Floyd & Sally McClung

Adapted and Edited by Floyd McClung

What is a people group?

A people group is a significantly large ethnic or sociological grouping of individuals who perceive themselves to have a common affinity for one another. For evangelistic purposes, it is the largest group within which the gospel can spread as a church-planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance. Although there are other types of people groupings, in the context of this program, the word people refers to ethnolinguistic people groups.

What makes a people group unreached?

Also known as hidden or neglected peoples, these groups have no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize their people without requiring outside (cross cultural) assistance.

When is a people reached?

A group is considered reached if it has a viable, indigenous,

self-reproducing church movement in its midst. This includes strong churches, led in their own language, actively evangelizing their own people and planting daughter churches.

Why Are Church Planting Movements Key For Reaching Unreached People Groups?

One of the primary strategies in reaching unreached people groups is to launch church planting movements. A church planting movement is movement of rapidly multiplying small, indigenous house churches. Church planting movements are dependent on a model of church planting that encourages small, simple, easily reproducible churches that are not dependent on buildings, paid leaders or formal educational requirements for leaders to serve.

What does it mean to adopt an unreached people group?

To “adopt” means to focus on one particular people which has had little or no access to the gospel. This approach to mission involves five activities which may be included in an adoption, but your church* may emphasize or eliminate certain ones based on your desire, gifting and ability. These five are: deciding to adopt, prayer to find the right people group, research, partnering with the right network/agency, and church planting.

Why is adopting a people group an effective, Biblical way to reach the world?

Adopting a people group is biblical because it is patterned after God, who is calling and adopting sons and daughters from every tribe, tongue and nation, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (Eph 1:5). When we adopt a people, we are His agents or ambassadors. Adoption is effective because it makes sure that every group has a group of Christians praying for and reaching out to them. Adopting a people is a “doable” piece of the Great Commission, where each church, large and small, can play a part. It allows a church to focus it’s mission activities and insure some measure of success.

Can cell groups and house churches adopt people groups, too?

Absolutely! Any individual or cell group of Christians may adopt. In fact,

it may be simpler for an house church or cell group than for a large church because of the complexity of integrating an adoption within the larger body. It is assumed that most adoptions will be conducted by churches. For simplicity’s sake the term “church” will be used in these pages for the adopting group. Since networking is an important part of a successful adoption, any adopting community will want to team up with others who are focusing on the same people group.

Why emphasize peoples instead of cities or individuals?

When Jesus said in Matt. 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,” (NAS) The word translated nations is the Greek ethne, the basis for our word ethnic. It is not a political or geographical unit, but a people, a tribe, defined by culture and language. God wants all ethne discipled . We focus on reaching ethne because they are God’s focus.

Christ even mentioned a consequence of a successful witness to every ethne.

He said in Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations (ethne again), and then the end shall come.(NAS). God intends for us to complete this assignment before He will return.

Through the efforts of thousands of missionaries in the past, there are now

Christians present in every country. But within many countries, many peoples have no witness in their language or culture. By many churches focusing on different unreached groups through adoption, all groups may receive access to the gospel. The adoption strategy provides the vehicle for Christian groups to become deeply involved in finishing the task.

How important is prayer in adoption?

Prayer is essential at every stage. Eph 6:12 states “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” First, your group must continually ask God to superintend: What is He asking you to do? Then, since your purpose is to usher a people from the kingdom of darkness to light, you will succeed only as you struggle in prayer on their behalf.

How involved must the whole church be in the adoption?

Since a people group adoption may call for sacrifice of time, finances and personnel, a sustainable adoption needs the whole-hearted consensus of the leadership and congregation. Adoption of a people group may be costly, but it promises enrichment and a new vitality in the life of the adoptive fellowship.

How will adoption benefit our church?

Missions will no longer seem overwhelming as the needs of your adopted people are researched and then appropriate steps developed to help. The greater the congregation’s investment of loving effort, the greater the exhilaration as progress is reported within the group. A gripping sense of being able to finish the task can take hold, which will challenge the church to greater vitality and steadfastness in prayer. Ultimately, there will be a people in heaven, thanking you for making them your priority. Many churches report surprising growth as they align their hearts and their activities with God’s love for Unreached Peoples.

Why put so much emphasis on unreached peoples when we have people here in our neighborhood who still need the gospel?

We are not suggesting that you decrease local evangelism. In fact, as you emphasize the lostness of people at a distance, you may also realize a growing sensitivity to the needs of individuals nearby. It is a given that those in your culture are your responsibility for prayer and witness. Unfortunately, unreached people have few or no Christians in their culture to take responsibility for evangelizing them!

Aren’t missionaries already doing this?

Currently an imbalance exists. Nine tenths of our giving and workers is focused on Christians and cultures where the gospel is readily available.

Only one out of ten missionaries have been going to the least reached peoples. Only one half of one percent of Christian giving goes to support work among the least reached. That is only 50 cents out of every 100 dollars given to Christian ministry. This means that we have been sending 90% of our missionaries to people who already have access to hear the gospel through local churches and Christians, while ignoring billions of people still living and dying in darkness. God has commanded us to make disciples of all peoples of the earth.

How attainable is this goal?

There are hundreds of people groups that are unreached but not unreachable. Numerically there are at least 1,300 evangelical churches for every unreached people. If Christians worldwide will work together, enough resources are available for “a church for every people and the gospel for every person by the year 2000″ to become a reality.

For more information see www.joshuaproject.net or visit the web site of Adopt a People www.adoptapeople.com