Reassessing the Frontiers Losing Sight of the Frontier Mission Task: What’s Gone Wrong with the Demographics? by R. W. Lewis

stared in shock at the bar graph. It was on the website of one of the most extensive databases of unreached people groups (UPGs) in the world. “How can the Scottish people group,” I thought, “be the largest unreached but Iengaged people group in the world?” I was baffled. A quick search on the Internet revealed that Scotland not only has many churches but also has renewal move- ments going on within the Church of Scotland and other Protestant denomina- tions. But further down on that same bar graph were the Japanese with far fewer churches. Even farther down were some large Muslim and Hindu people groups with no believers whatsoever and very few missionaries trying to engage them.

All of these people groups were in the same category: unreached but engaged—engaged because at least one missionary is working with them. Today people groups with high numbers of Christians are being classified as unreached people groups in some databases, simply because less than 2% of the Christians are in separate evangelical denominations.

The unintended consequences of these kinds of data representations are alarming: unreached peoples groups with no believers among them will not receive the witnesses they need if they are not clearly distinguished from those with thousands of believers already. For example, let’s compare the needs of the 46 million French people in France 1 and 45 million Shi’a Muslims in India.2 Both are categorized as unreached but engaged. But the Shi’a Muslims have few believers, no known fellowships and only a handful of people trying to reach them. Meanwhile, France has 1.2 million Protestants, R. W. Lewis studied the history including 500,000 evangelicals who make up 1% of the population. The of Christian missions in both her undergraduate and graduate degrees, country has thousands of evangelical churches (2,263) and a reported aver- and in the 1970s helped her missiolo- age annual evangelical growth rate of 2.4%. Finally, there are some 1500 gist father, Dr. Ralph D. Winter, map Protestant (mostly evangelical) foreign missionaries working within its bor- unreached peoples. She is a missionary scholar-practitioner who has min- ders.3 The relative need for help is extremely different but is being lost in cur- istered with her husband among the rent data representations, with the result that many missionaries go to France Muslims of North Africa and South Asia for over thirty years. but very few go to the 300 million Muslims living in South Asian countries.

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Somehow the frontier mission task has who were trying to help Christians in with a) no movements to Christ of become confused and obscured. How people groups that already had their own their own and b) virtually no laborers did we lose sight of the frontier people churches—whether or not they were ac- to bring them the message. groups—namely, those that have not tive or in need of revival or reformation. Yet after forty years, far less than 1% of yet had any missiological breakthrough In the early 80s, the term used for people the global mission workforce is going to with a resulting movement of believers groups requiring frontier mission efforts these frontier people groups that make in their people group? was changed to unreached people groups, up roughly one third of the world’s Discovering the Frontier which meant “people groups without an population. The vast majority of mis- indigenous church-planting movement.” sionaries are still going to people groups Mission Task A number of agencies arose (e.g., Joshua that already have strong churches and Over four decades ago, demographers Project and Adopt-a-People Clearing movements to Christ. Why? at World Vision’s MARC and mission House) to try to figure out and illustrate I believe the primary cause of dispropor- scholars at Fuller Theological Seminary’s which people groups were unreached tionate sending is a lack of clear demo- School of World Mission (SWM) real- people groups so that missionaries could graphics. The frontier people groups, ized that there remained thousands of be sent to them. However, as chronicled 6 those which have never had any move- cultures without a witness to Christ. One in David Datema’s recent article, this ment to Christ, are not being distinctly of those SWM professors, my father, initial definition of UPG was quickly highlighted. Changing the criteria of the late missiologist Dr. Ralph Winter, broadened and eventually has led to the 4 unreached people groups, such as includ- chose the term hidden people groups to confusion I wish to address in this article. ing all people groups with less than 2% refer to overlooked people groups that evangelical in this category, has resulted in had neither any indigenous movement the inclusion of many people groups with of believers in Christ nor many witnesses strong national movements to Christ. coming from other cultures. Why are most Dr. Winter showed the desperate plight missionaries still going Today many maps and charts of un- of these hidden people groups graphi- reached people groups do not clearly cally on the pie chart called “Penetrat- to people groups that distinguish between: 5 ing the Last Frontiers.” As a recent have strong churches 1. people groups that have not had graduate of Caltech, I worked with my any movements to Christ (fron- father to show the statistics on that pie and movements tier people groups); chart. He wanted to clearly distinguish to Christ? 2. people groups that now have sus- between those non-Christians who tainable indigenous movements could be reached by Christians in their among them, though small, and; own culture and the people in hidden 3. people groups with a lot of non- people groups, which were culturally evangelical or even nominal distant non-Christians—those who The Purpose of Frontier Christians who still need help were so sufficiently different culturally Missions Demographics: with renewal and outreach to and linguistically from any Christian Strategic Deployment their own group. church that they could not realistically be assimilated into existing fellowships The frontier mission task is to catalyze These three types of people groups need but needed their own fellowships. self-sustaining indigenous movements different missiological approaches.No - to Christ in every people group that tice that it is possible to partner with The term frontier missions was coined at does not yet have one. I will refer to indigenous/national churches in the that time because the word missions was these people groups as frontier people latter two kinds of people groups, but 7 being applied broadly and legitimately groups. This task includes identifying not in the first kind. Although all three to many different mission endeavors. and overcoming barriers to that goal. are being classified as unreached, only The term frontier missions sought to the frontier people groups (#1) require specify the pioneering or frontier mission The purpose of unreached people a cross-cultural effort by any witness, task facing those going to people groups group demographics is strategic de- even if that witness is coming from “where Christ has not been named . . . not ployment of missionaries: to mobilize adjacent people groups with believers building on another’s foundation” (Rom. churches and agencies to send workers but distinct cultures and identities. 15:20). This task was to be distinguished to the people groups where they are from the very legitimate evangelistic most needed, specifically frontier peo- Since most churches prefer to send peo- and discipling task of those missionaries ple groups—unreached people groups ple to partner with existing Christians

