By Tyler Collins, January 19, 2024

Last week, we ended the conversation by discussing the concept of steward investing. We are fiduciaries of God’s resources, which means we are responsible for stewarding everything He gives us for His benefit and for the glory of His kingdom.  This stewardship includes both charitable donations and investments.

One of the most underfunded and under-resourced ministry opportunities is among unreached people groups. An unreached people group, defined by the Joshua Project, is a group in which no indigenous community of believers has received the gospel message.

There are an estimated 17,400 distinct people groups worldwide, 7,400 of which are considered unreached. These 7,400 people groups account for approximately 3 billion people. So, 3 billion people currently have little to no access to hearing the good news of Jesus Christ. This is a problem. Surely, the Western Church — where there is complete access to the Word and freedom to follow Jesus — would utilize its resources to aid in reaching the unreached. Sadly, the Western Church is failing the task of making disciples of all people groups. 

Matthew 24:14 tells us that the gospel of the kingdom of God must be preached to all nations before the end comes. The word “nation” in the Greek is ethne, which simply means “people group.” The people in the U.S. are some of the wealthiest in the history of the world. The average American is in the top 2% of the world’s wealth. The average North American gives approximately 2% to the church, and churches, on average, contribute only 2% of their budget to the work of ministry happening worldwide. So, out of every $100 a North American makes, 5 cents make it to ministry in the rest of the world, and less than a penny goes toward the 3 billion people who have never heard the gospel. This is a problem. We need to begin to rethink how we utilize the financial resources God has so graciously given us to bless the nations. 

*If you want a tangible opportunity to give, Frontiers does great work in the Muslim world.