The ACCESS List
Countries vs. People Groups
In the late 1980’s missiologists began to look at the world in a new way. In the past most people looked at the world by countries. The questions being asked then were, “Do we have work in India?” “How many Christian workers are there in China?” “Should we be sharing the gospel in Indonesia?”
In the early 1990s the concept of “people groups” began to take hold. No longer was the world viewed as a neatly arranged map of designated political entities—a different picture began to emerge. This new view of the world included not just 260+ “countries” but also thousands of unique language specific people groups. The new picture was not nearly so tidy as the previous geo-political map. A new set of questions began to be heard: “Does anybody know anything about the Makassar people?” “Has anyone ever met a Hazara?” “How many ethnic Albanians are there?” “Where do the Tukuyu people live?”
These people groups encompass the globe in a tapestry of languages and cultures. Some are contained in a single country. Others cross national borders into two or more nations and still others have a significant presence in several regions around the world.
This seems like a new way of viewing the world, but in fact it is a return to the way God views the world. The Bible often speaks of different tongues, tribes and nations … people groups that God created as a testimony of His love for diversity. And ultimately as a testimony of His desire that people from each of these diverse backgrounds be part of His kingdom and the worship that honors Him.
Lists, Lists and more Lists
Soon those in the Body of Christ gifted in research began to try to make sense out of this “new” way of looking at the world. Researchers, linguists, anthropologists, missiologists and others entered this conversation about “people groups”. The work of world evangelization began to focus on finding out where the gospel of Christ still needed to be proclaimed. Researchers begin to investigate which people groups knew about Jesus and which groups were still “unreached”.
Lists of unreached people groups began to appear as this picture came into focus. These “lists” became the tools that mission strategists used to help decide where new work should be initiated to move toward completion of “The Great Commission”.
The last 15 years has been an exciting time to be a believer in Jesus with a heart for the world. It has been thrilling to watch God use the Body of Christ to reach out to many of these unreached people groups (UPGs). Disciples are now coming to faith among peoples that for centuries have lived in darkness totally separated from the Good News. Some of these groups are no longer considered “unreached”. Some are even sending out witnesses to other UPGs.
Currently yet another set of questions are being formed among those working internationally: “Are the Uzbeks still unreached?” “Which list do you prefer; IMB, JP2000, AD2000 or Caleb Project?” “Which spelling is correct for this people group—Pushtun, Pushton, Puktun, Pashtun or Pactun?” “Does this UPG really exist? Has anybody ever met someone that speaks this language?”
As work is done to continue to clarify the remaining missions task, these are the issues being faced. These are the questions we are asking in Central Asia as we are searching for those UPGs that still need access to the gospel.
Formation of the Central Asia ACCESS List
Do we really need another list? This may be the question you are asking yourself right now! The Central Asia Access list has been created to provide the Church access to an understanding of the UPGs over 100,000 people that remain unreached in Central Asia. Not only are these peoples unreached (no church among them capable of reproducing itself among the people) but most of them are “unengaged”. That is they have “no access” to the gospel of Jesus. No one is working among them, praying for them or often times even thinking about them.
This list is a “snapshot” of the best information we currently have about the peoples of Central Asia. It will change as our region continues to learn more about the peoples whose names appear on it. It will be updated (that’s the great thing about a web site —easy to update!) as the status of a people group changes or as new peoples are discovered.
This list is not supposed to be a scientific document or a finished product. The Central Asia Access List is for:
- Prayer—each people group on this list is in great need of prayer that the Lord will send out workers among them to preach the gospel.
- Understanding—it is an attempt to look at the 300+ million people that live in Central Asia and begin to understand which of those peoples have the greatest need for new work to be started among them.
- Partnership—Each of the people groups on the list needs dozens of believers and churches to come together in a partnership effort to help give them access to the gospel.
So take a look at the list. Then if you have a question, some input or want to know more about how to help give access to these peoples contact us: access@onepost.net
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