International Journal of Frontier Missiology R. W. Lewis 7 and church movements, the frontier peo- ple groups are inadvertently eliminated aving a new term will help clarify the from deployment options. The result is distinctive needs of frontier people groups and that the areas with the most Christians receive the most missionaries: Oceania H the different problems faced in pioneering work. receives 300 foreign missionaries per Several problems confusing the to develop resources that have helped million people, Latin America receives frontier task will be discussed in detail us refocus the mission movement 162, Europe 146, North America 113, below, but here is one quick example: on reaching every people group on and Africa 93. However, all of Asia the Scottish people have a long history earth. Mission agency leaders, like my receives on average only 13 foreign mis- of indigenous movements to Christ husband and me, and mobilization or- sionaries per million people, with India and a high percentage of Protestant ganizations have been very dependent coming in very low at only 7 foreign 8 adherents, but few separate evangeli- on their data to determine strategic missionaries per million. cal denominations. Currently the IMB deployment. Having spent the last 9 Current UPG demographic databases people groups website does not track couple years discussing the need for do not prioritize clearly the people the percentage of a people in a given clearer demographic representations groups with NO existing churches— group who consider themselves Chris- of that task, I have been impressed by let alone no believers—with whom to tian (whether Protestant, Catholic, or the deep commitment of all involved in work. So recruitment and deployment Orthodox, etc.), but only the percent- the frontier mission task. I present now of missionaries around the globe is age who consider themselves evangeli- some of the main concerns that have not taking into account this crucial cals. They use new evangelical churches come out during those discussions. difference. As a result, hundreds of planted as a key sign of progress. This large frontier people groups (who do means people groups like the Scottish Barriers to Understanding the not currently have sufficient help to will continue to be classified as un- Frontier Mission Task catalyze an indigenous movement to reached people groups even if renewal Problem #1: Confusing the Term Christ in their midst) are being com- movements completely transform Unreached People with Unreached pletely overlooked. and fill up their existing churches and People Groups denominations with new believers. In This problem shows why we need a order to succeed in getting the Scottish At a recent conference on global mis- new term, one that cannot be stretched people off the IMB list of unreached sions, one of the speakers said, more broadly, that would refer only to people groups, it is painfully apparent There are many areas of Los Angeles those people groups that have never that indigenous renewal movements where less than 2% of the people are yet had such an indigenous move- are not sufficient. New separate evan- evangelicals. Unreached peoples are ment. Because the already-established all around us. gelical churches must be planted. term, frontier missions, refers to this pioneering task, I believe that frontier The Joshua Project is more selective All people who do not know God people groups is the best term to use and they have eliminated from their through Jesus Christ are equally lost and for these groups. Having a new term lists of UPGs any people group with in need of a witness and can be consid- will help us to keep clear the distinc- more than 5% Christian identification. ered unreached by the gospel. There are tive needs of frontier people groups However, their site also uses the 2% a lot of unreached people all around us, and the different kinds of problems evangelical cutoff, a criterion that lumps even in many of our churches. However, faced in pioneering work. frontier people groups, that have had unsaved people do not belong to an no movements to Christ, together with unreached people group if they are part Re-Clarifying the Frontier Mission UPGs that have strong movements to of a people group with vibrant churches Task: How Demographics Have Christ. Again, we are inadvertently los- that can help reach them. Maybe no Changed the Criteria for Success ing sight of the frontier mission task. church or missionary is reaching out to them, but they are still not part of an Shifting the definition of unreached It has been a mammoth task to develop unreached people group. people groups has also confused the the brilliant tools needed to track frontier mission task. So, not only the progress of the gospel among the In his 1984 article, “Unreached Peo- are frontier people groups no longer people groups of the world. We all owe ples: What Are They and Where Are clearly distinguishable, which impacts a huge debt of gratitude to organiza- They?” Dr. Ralph Winter stated that, deployment, but mission strategies tions like Joshua Project, the Southern Unreachedness is . . . not defined on have also been inadvertently affected Baptists (IMB), Finishing the Task, the basis of whether there are any by changing criteria for success. and many others, for paying the price Christians, or whether there are any

