In Your Bible Read This
Psalm 139; Psalm 8.

Here Is Your Memory Verse
Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back;
lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right
and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle
in their desolate cities. Isaiah 54, 2-3.

Afterwards Talk About This
Look at the map of unreached peoples to see where they are. Who are they?
Are they near to you or far away. Money aside, is it hard to get there or difficult?

Something To Do Before Next Time
Talk to your pastor or elders about the possibility of your church adopting
an unreached people group to pray for, to research and maybe by the grace of God, be reached by a team from your church.

Written Diploma Work
Imagine you live in an unreached people group. Who are you, how do you live
and what do you believe? What are your worst fears? Write two pages.

Meditate Word By Word On This Verse
Jeremiah 8.20

Spend a Minute to Change the World

Pray for Tajikistan - Operation World page 525

6,300,000 Indo-Europeans, 1993 independence and war

82% Muslim, few Christians and many unreached peoples

Be sure to teach this lesson to others.

Always pray and prepare well adding

your own verses and stories to bring it to life.

Consult the follow studies

16. Finishing The Task
Mobilising the church for the Great Commission, opening the theme of unreached peoples.

17. Unreached Peoples
A view of the world, looking from heaven’s perspective.

74. A Missionary Church
Entering the world of missions, and how to begin

Maybe for the first time, we have made you aware of unreached peoples, that is groups of people united by a common bond of language, history or culture, You know that Jesus cannot return until every one of these ‘ethnos’ has a viable national, witnessing church of their own, however small and vulnerable that may be.

To Those Who Are Given Much, Much Is Demanded.
These are uncompromising words of Jesus in Luke 12.48.

The Western Church Is Given Much
Because the churches in the West have been given much in terms of light, revelation and resources over the centuries, much is demanded of her. It is never the perfect plan of God that believers and pastors should enjoy 'Mansions, Mercedes and Mega-holidays' before everyone on earth has had the chance to hear about God's love and salvation.

The Charismatic Churches Even More
Because the charismatic churches have received much in terms of the presence of the Holy Spirit and his gifts, even more is demanded of them. It is never God's perfect plan that believers and pastors should spend hours forever soaking in the anointings, blessings and gifts for personal enjoyment when a fraction of this Holy Spirit power appropriately applied would bring the gospel to unreached peoples facing a lost eternity.

The Church Leaders Are Entrusted With Most Of All
Because the leaders of the churches in the West and in the revival belts of the world have been entrusted with so many people and ample money, much must be demanded of them by the Lord. It is never God's perfect plan that so much energy should be expended in inter-church competitions for ever bigger buildings and ever larger congregations of nominal believers attracted by feel-good programmes whilst men and women still perish eternally for the lack of hearing the gospel for the first and maybe only time.

So mainly, it is the Western, charismatic churches and their leaders who bear the major responsibility for facilitating the completion of the Great Commission in our generation. Although the actual footwork may be best done by the developing world churches who are nearest to the unreached peoples, they urgently need the prayers, the training and the financial help which can only come from the strong Western churches. According to the parable of the talents, if the servants do not use a gift, they lose it. Matthew 25, 14-30.

How can the unreached be reached, even by an inexperienced church that only has a heart to do so, and little more to offer? The AD2000 Joshua Plan which is coordinating work amongst the remaining unreached peoples gives these simple steps.

1. Identify Who The Unreached Are.
First and only stop you need has to be the Joshua Project http://www.joshuaproject.net/index.php for up to date detailed information on the least evangelised peoples in the world. Who they are, where they are, and who if anyone is trying to reach them. You can order leaflets on each people group via the link to Bethany Prayer Centre. In the library of www.dci.org.uk there is an Address Book with many different missions listed. You could also look at www.missionfrontiers.org for a lot of help.

2. Get Together With Like Minded People in Church or on the Internet.
The task is far too much for any one person, church or denomination. The key is for rich Western churches to link up with the manpower of the churches in the revival belts of the world and both to link with the poor churches near to the unreached peoples in a combined strategy of prayer, men, money, materials and wisdom.

3. Personally Research Your Subject.
Psalm 8.4 asks the question, "What is man?" We need to know all about our chosen unreached people so it's back to http://www.joshuaproject.net/index.php then maybe your library or on-line encyclopeadia, Information on thousands of 'ethnos' are available.

4. Begin To Make People Aware.
Once a people group has been chosen it is important to make your whole church and other local churches, as well as the global coordinators aware of what you are planning, so that cooperation can be arranged and duplication can be avoided. Producing information for prayer, motivation and actual strategy are vital.

5. Your Prayer Opens The Way.
You can pray very effectively for the peoples of the 10/40 window from the safety of your own home and land. Often people like AD2000 and YWAM coordinate prayer worldwide for a special focus, say on Hindu peoples. Visits to pray on site, sometimes quietly and unobtrusively if necessary can be very valuable times that change a nation.

6. Having the Church Adopt an Unreached People Group Is Next.

1. Together, pray for guidance about people groups.

2. Together, become informed, and inform others in the church.

3. Together, discuss this with your pastor, familiarise him with the concepts.

4. Decide things with your missions group, or form one to handle the concept.

5. Consult twith church leadership every step of the way.

6. Contact missions agencies or the nearest national churches who may have plans to reach this people. If they haven't, it might be your support that convinces them that now is the time.

7. Pray, pray and pray some more till you see the way clearly, and in unity, and for the grace of perseverance. Get ready to engage in spiritual warfare, binding the powers of darkness who dominate this people from time immemorial and loosing the power of the Holy Spirit and the presence of angels. Set regular times of prayer in peole's diaries.

8. Choose the people group that God has chosen for you, and you know it.

9. Pray for His strategy to enter and evangelize your group, yourselves or through an agency or local, national believers.

10. Communicate and keep communicating your vision and activities to the church, nearby churches, Joshua Project, denominational HQ if you have one, the missions agencies and to the churches nearest to your people group.

7. Church Planting Is The Goal.
An ‘ethnos’ is not reached until a viable, witnessing hopefully self-sufficient church is in place. There are many ways of going about this but no-one should approach the front line without partnership, advice and help. Key ingredients in any serious long term plan are the issues of leadership, organisation, goals, research, assessments, consultations with the nearest national church, joint ownership of a final plan, participation by many, cooperation on site, and evaluation. Many books and materials with good advice and experience are available from AD2000 and the US Centre for World Mission at www.missionfrontiers.org

Finding Your Role Is Crucial.

However daunted you may feel by the size of the challenge, it may well be your personal involvement that is the catalyst that sets everyone and everything in motion, and causes an unreached ‘ethnos’ to be reached for Jesus. As Isaiah says, "Do not hold back, enlarge the place of your tent, spread out to the right and left."

 

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