Unreached People Groups

Four Nations, 12 Unreached People Groups, One Gospel

Billions of people around the world are dying without ever having heard the gospel or even the name of Jesus. Let’s join together in prayer for these unreached people. Pray for God to prepare hearts to hear and receive the gospel and for believers to obey His call to go to them.

Most of the following unreached people groups are considered a frontier people group, meaning there are anywhere from zero to a negligible number of known Christians in their numbers.

WINTER 2023 | Praying for Kenya

• Somalis – 99.9% Muslim
• Garre Oromo – 80% Muslim
• Majikenda, Digo – 80% Muslim

January | Somalis – over 3 million; 99.9% Muslim, 0.09% Evangelical

• The Somali people in Kenya are an extremely family-oriented, nomadic people. While a majority of Somalis in Kenya are Shafiite Muslims, numerous other beliefs are intermingled into their religious practices. Villagers and urban settlers frequently turn to the wadaad (a religious expert) for blessings, charms, and advice in worldly matters. Unfortunately, the few missionaries who have been to this people group have seen little fruit from evangelism.

February | Garre Oromo – 1 million; 80% Muslim, 0.01% Evangelical

• The Garre Oromo in Kenya, originally from Somalia, actually have a larger population in Kenya than they do in their country of origin. This people group is marked by complete loyalty to one another and often will position their living quarters in a way that allows them to easily care for each other. The Garre are widely Muslim and are very orthodox in their religious practices.

March | Majikenda, Digo – 450,000; 80% Muslim, 0.05% Evangelical

• The Digo are an East African tribe right on the border of Tanzania. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Digo experienced a time of great famine, which led many of them to give either themselves or their children as temporary collateral for a loan of food. Many of the Digo became slaves. Later on, these people were redeemed from slavery after converting to Islam. Ancestral worship customs, such as blood sacrifices and use of witch doctors, are deeply embedded into their Islamic practices. While their belief in Islam is shallow, they have adopted many Muslim religious practices.

How can we pray for them?

• Pray for the believing minority who suffer great persecution and martyrdom.
• Pray for courage and strength for those who are boldly sharing their faith.
• Pray for safe fellowship and encouragement for isolated believers.

What is An Unreached People Group?

A people group is defined as an ethno-linguistic group with a common self-identity that is shared by the various members. For strategic purposes it is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.

A people group is considered unreached (UPG) when there is no indigenous community of believing Christians able to engage this people group with church planting. Technically speaking, the percentage of evangelical Christians in this people group is less than 2 percent. South Asia has the largest unreached people group population with 1.5 billion people who have little to no access to the gospel. Of the 11,741 people groups in the world (7.4 billion people), 7,024 are unreached (4.3 billion people).

Unreached people groups are unengaged (UUPG) when there is no church planting strategy, consistent with evangelical faith and practice, under way. Gathering believers and planting churches are the keys to establishing an effective and multiplying presence among these people groups. There are approximately 220 million people worldwide who are unreached and unengaged.

Please join us as we pray for unreached people groups each month. Pray that God will raise up laborers to take the gospel to these parts of the world. Pray for the truth of Christ to overcome the darkness.

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