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missionaries working among them. It frontier people groups to uniquely people group that cannot con- is defined on the basis of whether or mean ethnically distinct people groups tinue to function as part of the not in that culture there is a viable, that do not yet have an indigenous people group identity of their culturally relevant, witnessing church 11 movement.10 (emphasis mine) sustainable movement to Christ hearing family and friends. within them. The demographers do 2. Pockets of people groups who have Some people claim such a distinction not make this mistake, but it is becom- become political refugees or eco- is unbiblical. But Paul himself makes ing increasingly common in American nomic migrants (diaspora people) this distinction in the book of Romans, churches. So the way we present our are being added onto lists as new though it is sometimes lost in English data must not obscure this distinction. UPGs. Global trade and difficult translations. Paul says of himself, “Paul . How UPG Demographics Confuse conditions have caused many . . called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, Unreached People with Unreached families to move to another by the will of God” (Rom. 1:1) adding People Groups country. Increasingly, these new small communities of diaspora sometimes “not by the will of man” (Gal. 1. Special interest people groups are people are getting added on as 1:1) making clear that his calling is being added on to lists as completely new unreached people groups, directly from God. He goes on to clarify new UPGs. Blind people, deaf sometimes even when these “we received grace and apostleship from people, or other similar groups are groups are as small as fifty people. Jesus Christ our Lord to bring about being added to some lists as brand As long as they maintain their the obedience of faith among all the new people groups—even though Gentiles . . .” (Rom. 1:5). In the Greek ties with their families in their this phrase, pasin tois ethnesin, means homelands, these representatives of unreached people groups are “all of the ethnic groups.” It is not refer- 12 ring to all the lost or all unsaved people. not really a new UPG. In Romans 15, Paul explains that he will If a movement to Christ happens be passing through Rome on his way to Frontier people in a homeland people group it is people groups that have still not heard groups do not yet have very likely to spread to connected the message, saying, “It has always been diaspora people. However, winning my ambition to preach the gospel where an indigenous people in diaspora communities Christ is not known, so that I would not sustainable movement does not usually impact the same be building on someone else’s founda- people groups back home, who tion” (Rom. 15:20). He asserts “now to Christ view them as traitors.13 So adding there is no more place for me to work on small diaspora communities as in these regions” (v. 23), presumably within them. “new” UPGs diverts attention from not because everyone had been saved, the core missiological problem but because there had been established of starting an indigenous move- enough of a culturally-relevant Greek they are spread across multiple ment that impacts the bulk of the movement to Christ in the regions he languages and cultures. Joshua population of that people group. had passed through that his apostolic Project lists ten to fifteen million Therefore, diaspora communities work was done there. He wants to move deaf people in India, but they that continue to identify with their on to frontier mission areas. belong to multiple religions and homeland should be tracked as part castes, so should they be listed as of those core people groups, not as The frontier missions task is to con- a distinct people group that can or new UPG groups. The Kazakhs, tinue to push the kingdom forward at should be reached separately from then, would show up as one people its edges, into the UPGs that are truly their families? I’m not so sure. Yes, group with twenty-seven diaspora frontier people groups, where Christ has they need specialized training and locations, for example, instead of never been preached. Like Paul, many education in order to communi- twenty-seven distinct UPGs. workers will have to leave behind places cate with others and most likely a These types of unhelpful addi- where there are already movements of specialized evangelistic outreach. tions to lists of unreached people indigenous believers, and move on to But, should deaf people have their groups in our databases confuse places where they will not be building own churches separate from those unreached people with unreached on foundations laid by others. of their families? The deaf in any people groups and greatly increase Since unreached people are completely country are unreached people the perceived remaining task. They different from unreached people with special needs, but not, in lead to erroneous conclusions and groups, it will help to have the term my opinion, a distinct unreached presentations. For example, some

International Journal of Frontier Missiology R. W. Lewis 9

mobilization presentations say that the USA has the most UPGs hile one team might engage a group of less of any country in the world, after than 100,000, five million would need 50 India. While the USA might have times as many teams to be equally engaged. more representatives of different W unreached people groups than any people groups, counts a people group as with some churches and donors other country in the world, the engaged if it has at least one full-time than persevering until movements total population of representatives worker engaged in church planting, are started in frontier people of especially frontier unreached while unengaged refers to unreached groups that are already mini- people groups in the US is very people groups (with populations as small mally engaged. Those promoting small. So if people from these dias- as fifty in number) among whom there engagement clearly state that pora groups come to Christ, they are no known full-time workers involved it is just the beginning of what usually drop their old people group in evangelism and church planting. needs to be done to actually finish affiliation and become culturally Ways Engagement Demographics the task. However, agencies are American Christians, which makes Confused the Frontier Mission Task being compared and judged by it far less likely that they will be the number of new engagements able to successfully reach out to 1. The size of the UPGs was initially they’ve begun rather than by suc- ignored. From the beginning, relatives in their home country. cess in establishing indigenous, very large people groups were reproducing movements to Christ. Problem #2: Misusing the Terms taken off Finishing the Task’s Unengaged and Engaged “Unengaged Unreached People 3. Contact began to be reported as engagement. Since engagement was The terms unengaged and engaged Groups” (UUPGs) list if they now the goal and sign of success, came out of an important attempt to had at least one person engag- people who did not clearly under- keep mission agencies and churches ing that group with a long-term stand the criteria began claiming from sending teams that were pil- missionary effort. But, while one apostolic team might realistically to have engaged a people group ing up on top of each other in some long before they had even learned unreached people groups while be able to engage a people group of less than 100,000, a people the language or made any progress completely ignoring other unreached in effectively sharing the gospel people groups in more difficult or group of five million would need fifty times as many teams to be within that people group. Further- remote areas. This worthy distinction more, the term engaged translates was designed to help get the frontier equally engaged. This is especially true if the people group is spread very poorly into other languages. mission task back on track, and get So some national churches believe more people deployed into what I am throughout a large area or across several countries, or divided they have engaged a distinct calling the frontier people groups. It unreached people group in their sought to identify which people groups by other barriers such as caste. Encouragingly, FTT has recently town simply because someone had not yet been engaged—in other from that people group (a Sikh words, where there were neither believ- begun to make a list of larger under-engaged people groups that or Muslim) attends their church. ers from that people group, nor any They might even count all fifty concerted strategic effort by missionar- have way too few people reach- ing out to them, with a new goal people in their church as involved ies (from any country in the world) to of at least 1 worker per 50,000 in engaging that people group, bring the gospel to that people group. people. This change will sig- whether or not they are on a team This initiative is extremely important nificantly help the larger frontier committed to starting a movement and very helpful for highlighting the people groups, taken off at the among that people group. frontier people groups. However, in beginning, which now need to be So a frontier UPG can be re- the rush to identify unengaged people added back on to the original list. ported as engaged without even groups and to send missionaries to them, 2. Engagement became the goal or sign one mission team among them several things have become clouded of success. Let me emphasize that with a long-term commitment to or confused. These consequences were tracking engagement has been a learning the language and seeing not expected but resulted from the significant help in moving deploy- an indigenous movement to Christ way the unengaged data was defined, ment towards frontier people started within that people group. collected, and represented. Finishing groups. Unfortunately, engaging Even committed mission teams the Task (FTT), an organization that an unengaged group has taken can abuse the term in order to focuses on collecting data on unengaged on more status or significance seem successful. A mission team

