Difficult Terms - 'Unreached People Groups' by Ivor Poobalan

In this series of short videos from the Lausanne Movement, we define key missional terms in an easy-to-understand way.
We often hear the term 'unreached people groups' when speaking about global missions, and the term itself came out of the First Lausanne Congress in 1974. But what does it actually mean? Learn the biblical and historical contexts behind this term and the implications and challenges of its usage today.
Ivor Poobalan is the co-chair of the Lausanne Theology Working Group and the principal of Colombo Theological Seminary in Sri Lanka.
View more videos in our 'Difficult Terms' series:
• Difficult Mission Terms
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[@TedEsler]

Excellent summary. Great job, Ivor.

[@rajukhristi1664]

Very good summary.

[@drewjennings-grisham7778]

I think we also should not lump all these groups in one basket. The truth is there are those who simply have not heard, but there are also many who have heard and chose to reject the message. Perhaps these need a different category, because calling them "unreached people groups" seems to imply that we simply need to "reach" them then, when in reality in many cases others have tried to "reach" them and it was so ethnocentric or insensitive or colonial that the community (justifiably) chose not to believe the message because of the messengers.

[@juliesoltis3522]

The work ahead is daunting but praise God the cross is empty and the victory is won, 1st Corinthians 15:57 and 58.

[@drewjennings-grisham7778]

So you talk about the issue with how we understand ethnos/nation/people group, but shouldn't we also problematize the other half of the phrase: "unreached"? Unreached by who, exactly? God? Are we implying that missionaries are taking God with them to people who have had no previous encounter with or knowledge of the Creator? Perhaps we could use a phrase like "people groups who have not accepted the message of Jesus."

[@markstyants9468]

This is an interesting point - I was presuming that this video would tackle this subject a little as I had heard recently from a Christian leader in India who did not find the term 'unreached' helpful at all. I can't recall fully why that was, but what you highlight is helpful to consider as part of that. I think the Indian leader I have referred to was suggesting that the people groups themselves don't like to be labelled 'unreached', seeing it as derogatory and condescending.