Seeing the Harvest Beyond Our Borders: Missions Mobilization
By Sherri Tabaka-Morrissey
By Sherri Tabaka-Morrissey
Why is the Unreached People Group (UPG) Wall Showing Up Around the World?
Do you know that there are over 7000 unreached people groups around the world?
An unreached people group is a people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize the people group without outside assistance. It is measured by having less than or equal to 2% Evangelical Christians, and less than or equal to 5% Christian adherents throughout the population.
Origins of "The Wall"
“The Wall” is the work of Olivia Watkins, a member of Missions Mobilization Team of the Kingdom Advancement Commission. Olivia came to the team after 7 years of experience serving as a Cross-Cultural Witness in Nepal, a nation of approximately 29.63 million people. While the Body of Christ is growing in Nepal, less than 2% of the population know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, making it a highly unreached nation for Christ.
Olivia’s passion to share the Gospel is infectious! She also has a burden to see local churches awakened and equipped for disciple-making. To creatively communicate the immense need for strategic missional engagement, especially in the highly unreached nations of the world, Olivia designed the 19.5 foot long “UPG Wall.” Based on information from https://joshuaproject.net/, the UPG Wall identifies and lists “unreached people groups” within nations.
Can you imagine if every GMC congregation ‘adopted’ an unreached people group and committed to praying regularly for them? God’s Word tells us the harvest is ready. Over time and through the power of the Holy Spirit, the names of these UPGs would need to be removed from the Wall!
The Wall – in Motion
We tend to think of walls as stationary, but not this one! The UPG Wall has been from Lubbock, Texas to Bangkok, Thailand…and it keeps going. Soon the UPG Wall will be in Sophia, Bulgaria; Abuja, Nigeria; and Nairobi, Kenya.
How are People Responding to the UPG Wall?
First encounters with the wall produces sober amazement at the vast number of people groups that have yet to hear the gospel of Jesus, or that have so few believers, they lack the capacity to evangelize their own people without assistance.
For some, encountering the wall is a strong reminder that we are called to be reaching people and making disciples, followed by reflection: “What is our church doing to reach the lost – ‘here at home’ or beyond?
Many who have long histories of missional engagement among more highly reached people groups begin to think about what it means for there to be so many people in the world who’ve yet to hear the gospel even once.
One participant from India, said he “couldn’t sleep all night” after seeing the wall, and that “we have work to do!”
Others who encounter the UPG Wall through participating in an Engage Mission Training event, have left with greater commitments to intercessory prayer for the nations, as well as for persecuted believers throughout the world.
Three Possible Next Steps for You and Your Congregation
First. If you haven’t attended an Engage Mission Training or a global Ablaze Event (which combines training in mission mobilization, disciple making and church multiplication) plan to attend!
Engage is designed to help churches become faithful and fruitful – fulfilling Jesus’ command to make disciples (Matthew 28:16-20) within an Acts 1:8 framework – locally, regionally, across cultures, and among the least reached:
Upcoming Engage Mission Training Events are scheduled for:
- May: Sophia, Bulgaria
- May: Nigeria for West Africa Conferences
- June 9-14: Kenya for East and Central Africa Conferences
- August 11-13: North Carolina Conference
- September 22 -24: Great Lakes Conference
Additional events are being planned for October and November.
Second. Access the expanding Kingdom Advancement portal and discover resources to learn how to strengthen your missional engagement. Key links include:
Unreached People Group Webpages
Third. Download the Acts 1:8 Mission Health Check from the Mission Mobilization webpage:
This simple tool can be used by churches of all sizes to assess and strengthen your missional engagement. Invite your missions/outreach team or your church leadership team to prayerfully identify how God is calling your congregation to participate in making disciples at home and around the world!
Acts 1:8 and the Global Methodist Church
We are called to be Christ’s witnesses our “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the Ends of the Earth. Every GMC congregation is called to be a faithful witness to the life-transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we fulfill our mission to “makes disciples of Jesus Christ and spread scriptural holiness across the globe.”
Dr. Sherri Tabaka-Morrissey is a GMC Elder of the MidSouth Conference. She has served cross-culturally for 20 years with Thailand Now, an approved mission partner of the GMC. Sherri leads the GMC Mission Mobilization Team, a part of the Kingdom Advancement Commission.