Researching Unreached Peoples
In The Library
Welcome to the exciting world of reaching Unreached Peoples. An
Unreached People Group is any ethno-linguistic group or culture that
has no adequate witness for Christ within their culture. Usually this
means they have no known Christians or so few that there is not
adequate evangelization for that culture to have a viable church to
carry on reaching its own people without outside (foreign) help. For
our Alliance definition this means that they have less than .5%
evangelical Christians. In some cases this means they have no
Christians, no church, or no scripture in their language.
Very little has been done until recent years to study and identify all
the Unreached Peoples of the world. In that last few years studies
have shown that of the 12,000 people groups of earth about 3,000 are
still Unreached. Jesus promised that before the end, "This Gospel of
the Kingdom will be preached in all the world, and then the end will
come." Matthew 24:14
Researching Unreached People Groups is an important first step in the
task of evangelization. The US Center for World Missions, and the
AD2000 Movement through the Joshua Project have provided us with 1685
targeted UPGs of populations numbering over 10,000 that have yet to be
evangelized. This Joshua List is available from the Office of
Unreached Peoples, and by e-mail from the Christian and Missionary
Alliance information network called, "Parousia."
For purposes of evangelization and strategy development the C&MA has
identified about 200 people groups that are Within Our Reach that need
to be evangelized. Of these about 1/3 are socio-economic groups such
as the Middle Class of Mexico City, who have been largely neglected in
evangelical church planting. Though these people have the Scriptures,
have churches in their vicinities, they are loosely called an UPG
because they are still virtually untouched, and unresponsive to the
Gospel.
This leaves us with about 130 culturally identifiable ethnic and
language groups that that need to be reached. Many of these groups
have yet to have a profile written identifying their lifestyle,
religion, etc. Our missionaries are already over taxed in their
present ministries to drop everything and do research. They also are
not usually in places where research material is easily attainable.
Therefore we need to mobilize a vast army of laymen and professional
men and women who will volunteer their time to research these
Unreached Peoples. These profiles will be used in the development of
mission strategies and prayer strategies and will be made available to
the Alliance constituency for prayer and consideration of adoption and
advocacy programs. This research can be done in three ways 1) Through
the local public and university libraries 2) Through the Internet 3)
Through on-site research teams on the field. Each of these means will
be discussed in separate "Guides to Researching Unreached Peoples."
RESEARCH IN THE LIBRARY
1. Before Going To The Library:
Before embarking on research of an Unreached People Group check with
the office of Within Our Reach program to see what is already
available. You may order profiles by the name of the Unreached People
Group from this office. In most cases we can use more thorough
research on every group, but it would be well to see what we already
have to avoid duplication of efforts.
Also check several other missions sources where profiles are being
archived. Adopt-A-People Clearinghouse, 721 N. Tijon, PO Box 1795,
Colorado Springs, CO (719-473-8800) Bethany World Prayer Center, 13855
Plank Road, Baker, LA 70714 (504-774-2000)
CHURCH LIBRARIES:
You may also have available important materials in your church
library. Check for these titles in your church library, or if you live
near a Bible School or Seminary check their libraries for these
resources. If your church is small see about using the library of a
nearby larger Alliance church. Try also libraries of other churches
in your community.
Check for the MARC Peoplesfile Index.
Check for the Unreached Peoples Annuals.
Check for the Ethnologue.
Check for the Lands and Peoples.
Check for the The World and Its People.
Check for the World Christian Encyclopedia.
MISSIONS BOOKS:
Your church library ought to have a copy of Operation World, by
Patrick Johnstone. This is an encyclopedia of all the countries of the
world with maps, statistics, and identifies missions and the status of
many unreached people groups. This volume is also available on
computer disk from Global Mapping.
ALLIANCE LIFE:
Your church library may also have archives of old Alliance Life
magazines that can be very helpful. Photocopy the Articles that
reference your people group and work among them. Be sure to check
the PressTime Releases as source of information too. They are found
close to the first page in the Alliance Life.
WORLD MISSIONS FOLIOS:
Also check for Alliance World Missions Folios that may be on file.
These are produced by Christian Publications and have tremendous
amounts of materials on each country where the Alliance works.
SEMINARY PAPERS:
College and Seminary Libraries can be of valuable sources of
information. Many students have to write papers on peoples, and do
dissertations and field studies in the course of their studies. These
may be available for you to research. Check withthe particular school.
If your church has a student in one of our colleges or Seminaries, see
if they can help you. (Remember they already have a full course of
study that demands their time. Do not expect them to do the work for
you.)
2. Library Resources
Every library is different some are very good and helpful, others are
not. But every library has resources. Sometimes smaller libraries have
just the materials you need that may not even be available in larger
libraries. Check them out. Do not be afraid to ask your librarian
for help. That is why he/she is there. Explain what you are doing and
what you think you will need. In most cases the librarians will be
thrilled to be of assistance to real researchers.
3. Searching the Library
BOOKS:
For the most part the BOOK section will not be very helpful. Few books
are written on ethnic groups. Focus your research on reference
materials, periodicals and the catalog system. You may however find
some books that will be helpful in your research. Check out books by
country and region of the world to see just what the library has
available. Remember also that many books can be outdated with
material that is no longer true about your unreached people. KEEP A
CAREFUL RECORD OF YOUR RESOURCES AND DATES OF PUBLICATION.
REFERENCE:
Start your search with a specific people and name in mind. Know the
country or countries where they may be found. For instance the Fulani
of Africa are found scattered throughout four or five countries. Look
for any mention of the Fulani name. Remember also that some names
have changed in recent years, or may go by several different names.
This can be confusing. You can usually find a list of alternate names
in the Ethnologue of Languages. The Fulani for instance speak the
Fulbe language.
MAGAZINES AND PERIODICALS:
Check the Periodicals Guide. With the librarian's help you can locate
this quickly. It is a long shelf of books that index all the magazines
and periodicals ever published and every article that appeared in them
by year. It is a rich source of information. Check also with your
local library to see which periodicals they have in stock. They will
never have all of them. Look to county and state libraries for larger
holding of back issues.
MICRO-FICHE:
Many libraries have large holdings of periodicals on micro-fiche,
which is tiny photographic images of magazines. One fiche or card
(like a slide) can hold a whole magazine. Others record them on rolls
of film that you put on a machine and search for articles. Ask your
librarian what is available.
4. Other Library Resources
CHRISTIAN SOURCES:
Many libraries do have resources that are Christian Related. If not
often they can obtain what you are looking for through the
inter-library loan system. Ask your reference librarian. He\she is
there to help.
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