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who over time has developed inter-marry and who each have their twice as many people as all these other relationships with people from dif- own clan gods.15 These OBC people countries added together, India receives ferent people groups is tempted to groups (farmers and artisans who work only 8,000 foreign missionaries.17 report that they have engaged all of with their hands, in the Shudra caste I have often heard it said, “Let the Indian those people groups. I myself saw of Hinduism) make up over two-thirds church reach India. It is easier for them.” this happen on a team of which I of caste Hindus in India. However, less than 2% of India’s popu- was a part. Mere contact should Using their definition, Finishing the lation is evangelical,18 and 95% of the not be counted as engagement. Task reported in 2016 that fewer than Christians are from Dalit (outcaste back- 4. Small diaspora communities have a couple dozen people groups in the ground) and tribal groups, with hundreds been distinctly labeled unengaged. entire country of India (population of distinct languages and cultures. As Koli 16 As mentioned earlier, this prac- 1.3 billion) are unengaged. How- pointed out, there are many significant tice diverts attention from the full ever, in addition to the thousands of barriers to reaching the UPGs of India.19 people group. For example, if 500 Hindu OBC people groups, there One particularly unfortunate barrier is Indian Sikhs living in Paris are are also close to 200 million Muslim that the OBCs historically refuse to even defined as a distinct unengaged people in India also in thousands of associate with Dalit and tribal people, people group, while 80 million people groups when you take into because they fear defilement—and there Sikhs living in India are consid- consideration languages and castes and is mutual prejudice with Muslim people ered engaged, it might seem more sub-castes. On-the-ground experi- groups, too. It is not realistic to expect strategic to churches to send a ence shows that there are certainly no that India’s Christians can reach the 1 team to the unengaged Sikhs in billion people in UPGs in India on their France. But it is not. There has own, even with outside resourcing.20 Did been such a rush to engage all of we expect the earliest Christians in Africa the unreached people groups that (the Ethiopians and the Egyptian Coptic even tiny diaspora representatives believers) to reach the entire continent of of unreached people groups, as 90% of India’s Africa by themselves? The task is just as small as fifty people in size, are great, if not greater. now getting priority over huge 1.3 billion frontier people groups. people are Indian Christians still have huge num- bers of unevangelized people among Unwittingly, a false impression is being in UPGs. their own people groups. According given that a noteworthy beach head or to a former executive director of the inroad has been made into many large Indian Mission Association (IMA— frontier people groups, by moving them comprised of some 200 agencies), most into an engaged category, when in fact Indian agencies are focused on reach- no such noteworthy inroad has actually sustained, targeted, strategic teams ing their own people group or people been made. So, unfortunately, teams have focused on the vast majority of India’s groups of similar tribes and castes.21 been redirected and even reassigned on Muslim or Hindu people groups. the basis of misleading information. Many of the middle class urban church- A Demographic Case Study: Thousands of dedicated teams are re- es in India are not yet indigenous in Engagement in India quired to effectively engage the thousands their own cultures. In larger cities, these of large OBC and Muslim people groups churches meet in English because that Indian strategic demographer, Yash- of India, not even including the many is the language they have in common, want Koli, has called the OBCs (Oth- Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, and other groups. with believers coming from distant er Backward Castes) of India14 the But foreign teams focused on Muslims are tribes or other language groups. “elephant in the room” of the frontier in the mere dozens, and teams of national mission task. Over 30% of all people believers from elsewhere in India do not Establishing indigenous movements living in UPGs in the world are in number significantly more. According in the 3000+ remaining frontier India. 90% of India’s 1.3 billion people to the Atlas of Global Christianity, as of people groups of India will require a are in UPGs—more than the entire huge cross-cultural effort (E2 and E3 2010, the USA receives 32,000 foreign 22 population of Africa, or of North missionaries, Brazil, 20,000 foreign mis- evangelism), learning new languages, and South America added together. sionaries, the Democratic Republic of the changing eating habits, etc.—even for Over 600 million of these people are Congo receives 15,000, and France re- India’s Christians. They need to have members of OBCs living in roughly ceives 10,000—however, with more than long-term commissioned teams with 2,500 people groups who will not the know-how to work cross-culturally.

