by Rev. Casey Southerland
PMU Field Director, Cincinnati, OH
the Missions Banner, Aug/Sep 2025

In August 2025, PMU began sharing our desire to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to Unreached People Groups.  You may already be aware of this and praying for this effort.  If not, let me invite you to make this a regular part of your prayers.

To help us pray and pursue this together I would like to begin by defining some terms.  For starters, why do we use the term people group?  The Great Commission (Mt. 28:18-20) commands Christians to go and make disciples of “all the nations” (panta ta ethne).  This had at one time been thought to refer simply to countries or nation-states.  The establishment of a single church in a country was sometimes considered fulfillment of the Great Commission in that nation.  Since the 1970’s, there has been a growing acknowledgement in missions that a country may contain many groups with their own unique ethnicities and languages that would remain unreached by the gospel if the barriers of language and culture were not addressed. These groups, once described as “hidden peoples”, are now more commonly referred to as “people groups”.  For evangelistic and strategic purposes, a people group is commonly defined as “the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance” (1982 Lausanne Committee).  It can be generally understood as a people who have their own language and culture.

Now, let’s consider how we define an Unreached People Group (UPG).  An Unreached People Group does not mean that the group is completely “Unengaged” or “Uncontacted”.  An Unreached People Group is commonly defined based on the ability of the group to propagate the gospel to its own people.  This means an indigenous, self-propagating church has been established such that the remaining population can be reached from within the group.  If 2% or more of the population is Christian, then it is generally considered reached.  Reaching an Unreached People Group is a multifaceted endeavor requiring several gospel laborers over many years.  We will consider some of the various ministries involved in reaching UPG’s in future Missions Banners.  For now, would you please remember the Unreached in your prayers?

How you can begin to pray:

• Please pray for research and identification of potential people groups and fields where PMU could take the gospel.
• Pray for clear understanding of the context, the particular needs and opportunities of fields, the country’s openness to missions, challenges related to establishing a mission work in particular regions, countries, and climates.
• Please pray for the many other factors that need to be known to care well for missionaries on the field.

Please pray for senders and goers who are committed to devote their lives and their resources to see the Lord’s name declared to those who have yet to receive the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.