specifics as to what's been done or being done to change their status. I know some missions people don't like it but I still think there is an important principle to be reckoned with in Oswald Smith's oft quoted statement to the affect that, 'No one deserves to hear the gospel twice while there are those who have yet to hear it once'. Shouldn't we be compelled to answer the question of why any people group on our planet should still be without any opportunity to hear the gospel for the first time? It has to be unthinkable to us that any group of people should continue in that condition if there is any possible way to reach them. And there must be a way because it's God's will that they come to a knowledge of the truth, not after another 2000 years but today ( and with God all things are possible! ). Anyway, I'd sure like to get my hands on that information so I could improve my mobilization efforts to see to it that these people get the attention they need. Thanks brother!"
Tom, we couldn't agree with you more. And while I'd love to publish this list, I can't--yet. However, I can give you some basic statistics.
The GEM World Evangelization Database 95 forms the core of our collected knowledge about the peoples, cities, provinces, languages, religions and countries of the world. GEM has been collecting, compiling, extending and maintaining this database for over 30 years. It is the foundation of the work we are doing on the 2nd edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia, which we hope to see (finally!) published in a year or two. (As you can imagine, research goes slowly--particularly when searching for information from the field.)
In that work, we will publish everything contained in the WED95--all the peoples, all the cities, etc. But for now, as I said, let me try and answer Tom's question with some basic statistics.
The World A/B/C principle
Many of you are already familiar with our World A/B/C trichotomy. Likewise, many of you are not. This three-scale system of measurement exactly answers Tom's question. We noticed a long time ago that some people had HEARD, AND BELIEVED [World C]; while others had HEARD, BUT REFUSED [World B]; and still others HAD NEVER HEARD [World A].
The World A/B/C scale is, at its foundation, not a measure of a geographic region (as the 10/40 Window is), nor even a measure of evangelistic activity. Instead, it looks at Christendom and Christ from the perspective of the individual who needs Christ and asks two questions: "Is Christ known?" and "Is Christ accepted?" It is not a measure of where a person lives but rather a measure of the state of their soul. Every individual falls into one, and only one, of these three categories.
We also assign a World A/B/C category to peoples, provinces, cities and nations based upon the state of the majority within that segment. This is not to say that the city is completely Christian, or completely evangelized, or completely without access--naturally, within every segment, there are numbers of Christians, evangelized non-Christians and unevangelized souls. Even here in America, which is a World C country, there are several unevangelized (World A) people groups.
The purpose of assigning this code, then, is to help PRIORITIZE.
Some basic statistics
There are...
World A people groups ..... 4,190
World B people groups ..... 2,450
World C people groups ..... 5,630
(a generalized summary from the World Evangelization Database 1995--a full summary and exact numbers will be released with the WCE-2). Click here for a list of the Top World A Megapeoples--each over 1 million in population, and under 50% evangelized. This file can be reproduced in newsletters, magazines, and the like with appropriate citation.
Imbalance in missions
In assigning these codes, we have discovered an amazing thing, which is the core of our advocacy work. Ministry to each of the three spheres, as I said above, is vital. But what we find is a massive IMBALANCE. For example, we have 332,600-odd missionaries among World C (e.g. majority-Christian) peoples, who presumably are working with the minorities of evangelized non-Christians and unevangelized souls within those groups (but often are also proselytizing Christians from other traditions--Protestants proselytizing Catholics, etc--for good or for ill). There are about 51,800 in World B, and just 8,000 in World A.
Are the 332,600 doing valuable ministry in World C? Most, probably, yes. Are they called to World C? Who are we to deny it?
BUT--where are the 332,600 for World A? One is left with two conclusions: either missionaries focusing on World C need to redeploy to World A, or else Christians all over the world are shirking their duty and need to respond to God's call to World A. Or both.
Questions
How can you, the individual Christian or mission agency, increase World A's share of evangelistic activity?
Suggestions