International (MNN) — Coronavirus updates are circulating nonstop on TV, radio, and social media. Many news outlets – MNN included – have a designated section on their websites for COVID-19 coverage.
Staying informed is important when dealing with a global pandemic, but imagine if you had no way to access this material. Worse yet, what if the information you did see was false?
“Out of all the information that’s coming in your Facebook feed about coronavirus, imagine if only 2% of that information was accurate. That would mean most of what you’re seeing is not correct information; it might actually lead you astray,” DOOR International’s Rob Myers describes as an example.
“That gives people a picture of what [life is] like as a person within an unreached people group.”
Unreached, but not unimportant
Instead of having no information about the coronavirus, unreached people groups have no way to know God. In an unreached people group, “less than two-percent of the community are believers [and] they lack a church presence,” Myers describes.
“Sometimes, the surrounding culture is very, very hostile toward the Gospel,” he adds. Other unreached people groups find themselves enclosed by false religion.
Thus far, the global Church has largely overlooked unreached people groups – that’s why they remain unreached. The Alliance for the Unreached is changing this reality by turning uninformed believers into advocates. More about the Alliance for the Unreached here.
“Many people just don’t know that Deaf communities are unreached by the Gospel. They don’t realize that there are still millions of people who don’t have access.”
(Graphic courtesy of DOOR International via Facebook)
“Many times… people don’t know what an unreached community looks like. They don’t know what it means to reach into these communities and try to see the Great Commission fulfilled,” Myers explains.
“These communities are so close to the heart of God because God wants to see all people come to a knowledge of Him.”
DOOR International, a Deaf-led ministry, is a founding member of the Alliance for the Unreached. Collectively, the Deaf are one of the world’s largest unreached people groups. DOOR equips Deaf believers worldwide to reach Deaf communities for Christ through church planting and sign language Bible translation. More about DOOR’s work here.
While the ministry’s specific focus is unique, DOOR and its fellow Alliance members share a common goal. “That is the heart and soul of every member of the Alliance – to empower local leaders to bring the Gospel into their own communities, and to empower [believers] to reach into unreached people groups,” Myers says.
Find your place in the story
Each year, Alliance members rally the Church around reaching the unreached on Pentecost Sunday – the International Day for the Unreached. This year, IDU Sunday falls on May 31, 2020. Register for the special online event here.
No matter where or how you serve the Lord, you can be part of reaching the unreached.
Some Alliance members translate God’s Word, while others take part in Gospel distribution. There are Alliance members involved in church planting, and others focus their efforts on media outreach. “All of this cannot be accomplished without prayer, and without financial support,” Myers notes.
(Photo courtesy of Alliance for the Unreached via Facebook)
Most importantly, “be praying for these communities,” he says. “We’re talking about people who’ve been cut off from the Gospel, not just within one generation, but for millennia. Many times that’s a huge spiritual stronghold that can only be overcome by prayer.”
Learn how to become a Champion for the Unreached here.
Header image courtesy of muffinn via Flickr/CC.
