Praying for the Unreached

What is a people group?

In the missions context, a people group is not merely a population figure. It is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church-planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.

A people group is commonly identified by a shared language, culture, ethnicity, or identity — a community within which the message of Jesus can move freely, person to person.

What is an unreached people group (UPG)?

An unreached people group is one with no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize the group without outside assistance.

Missions researchers commonly define an unreached people group as one with no more than 5% Christian adherents and no more than 2% Evangelicals.

In practical terms: many have never had a meaningful conversation with a follower of Jesus, and there is no local church able to reach them from within.

Where do most UPGs live?

The majority of the world's unreached peoples are concentrated across North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia — a region commonly known as the 10/40 Window, the rectangular area between 10° and 40° north latitude.

This region is home to most of the world's Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists, and contains the overwhelming majority of the world's least-evangelized nations, megacities, and unreached people groups.