I can tell you there are over 7000 unreached people groups in the world, totaling 3.28 billion people who have never heard the gospel. These numbers are bigger than we can imagine. What does that mean to you? To be honest, not much. Big numbers like those are impersonal.

How can we make those numbers more personal? Put a face on the numbers, so to speak. This will help you internalize the Great Commission and the people that still need to hear the Gospel. The Joshua Project has an app that helps to put a face to these unreached people.

 

What is the meaning of “unreached”?

An unreached people group is a group that has not heard the gospel at all. They are found all over the world. How can this be? After 2000 years, how can some still not know? The Joshua Project has an article asking “Has Everyone Heard?” that answers that question.

Ralph Winter, a missiologist, defined unreached as “A people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group without outside (cross-cultural) assistance.” That means someone has to go to them to preach the gospel.

Many of the unreached people live in an area called the 10/40 window. I wrote about that in an earlier article: What is the 10/40 Window? And why should it matter to you?

“Unreached” does not mean “unreachable.” We have the technology and the means to reach them. What we lack is the will to do so. Unfortunately, it is not a priority for the Church today.

There are people who are sounding the call to the Church about these people and their needs. They are mission mobilizers, and they are everywhere. Some could even be in your church. Once again, I have an earlier article about that topic: How to Tell if you are a Missions Mobilizer… and what to do about it.

 

Unreached people groups are everywhere

The Christian church is in every country of the world. Even so, there are pockets of unreached people

in each country. There are six groups within 50 miles of where I live. The United States has 97 unreached people groups, according to the Joshua Project. You can research many unreached people on their website.

Some are native American tribes; some are refugees from other countries. God is bringing the world to your neighborhood, and you can have an impact on their life.

 

Why Pray?

 

First, it is our job. Jesus asked us to pray for workers to go into the harvest (Luke 10:2). Second, that is the best way to reach the unreached. Prayer has a power that is not limited by space, time, manpower, or technology.

Research these groups. Adopt one or several to pray for. Form a prayer cell in your church to lift those people up to God in prayer. Here are other articles I’ve written about your part in the Great Commission:

Four Ways You Can Be a Missionary From your living room couch

Get to Know These Three Pillars of Christian Mission And how you can be involved

 

Conclusion

Raise awareness about these unreached people groups. The Joshua Project has resources available for you and your church to engage in prayer for these people. It is imperative that Christians pray if we are to reach the unreached. Using the resources listed above, can you commit to praying for at least one unreached people group?

This post originally appeared on Medium.com.