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separate evangelical churches are or 1,700 years any outreach to new unreached not being planted. The IMB is people groups was done by those we would currently moving toward using the have considered non-evangelicals. existence of movements to Christ F as the criteria for unreached It is not as simple as having huge tent whom they should oppose at all people groups, which should help evangelistic campaigns, or inviting a cost? Is this people group really significantly. Any people group Hindu or Muslim neighbor to church reached now? Do they have an should be classified as reached or Bible study in a trade language. indigenous movement to Christ 24 if they have a viable, indigenous, among them? No, not really. A self-sustaining movement to In India, where people groups have non-Christian people group genuine faith in Christ. resisted intermarriage for millen- should not be classified as reached nia, more people group divisions are 4. Narrowing the definition of “true on the basis of significant numbers revealed as further research is done. It faith” down to “evangelical” nullifies of evangelical churches among is highly unlikely that these thousands the successful expansion of Chris- them, if those churches are not a of people groups are being effectively tianity throughout history. A vital growing indigenous movement. engaged by anyone from anywhere, historical excursus is required here. making them essentially unengaged 2. Indigenous revival movements are We wipe out almost the entire his- even if some group reports being in not counted as movements to Christ tory of Christian missions if we association with them. unless new churches are planted. assert that the only movements to What if a group listed as a UPG Christ that “count” are those start- Problem #3: Replacing Indigenous has considered itself Christian ing new separate evangelical con- Movements to Christ with Planting for many centuries, has a Bible or gregations. This point will require of Evangelical Churches as the much further treatment, but suf- 23 even multiple Bible translations Criteria for Success in its language, and has a growing fice it to say that for 1,700 years On the face of it, these two phrases may renewal movement happening any outreach to new unreached sound the same, but in fact they are not within its historical churches? people groups was mostly done by necessarily the same at all. There can be They are Anglican, Lutheran, those we would have considered many evangelical churches planted, yet Armenian, Orthodox, Coptic, or non-evangelicals. Most movements with no progress made in the estab- even Presbyterian, and are genu- to Christ in history in UPGs, such lishing of an indigenous movement to ine believers but do not identify as the Celtic movement in Ireland Christ, and vice versa. A subtle distor- with the term evangelical. They or the Presbyterian movement in tion of the frontier mission task has may oppose the establishment of Korea, have not fit our modern resulted from measuring success by distinct evangelical churches, and Western evangelical model of counting new churches planted instead will not count as part of 2% evan- adult-only baptisms and congre- of counting movements started. Let me gelical if we count only those who gational church ecclesiology. Even give a couple clarifying examples. have left their historic churches. the American Protestant mission Why Counting Churches Planted instead But do they have an indigenous movement of the last 100–150 of Indigenous Movements Has Confused movement to Christ, capable of years does not completely fit the the Frontier Mission Task sustaining itself without outside modern church-planting model. 1. Non-indigenous evangelical churches help? We would have to say “yes.” Likewise, renewal movements are counted as if they are indig- 3. Many disciple-making movements within older denominations enous movements to Christ. What (DMMs) will not be counted. throughout history have hap- if 3% of a certain Hindu people There are an increasing number pened on a regular basis, and group have become believers? of movements among unreached almost no century is without the They have planted a number of people groups from other religious Spirit of God moving in some evangelical churches in the last few backgrounds, such as Islam. These way within these older Christian years. Sounds good. But, what if movements do not plant churches groups. Many monastic move- those churches are in the English that fit Western criteria, and so ments in the Catholic Church medium, the people sit in pews, the growth in believers may not brought renewal and mission- sing Western songs, and are seen be recognized and added into the ary outreach. Separatist renewal by the other 97% of that Hindu demographic databases. So the movements renewed churches by people group as completely irrel- goal needs to remain indigenous dividing them or by starting new evant traitors to the people group, movements to Christ, even if new churches, like the Waldensians,

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the Hussites, and the Menno- churches can figure things out for 1.6 million in one year from the nites, or the Pietists, Puritans, themselves, other compilations USA. An increasingly large per- and Baptists. These were also remove people groups if they have centage of foreign mission funds part of God’s plan. But for our even minimal engagement. The is being spent by US churches comparison here, it should be result is that even mission mobi- to send people for less than a 26 noted that separatist movements lizing organizations are putting month. Meanwhile, this increase were not as effective in bring- out false impressions that lead to has not led to an increase in long- ing renewal to Christianized unhelpful deployment, which mili- term workers as hoped. Very few populations as internal renewal tates against any progress among short-term workers go to frontier movements, which did not divide the least-reached. people groups; instead they are sent the existing church. This pattern 2. Churches are increasingly bypassing to help existing churches. How- is also seen in the Protestant mission agencies to plant churches ever, long-term commitment is Reformation and the evangelical overseas modeled on churches in normally needed for an indigenous awakenings (the first of which their home culture. Church mission movement to arise in a frontier was internal to the Church of committees assume that church people group. Perception and skill England under John Wesley, who are acquired by learning the lan- planting methods that work in planted no new churches).25 guage and culture so that believers an American pluralistic society can be effectively discipled to reach While the modern evangelical model of will work in the highly clan- out to others. My father told one church planting has been successful in oriented, stratified societies of the pastor who promotes sending every some areas, it has largely been unsuc- church member on a short term, “It cessful in high-identity, global-religion, would not help short-staffed hos- multi-cultural areas, where people strug- pitals to have your church members gle to preserve their unique people group Churches come for two week shifts.” identity amidst an encroaching Western Christendom or threatening melting are increasingly 4. Churches increasingly insist that pot. God has used many other models their missionaries partner with local, throughout history, and our evangelical sending out national churches. Of course, among sympathies need to be opened to what short-term workers the frontier people groups there are he may want to do today. no such churches. But that is not instead of long-term being made explicitly clear by the Problem #4: Sending Churches demographic presentations. Have Lost Sight of the Frontier missionaries. Five Problems Resulting When Mission Task Because of Missionaries are Required to Partner with Demographic Presentations Local Churches in Frontier People Groups We cannot hold the global sending remaining frontier people groups. 1. Since there are no national churches entirely responsible (or even So, churches bypass mission train- churches within frontier people mission agencies) for not sending ing and send out missionaries to groups, missionaries trying to people to frontier people groups or for plant churches in UPGs without reach them are forced to part- faulty strategies when their view of suc- understanding the problems and ner with churches from other cess has been shaped by mobilization the consequences of planting new geographically-adjacent people based on the demographics presently aggregate churches. The access to groups. They then try to get church coming out of people group databases. global communication and quick members from the adjacent people 1. Churches are confused about which travel gives churches confidence groups to reach out (often cross- people groups have the least help, that they can successfully supervise culturally) to these unengaged and and so continue to send missionaries their own missionaries directly. But under-engaged frontier people to places with many missionaries. they rarely understand the com- groups who are proximate to them. The databases do not clearly show plexities of cross-cultural outreach. 2. Frequently the local, national which people groups are frontier 3. Some churches are increasingly send- church partner never wholeheart- people groups, and many people ing out short-term workers instead edly adopts the neighboring fron- groups that have strong movements of long-term missionaries. The tier people group despite years of to Christ in them are still included number of short-term missionar- urging by the missionaries. This on lists of unreached people groups. ies has exploded recently reaching partnering strategy was used for While some databases assume nearly 300 years in an attempt to

