Many years ago, God used this map to capture my attention. It is a stark visualization of the groups of people in the world who still have little or no access to the Good News of Jesus. Behind each red dot is a people group (some over 100 million people) who typically do not know a Christian or have a church near them. Most will likely live and die without ever hearing a clear presentation of the gospel from someone they know and trust.
According to the Joshua Project, there are 16,382 distinct people groups that make up the world’s total population of 8 billion people. Each red dot represents one of the 7,124 (43%), remaining Unreached People Groups (UPGs). A people group is defined as “unreached” when less than 2% of the group’s population are Evangelical Christians or less than 5% are Christian adherents (those who claim any form of the Christian religion). So, when we talk about UPGs, we’re not just talking about lost people, we’re talking about a lack of access to the gospel.
Here at M3 Global, we believe one of the greatest injustices in our world is people having no access to the saving message of Jesus. We believe one part of our M3 calling is to help lift the eyes of Christ-followers toward these unreached groups. Admittedly, this is hard for most people today because they have so much going on in their our own lives, families, and communities. But as disciples of Jesus who have been blessed with multiple opportunities to hear and receive the gospel, we believe that caring for those who have not had the same opportunities should be a priority for us. Afterall, Jesus taught and modeled this care and priority for us (Matthew 28:18-20).
While the number of UPGs can be a bit overwhelming, missiologists (people who study this sort of thing), tell us that the gospel has advanced more in the past 50 years than in the previous 20 centuries (since Pentecost). But the unfortunate reality is that even with this amazing progress, 3.5 billion people in 7,124 people groups still have limited or no access.
This year, our goal here at M3 is to advance the gospel in multiple UPGs in North Africa and the Middle East. We would like for you and your family to be a part of this advance. We want to help you with this by highlighting some of the UPGs that M3 and its partners are working to reach in these regions. Over the next several months in our Updates, we will spotlight an unreached group and offer ways you and your family can be praying for them, sharing their story, and discovering partnership opportunities. And to increase awareness, we will also be spotlighting these UPGs in our social media so please make sure you are following us, liking us, and sharing our posts with your friends.
As Bible-believing Christ-followers, we know the day is coming when people from every group (nation, tribe, and tongue) will bow down and worship Jesus, the Lamb of God (Revelation 7:9). But Jesus was clear that this won’t happen until every group has an opportunity to hear the gospel (Matthew 24:14). Let’s commit together to making UPGs a priority in our prayers and support. Together, we can do even greater things for His kingdom as we prepare for His return!
For His Global Glory!
