The Task Remaining In Latin America
How much remains to be done to complete the great commission in Latin America. I ask this because I realize that most of the "unreached people group" task remains in the region called the 10-40 window and since, according to the Joshua Project, there are more than 7,000 unreached peoples we must focus on finishing the task where it is unfinished. Our agency has missionaries working in and out of the 10-40 window and WME is about to deploy a missionary to focus on Disciplemaking in the Indonesia area. We have adopted the Southern Africa Disciple Making Movements and have a missionary couple preparing to launch new DMM outreach to tribals in Botswana. So we are engaged in those areas.
But our primary project for Church Planting Movement/Disciple Making Movement strategy has been in Latin America. Our goal is to see multiple church planting/disciple making movements occur until the task is completed in Latin America....and simultaneously and subsequently, to see leaders from the Latin American movements launch out to facilitate new movements in the 10-40 window and other lesser reached areas. We want to launch multiple DMM fires in Latin America and then see sparks spread the conflagration worldwide.
So what do the most current reports and statistics reveal about the remaining task in Latin America. Check out these facts:
From the top of Mexico to the tip of South America there are:
22 Countries with a cumulative population of 558,494,000 people. The vast majority of these countries are not evangelical. Most of these countries (with only 5 exceptions) are under 20 percent evangelical, and 7 of the countries are less than 10 percent evangelical. (The least evangelical country is French Guiana with only 4.5 percent evangelical). That means that in this large region, there are somewhere around 400,000,000 people who have not been discipled. That last statement is my own general estimate and not scientific, and the numbers might be slightly higher or lower....but not significantly lower!
In these 22 countries there are (according to Joshua Project) 1,396 people groups. Of these people groups, there are 94 (and as you will see later, actually many more than these) unreached people groups. Joshua Project defines an unreached people group as: An unreached or least-reached people is a people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group.
Of these 94 groups, 33 of them are also unengaged. Joshua Project defines an unengaged people group as: An unengaged people group is one which has no active church planting underway. According to the IMB Global Research Office "A people group is engaged when a church planting strategy, consistent with evangelical faith and practice, is under implementation."
In addition to these 94 groups, and not counted in their number, there are an estimated 90 "uncontacted" people groups in the Amazon. "Uncontacted" indicates groups that have very little known of them, including the fact that they exist. No contact with civilization has occurred with these groups. They may or may not be splinter groups from other tribes...much is simply unknown. There is ample evidence that they exist, because of pictures and videos of peoples and villages that have been taken from airplanes, as well as knowledge of them from other remote, yet contacted groups.
Adding all of this together, we see nearly 200 unreached people groups in Latin America, with close to half of them still uncontacted by civilization. That is right, still uncontacted in 2012!
Therefore, let us state the ultimate goal of the Latin American Disciple Making Movement project. Our goal is to see disciple making movements multiply until:
All the Undiscipled (all 400 million of them) are exposed to the gospel through DMM's in their region and people group and all the Undiscipled become Disciples of Jesus Christ.
All the Unreached People groups (All 200 or more groups) are reached with multiplying church movements in each one.
All the Unengaged Peoples (All 120 or more groups) are engaged with the gospel and discipled.
All the Uncontacted Groups (all 90 or more groups) are discipled to become followers of Jesus Christ.
There is still a great Task Remaining in Latin America.
But our primary project for Church Planting Movement/Disciple Making Movement strategy has been in Latin America. Our goal is to see multiple church planting/disciple making movements occur until the task is completed in Latin America....and simultaneously and subsequently, to see leaders from the Latin American movements launch out to facilitate new movements in the 10-40 window and other lesser reached areas. We want to launch multiple DMM fires in Latin America and then see sparks spread the conflagration worldwide.
So what do the most current reports and statistics reveal about the remaining task in Latin America. Check out these facts:
From the top of Mexico to the tip of South America there are:
22 Countries with a cumulative population of 558,494,000 people. The vast majority of these countries are not evangelical. Most of these countries (with only 5 exceptions) are under 20 percent evangelical, and 7 of the countries are less than 10 percent evangelical. (The least evangelical country is French Guiana with only 4.5 percent evangelical). That means that in this large region, there are somewhere around 400,000,000 people who have not been discipled. That last statement is my own general estimate and not scientific, and the numbers might be slightly higher or lower....but not significantly lower!
In these 22 countries there are (according to Joshua Project) 1,396 people groups. Of these people groups, there are 94 (and as you will see later, actually many more than these) unreached people groups. Joshua Project defines an unreached people group as: An unreached or least-reached people is a people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group.
Of these 94 groups, 33 of them are also unengaged. Joshua Project defines an unengaged people group as: An unengaged people group is one which has no active church planting underway. According to the IMB Global Research Office "A people group is engaged when a church planting strategy, consistent with evangelical faith and practice, is under implementation."
In addition to these 94 groups, and not counted in their number, there are an estimated 90 "uncontacted" people groups in the Amazon. "Uncontacted" indicates groups that have very little known of them, including the fact that they exist. No contact with civilization has occurred with these groups. They may or may not be splinter groups from other tribes...much is simply unknown. There is ample evidence that they exist, because of pictures and videos of peoples and villages that have been taken from airplanes, as well as knowledge of them from other remote, yet contacted groups.
Adding all of this together, we see nearly 200 unreached people groups in Latin America, with close to half of them still uncontacted by civilization. That is right, still uncontacted in 2012!
Therefore, let us state the ultimate goal of the Latin American Disciple Making Movement project. Our goal is to see disciple making movements multiply until:
All the Undiscipled (all 400 million of them) are exposed to the gospel through DMM's in their region and people group and all the Undiscipled become Disciples of Jesus Christ.
All the Unreached People groups (All 200 or more groups) are reached with multiplying church movements in each one.
All the Unengaged Peoples (All 120 or more groups) are engaged with the gospel and discipled.
All the Uncontacted Groups (all 90 or more groups) are discipled to become followers of Jesus Christ.
There is still a great Task Remaining in Latin America.
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