International Journal of Frontier Missiology R. W. Lewis 13

reach the Kurdish people. Mission- aries to the Kurds didn’t go directly he next generation is not conscious of the to the Muslim Kurdish people thousands of people groups still waiting to themselves but instead worked hear for the first time. to revive Christian churches in T Iraq and Turkey, hoping that the neighboring people groups. It’s unengaged people groups but do national Christians would reach more likely that Christians from not take into account their size the Muslim Kurds. However, adjacent people groups will try when calculating true need. Still they only succeeded in splitting to extract individuals from these other sites show all unreached churches and starting new denom- neighboring families and com- people groups, regardless of inations. Unfortunately, neither the munities into their own Bible size, with one dot representing a older nor the newer congregations studies and churches. Or they group from less than a thousand ever reached out to the Muslim may expect themselves to lead to tens of millions. Small dias- Kurds who were more resistant and run the new churches in pora groups are given as much than existing Christian-affiliated these neighboring communities, weight as large homeland groups. 27 people groups. which is the very same assump- 2. How can we show where all the 3. Missionaries will have to choose tion that foreign workers make workers are going? Most of our between learning the language of when they hamper movements. demographic UPG sites do not the partner national church, or These problems can be minimized if even show where all the workers mastering the heart language of the the foreign missionary has already been are going, or not going. The 1978 frontier people group they hope to successful in starting a movement in a pie chart, called “Penetrating the eventually reach. Most never learn different frontier people group. It also Final Frontiers,” arrested people that heart language, making it helps if an otherwise inexperienced by showing them that the vast more likely that the local national foreign worker has taken training from majority of missionaries were believers will follow suit. Without a successful movement-catalyst, who going to work with Christians, specific training otherwise, nearby then works long-term alongside the regardless of the continent or believers are the least likely to believers from a proximate Christian the context. This statistic is not recognize that they need to alter people group to establish a distinct currently being shown on any their culture and language to effec- indigenous movement to Christ among website at all. tively reach neighbors of another that particular people group. 3. How can we distinguish between people group and religion. How those people groups with a move- many people in American churches Conclusion ment able to continue reaching would take on a foreign culture and New Demographic Presentations them (E0 and E1 outreach) and language to reach a nearby immi- Are Needed those peoples still waiting for out- grant diaspora group? side help (needing cross-cultural 4. Missionaries try to train their part- The question now is: is there a way E2 and E3 outreach)? These tasks ners in local churches to do some- to change how we present our de- are significantly different and thing that they have never done mographics so we can lead churches require different training for those themselves, namely start a move- to refocus on the still-great need for sent, and different kinds of help/ ment in a frontier people group. In long-term workers to the one third of support from outside the people India, such training is often done the world in frontier people groups? group. Churches need to be clear in English on short training trips. 1. How can we distinguish between about the differences, and then The sending churches expect this different types of UPGs? Some of challenged to adopt or help send to impact the hundreds of millions the data websites are designed some people long-term to frontier of people in middle and upper for showing what progress people groups. They need to caste Hindu, Muslim and Sikh the gospel has already made, understand that they cannot insist UPG groups, who mostly refuse and others for showing where that their missionaries partner with to associate with Christians from unreached people groups are, local churches in people groups lower castes or tribal groups. without making a clear distinc- where there are no churches. 5. Missionaries falsely assume tion between frontier people 4. How can our data collection and that it will be automatically groups (those with no movement representation encourage the best easier for people from the local to Christ) and other unreached mission strategies? Demographic partner church to reach out to people groups. Others show website developers need to

35:1 Spring 2018 14 Losing Sight of the Frontier Mission Task: What’s Gone Wrong with the Demographics?

