Ethnolinguistic Missions

I. What is this?
This is the understanding of how culture just as much as language has an influence on the reception of the gospel message around the world. This to help us understand how different ethnic groups receive the gospel message. All research information is changing rapidly. I recognize that there may be groups over 10,000 in population that have not been studied as well as "Christian Adherent" groups though some of these groups may need to be re-evangelized. However groups from cultural and nominal Christian backgrounds are included on the CPPI index found at www.peoplegroups.org. Profiles, additional data, and resources are available at www.joshuaproject.org.

II. This article focuses on ethnolinguistic UNENGAGED, Unreached People Groups.
I acknowledge that there are many unreached people groups that still need many more workers for the harvest. 

The purpose of this STUDY is bring our focus on those groups which have no KNOWN workers engaging in full-time evangelism and church planting. 
Also it is to discourage the "nesting syndrome" in modern missions. In today's day and age we should be more eager to strike out on our own (if the door is open) rather than cluster in the same place. Be it the Lord's will.

III. Where did this information come from?
This information is obtained from, the International Mission Board, Joshua Project, and the Center the Study of Global Christianity. 

The Matthew 24:14 passage says, that the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world for a witness unto all "nations".. and the Matthew 28 command of our Lord to, “make disciples of all nations.”  
I believe the first step to being obedient to that command is to encourage full-time workers to go to every group. Also to empower and equip those who are already on the ground to do more, since they are already cultured. Knowing the cultural ins and outs is a vital part of integration otherwise the gospel is simply your religion. 

IV. What is the progress on previously Unengaged People Groups

Many mission organizations and churches have prioritized the sending of workers to previously Unengaged People Groups. Here is a report of the outreach efforts since 2006.

598    - Groups engaged
18,000 - Full-time missionaries
51,000 - Bi-vocational and part-time workers
77,000 - Churches planted
2 Mil  - Estimated believers
453    - Ethnolinguistic Unengaged* Unreached People Groups

Many more workers are needed for these groups, but we praise God for His blessings thus far.

The Chilando Family www.martinchilando.com

LESS IS MORE

Ninety-nine percent of missionary effort and financial support goes to places where the churches are already present.

Shocking, isn't it? If we’re going to reach the world for Christ, we’d better start doing things a little differently.

I found this statistic on the website of the Issachar Initiative. It’s a coalition of people and organizations formed around the goal of seeing a world with zero people groups unreached with the gospel. One of Issachar’s main objectives is to use mission resources in a more informed, strategic manner.

To do this, many have begun looking to native missionaries, who are doing 95% of effective pioneer work among unreached peoples in the world today.

However as more research surfaces about native missionaries’ effectiveness, more and more "organizations" are using the nationals.

Sounds like a good thing, right? Well, there’s a problem with my above statement and it has to do with that word “using".

“Using” implies putting other people to work to carry out our objective, our vision. If we are to plant indigenous Churches that remain we have to rethink this method to "equipping". Ephesians 4:12 uses the word "Perfecting" which means "to fully equip".

“Equipping” is an entirely different ballgame. It involves teaching, evaluating, listening, entrusting, and assisting. That’s what we do in Zambia. And that’s why I love working here. We ask questions like “What is your vision and what do you need to fulfill it?” For were there is no vision the people perish. 

For example in Zambia, One of the men in the church told me that people won't come to church unless they know someone. So personal connection is more effective than cold call door knocking or print, and it proved to be true.

Unfortunately I have discovered a trend in our Churches in America. That is, the mentality that church planting is the same in the US as it is abroad. The opposite is true.

If you don’t live were they live and learn how they think, how would you know what methods are best to reach their people? When it comes to foreign missions one size simply does not fit all.

When it comes to the most important work on earth we should be more strategic. Less empire building and more mission focused. And for the missionary, Less using and more equipping? 

By Martin Chilando, Zambia

c. (Issachar initiative), (missions with home field advantage)