Do you see the gap?
But, Habakkuk 2:14 says, "The knowledge of the glory of the Lord WILL fill the earth as waters cover the sea. "
Who are 'Unengaged Peoples?'
An unengaged unreached people group is a people group with no known active church planting underway (click here for technical definition).
Some call them "forgotten people," but they aren't, not by God anyway. He calls them "cherished."
Unengaged peoples are people who live their daily lives farthest from the reach of the gospel.
Who are 'Unengaged Peoples?'
Explore the Lists
In this section you can explore the lists of UUPG based on your own criteria. You can search by continent, country, religious block and population.
We also provide a 3-D globe you can rotate and see where some of these people groups live.
You may have heard about the least-reached peoples of the world and the categories used to describe them. You may have heard about 'unreached peoples' or 'frontier peoples' before. . .
Unengaged Unreached People Groups (uupg) have no one among them proclaiming Christ with intent to birth and nurture multiple communities of Jesus-followers. No one from close by or far away. Until we engage them, they remain, tragically, both unreached and unreachable.
An Unbegun Task...
In the Great Commission, Jesus sends us to ALL the people groups of the world. He tells us to make disciples, to make Christ-followers.
In our age, with initiatives like the Joshua Project, we have the gift of being able to "see" the peoples of the world in a way not possible before. And for all our gospel effort to date, we can see people for whom the gospel is currently an unknowable thing.
We can see people who live without churches or gospel workers. They live outside the church's current reach... They are unengaged unreached peoples.
Why focus on Unengaged Peoples?
The New Testament word for nations here is ethne (or peoples). Notice the non-21st century nature of the command: it is reckless and all-encompassing! Jesus does not command us to focus on the few (or many) that we can reach easily or well; He sends us to gather worshippers from All people groups. . . all. . . every last one.
Why focus on unengaged peoples? Because Jesus told us to make disciples of all people groups, and the unengaged, by definition, have none.
How will they be engaged?
We will reach out our hands and introduce ourselves, and we will become friends.
Ah, but that wasn't your question, was it?
Seriously, we will have to do what we have not done before. By definition, right? These are people who have not yet been engaged.
We will creatively employ prayer, international networks, majority world goers, financial approaches, and training, sending and sustainment approaches. We will do what we have not done before.