realize how their measurement of outreach is needed in that people 4 The term hidden peoples was later and reporting of people groups is group (E0-E3). The interaction of replaced by unreached people groups (UPGs), determining the strategies being mission demographers over the last but then the meaning was slowly changed to include many people groups that already used on the field. How can our year and a half is encouraging, and have ongoing indigenous movements to statistical representations help these misunderstandings I have listed faith in Christ. agencies and churches to under- here in this article are being addressed. 5 “Penetrating the Last Frontiers.” This stand and work toward a repli- But sending churches cannot be mapping of demographic statistics will be cating, indigenous movement to expected to sort through the data to taken up in my second article in an upcoming Christ? Is there a way to present figure out what is going on. issue of the IJFM (35:2, April–June 2018). this data in graphs, charts, videos, 6 www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/33_2_ The next generation is not conscious or other media that will improve PDFs/IJFM_33_2-Datema.pdf of the thousands of people groups still 7 their strategies? After two years of discussions regarding waiting to hear for the first time. I the term UPGs, which is too easily confused How Can Our Graphic Representations believe a new generation will arise to with unreached or lost people, I am proposing Show Truth-at-a-Glance? this exciting opportunity to help fulfill using the term frontier people groups to clearly Most Christians do not know how to God’s promise to “bless all the families specify only those UPGs that have never had an indigenous movement to Christ. interpret our graphs and charts. Some of the earth” if the need is made clear 8 to them. IJFM Using data from the Atlas of Global websites even show that the people Christianity, Todd Johnson and Kenneth making them do not know that the Ross, eds., (Edinburgh University Press, charts are giving false impressions. 2009), 267–283. How can we make clear the need for 9 www.peoplegroups.com maintained thousands more long-term workers to by the IMB (International Mission Board frontier people groups? Churches and of the Southern Baptist Convention) 10 agencies think we are making progress Why are most Ralph D. Winter, “Unreached Peo- among unreached people groups, and ples: What Are They and Where Are They?,” in Reaching the Unreached: The Old-New we are, as currently defined. How- missionaries still going Challenge, ed. Harvie M. Conn (Phillipsburg, ever, they are not taking into account to people groups that NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1984), 47. decades-long trends that are crippling 11 New people groups are formed when progress towards reaching frontier have strong churches part of a group develops a distinct enough people groups. These subtle shifts add and movements identity that it will no longer intermarry with many people groups to UPG lists that the original group. Unfortunately, sometimes are not frontier people groups, divert to Christ? those becoming believers will break off from their people group, refusing to associate with funds from long-term workers to or intermarry with pre-believers from their short-term mission trips, bypass fron- own culture, either joining a Christianized tier people groups by requiring work- Endnotes people group or forming a new people group. ers to partner with existing national Rodney Stark points out in his book The Rise 1 churches, and plant aggregate churches Joshua Project shows of the approxi- of Christianity: How the Obscure, Mar- instead of replicating movements. mately 65 million people in France, 46 mil- ginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant lion are native French. By France we mean Religious Force in the Western World in a Few My conviction is that there must be metropolitan France in Europe, or France Centuries (San Francisco, CA: Harper Col- Truth-at-a-Glance demographic proper, not including its overseas depart- lins, 1996), 111-115, how much the growth ments and territories. representations if a new generation is of the church in the early centuries depended 2 http://www.shianumbers.com/shia- to comprehend this remaining mis- on ongoing intermarriage between the be- muslims-population.html. lievers and non-believers in what he termed sion task. Mobilizers should be able 3 The number of Protestants (1.2 open networks. http://www.missionfrontiers. to easily access and show only the million) and the average growth rate of org/issue/article/sharing-the- gospel- frontier people groups that will never evangelicals (2.4% yearly), Operation World, through-open-networks. hear without long-term commitment 7th Edition, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVar- 12 So reaching the 900 Japanese people of believers from other cultures. If sity Press, 2010), 340-341. The number of in Moscow is probably not a completely people are using Joshua Project and evangelicals (500,000) and number of evan- new missiological problem but needs to be IMB maps and data for deployment, gelical churches (2,263), Annuaire Evangé- resourced and coordinated with the larger lique 2017 (Marpent, France: BLF Editions, effort to reach Japanese in their homeland. the accuracy on the detailed level is 2016), 290. The number of missionaries Only large independent immigrant or refu- not as important as giving people the from 2001, Operation World, 21st Century gee populations, like the Swahili-speaking right impression about where work- Edition, 6th Edition, (Downers Grove, IL: Indian diaspora in East Africa, should be ers are most needed and what kind InterVarsity Press, 2001), 750. considered a newer people group.

