I saw a striking quote during a recent tour of Tulsa’s Greenfield neighborhood, site of the burned down Black Wall Street. (How did I get so old and know so little?) James Baldwin’s words about the massacre are emblazoned on a wall, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Indeed.
I was in Tulsa with a small band of friends who want to deliberately face the existence of people groups on the planet who have no one in their midst inviting them to consider the claims of Christ. We believe God wants that to be different and humbly think he may want to use us to that end. These groups are referred to as unengaged unreached people groups.
Here are five facts I want you to know about them:
- The best current research says there are 1572 Unengaged Unreached People Groups (UUPG’s). 393 of them are Muslim. The others are divided among Hindu, Buddhist, Ethnic religions and others.
- A UUPG is defined as one in which no one is living and working in a local language, engaging in ministry focused on sparking a movement of disciples to Christ.
- UUPG’s matter, in our minds, because the kingdom of God does not fully come until a people group is discipled and a people group is not discipled until someone from somewhere starts something.
- We expect the 1572 number to drop by as much as 30% based on developing research. We’re asking God to drop the remaining number to zero by the end of 2025.
- Our conviction and hope is that most of the UUPG’s will be engaged by culturally nearby believers. By God’s grace we’re connecting some dots.
Thanks for facing the Muslim world with me, those who are down the street and those on the other side of the planet. For more info on UUPG’s, please check out our “currently in beta” website. The “Explorer Tool” will help you see what UUPG’s live where.
Ramadan’s Night of Power is Monday, April 17th. Please check out my latest Muslim Connect video (shot in Tulsa!) for background and ways to pray.