• ~12,000People groups in the world
  • ~7,000+Unreached — insufficient witness
  • ~3,000Unengaged by the global Church
  • ~130,000Evangelical Christians per unengaged group

Figures are approximate and shift as research is updated. See live data at peoplegroups.org →

There are thousands of ethnolinguistic groups of people who desperately need someone to present a clear, Christ-centered message in a language they understand — and the numbers grow as you divide them by country, geography, culture, religion, dialect, and politics. About a third of the world has no access to God’s Word or a Christian who could tell them of Jesus in a language they understand.

The obstacle is not a lack of personnel, but a need of vision, understanding, and obedience to Christ’s commission.

Run the numbers. For each of the roughly 2,500 least-reached tribes there are on the order of 150,000 evangelical Christians — more than enough to reach them all. If there are twice that many unreached, unengaged ethnolinguistic groups, there are still some 75,000 evangelical Christians who could reach each one. Reaching every group could be achieved if only a tiny fraction of those believers were informed and motivated to accomplish the task commanded by our Savior on the highest authority in heaven and earth.

What “no access” actually means

Consider one man’s situation before missionaries came: no Christian anywhere spoke his language. The Bible did not exist in his language. Communicating abstract Biblical concepts across an entrenched worldview would take an investment of years — and the Great Commission demands discipleship, not a drive-by. Many miles away, representatives of five other unreached language groups asked, “When is our turn to hear this message? We have no one. Who will tell us?” They don’t yet know the value of the treasure revealed in the message; the treasure is Jesus and eternal life with Him. Representatives from one hundred different language groups have already asked for a missionary. Most are still waiting — and most of the people of the two thousand unreached languages do not know enough to ask.

Why don’t the numbers match?

There are lots of numbers about missions, worldwide Christianity, and the unreached languages — and they don’t match. Numbers that count people are constantly changing: people move across boundaries, adopt new languages, and change definitions. The people who count also differ — their theology affects their values and definitions, and their discoveries reveal previously unknown groups. Numbers don’t lie, but people count things differently. So as you look at the numbers, ask what the presenter is counting and how the terms are defined before comparing them with other numbers. The counts may differ, but these are honest attempts to increase awareness, prayer, and workers.

A firsthand example: if you look at Papua New Guinea in Operation World or the Joshua Project, you would think it one of the countries most reached with the Gospel. Having lived there for many years, I have reason to believe about half of its 895 languages have never had anyone share the Good News to the understanding of the local people. It is true that people in very remote places can now sing Christian worship songs in English — PNG has become one of the most missionized and most syncretized places. But if no one has communicated the identity of Jesus and their need for His saving grace in a language they understand, you still have people destined to hear, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

The numbers, from the researchers

Figures shift as research is updated, so check the live data — but the shape of the task is stable: roughly 7,000+ unreached people groups comprising more than 3 billion people; the overwhelming majority (over 96%) living in the 10/40 Window; roughly 1,200+ languages still needing Scripture translation begun; and on the order of tens of thousands of evangelical Christians for every single unreached group. The task is enormous — and mathematically, embarrassingly possible.

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