International Journal of Frontier Missiology R. W. Lewis 15

13 See discussion in a Pushtun context: among Dalit (Scheduled Caste) groups, there of allegiance to Christ as Lord and Savior. http://www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/27_3_ is little to no reporting of this change of reli- (This was not Luther’s or Calvin’s intent, of PDFs/refining_bartlotti.pdf. gion for fear of losing government affirmative course). The English Reformation itself is the 14 From an email exchange with Yas- action (‘reservation’) benefits.” classic example of the changing of church 19 hwant Koli, Feb. 5, 2018: “In official Indian “Challenges to Reaching OBCs” in affiliation that did not necessarily lead to terminology OBC is the acronym for ‘Other Koli, “Other Backward Castes,” 21. genuine new faith on the part of the converts. Backward Classes’ as the British used the 20 In a separate piece Yashwant Koli On the other hand, a huge movement that term ‘class’ as synonymous with ‘caste.’ After would suggest some such indigenous and did revitalize the faith of the Church of Eng- independence, India finds it convenient to other collaborative strategies to engage land, later called the Evangelical Awakening, carry on with that terminology to cover up for India’s middle and upper castes. began under the leadership of John Wesley 21 in 1738. By design, the movement remained the caste composition of such constitution- In email correspondence, Feb. 5. within the “dead” Church of England until ally defined categories. I prefer using Other 2018, with Yashwant Koli, he wrote: “Many after Wesley’s death in 1791. It had a much Backward Castes to highlight that this large of the larger, South India based and staffed greater impact on the faith of the British bloc of people groups are primarily (though agencies like Friends Missionary Prayer people than any of the separatist or Anabap- not exclusively) made up of people from the Band (FMPB) have sent cross-cultural tist-type churches that were being planted fourth Indian caste group, the Shudras.” missionaries to central and north India over in England both before and after that time 15 See article by Yashwant Koli, “Other the decades. However, they almost without period. Notice that John Wesley did not plant Backward Castes (OBCs): The World’s exception concentrated with varying success any churches when he started the Evangelical Largest Megabloc of UPGs,” IJFM 32:1 on the low hanging fruit of Dalits and Trib- Awakening. He only started support groups (Spring 2015), 20-21. http://www.ijfm.org/ als (SCs & STs). Hence, even people group and Bible studies, and left all the sacra- PDFs_IJFM/32_1_PDFs/IJFM_32_1- movements of tribals like the Oraon has only ments to the established “dead” churches. He Koli.pdf. From “Other Backward Castes,” solidified the existing caste demographic of encouraged people to become more active in 20: “It gets far more complex when we real- the Indian church: 70% Dalit + 25% Tribal.” their Anglican churches, not to leave them. ize that OBCs are an artificial constitutional 22 E0 = renewal/discipleship of nomi- He did not baptize any adults or children. construct. In fact, people self-identify by nal Christians in your own people group, He himself, an Anglican minister, regularly their jati or traditional occupation sub-caste E1 = outreach to non-believers in your own attended an Anglican church. As a result, the they are born into—regardless of their cur- culture/people group. E2 and E3 refer to movement was able to revive the Anglican rent occupation. Each jati is endogamous evangelism of people of a different culture, churches, which have living elements in them (you can only marry within the jati) but E2 if the culture and language is similar, to this day. Because of the wisdom of Wes- made up of many lineage clans called gotras and E3 if the cultural distance is very far. ley’s advice (“not to leave their churches”), 23 that are exogamous, i.e. you have to marry The IMB criterion for unreached is this movement was able to spread through- outside the gotra. Very few jatis are even less than 2% evangelical, and the most- out the Anglican communion with much less called by the same name across the state and unreached peoples are identified as those opposition and condemnation than the vari- language boundaries. Each jati is therefore among whom there has been “no active ous separatist church planting movements in an ethnolinguistic endogamous people church planting within the past two years.” England were experiencing. group. A 2002 compilation of both the (http://public.imb.og/globalresearch/ 26 Don Fanning, “Short Term Missions: central and state lists (‘schedules’) of OBCs Documents/GSEC-Overviews/2014-09_ A Trend that is Growing Exponentially” show totals of 2,176 and 2,551. These GSEC_Overview.pdf ). These criteria are a (2009), Trends and Issues in Mission, 4. http:// numbers can rightly be interpreted to say major departure from the original definition digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent. that the bloc of Hindu OBCs is made up of put out by Dr. Ralph D. Winter which is cgi?article=1003&context=cgm_missions. between 2,176 and 2,551 people groups.” still stated clearly on the Joshua Project’s 27 This “Great Experiment,” as Bob Blin- 16 FTT defines an engaged group as FAQ web page: “An unreached . . . people coe calls it in his book, Ethnic Realities and having at least one full-time worker en- is a people group among which there is no the Church: Lessons from Kurdistan, (Pasadena, gaged in church planting, while unengaged indigenous community of believing Chris- CA: The Presbyterian Center for Mission means those unreached people groups with tians with adequate numbers and resources Studies, 1998), 23–39, was practiced repeat- populations as small as fifty people that to evangelize that people group” (https:// edly over a 300-year period, first by Catholics have no known full-time workers involved joshuaproject.net/help/faqs). (partially winning the Nestorians to Catholi- in evangelism and church planting. 24 See criteria listed under footnote 17 cism), then by the Reformed (Anglicans and Johnson and Ross, eds., Atlas of #23. Indigenous is no longer a common Presbyterians, winning both Nestorians, Global Christianity, 2009, 267–283. term, but captures well what is needed, Armenians, and Catholics), and then by non- 18 In an email exchange, Feb. 5, 2018, namely a movement of people who are still denominational evangelicals who split all of Yashwant Koli added, “The latest Indian identified as “one of us” by the people group. those churches, both ancient and reformed. Census reports that all Indian Christians rep- 25 The Protestant Reformation stands as resent no more than 2.3% of the population. the greatest example of church renewal ac- The evangelicals would not even represent complished through the splitting of churches. a third of that. However, both the Hindu It also stands as the greatest example of a nationalist RSS and church planting move- movement that led to massive bloodshed ments dispute that figure. My own assessment between religious/political factions, and a is that Indian Christians represent closer to change of church allegiance by many for 5% of the population. Since most of that is political reasons without necessarily a change

35:1 Spring 2018