Misreached People Groups

The unreached people groups of the world are vast and need people to go tell them about the gospel. So why are there mission fields in places that are technically “reached” with Christianity? Should we be going to places that Joshua Project has reported which have high percentages of the main religion being Christian?

Or maybe a better question is this:

Why we would send missionaries to a “reached” people group?

I had the opportunity to talk to an older Christian who had recently come home from serving as a missionary for many years in Ireland with Mission to the World. Ireland? That doesn’t seem like some place that doesn’t have the gospel. They have Bibles, access to the internet, and sermon audio, right? Well, technically yes. . .but also no. Inland Ireland is still heavily influenced by the Irish Catholic church. When people joined Bible studies to actually be able to read and learn about the Scriptures for the first time, their children were kicked out of the schools, since the schools required the parents to attend mass. Only about 1.7% of the population is evangelical (whatever that means). My fellow believer and I were talking about this struggle, and he used the term “misreached people groups.” I hadn’t heard that term before, but I really liked it and have adopted it into my vocabulary as well.

Many places are “reached.” However, are they actually reached with the gospel or have they been sold a false gospel? There are many organizations that call themselves Christian or claim to believe in God, but what they share is not actually the love of Christ. Some “churches” are really good at evangelizing, but it is the wrong gospel! Some are good at sharing really good lists of do’s and don’ts—but it isn’t the gospel. How our hearts should long to be on fire for sharing the true gospel and the true love that has been shown us by our Savior and Redeemer.

What about closer to home? How about your neighbors or those who are new to the country or neighborhood? Have they heard and seen the true gospel? How about those who have been hurt by professing believers who aren’t living out the true gospel? Often these groups of misreached people groups can be very difficult to reach with the gospel, but they are the lost and unreached (or misreached) as well. They need the gospel; they need the church; they need love and compassion as well.

Let’s live passionately for the gospel to go forth to the nations and to all those misreached people groups as well, even near and in our own homes.