:Unreached people group

{{Short description|An ethnic group without Christianity}}

{{distinguish|Uncontacted peoples}}

In Christianity, an unreached people group refers to an ethnic group without an indigenous, self-propagating Christian church movement.{{cite web|title=Unreached People Groups|url=http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/home/unreached-people-groups|work=Lausanne Global Conversation|publisher=Lausanne Committee on Global Evangelization|access-date=10 July 2011}} Any ethnic or ethnolinguistic nation without enough Christians to evangelize the rest of the nation is an "unreached people group". It is a missiologicalMorreau, A. S. "Missiology." Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Ed. Walter A. Elwell. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001. 780-83. Print term used by Evangelical Protestants.{{cite web|title=Unreached Peoples Initiatives|url=http://www.christianaid.org/Missionaries/Unreached.aspx|work=Christian Aid Mission: Unreached Peoples|publisher=Christian Aid Mission|access-date=10 July 2011}}{{cite web|title=Getting There: a journey to impact an unreached world|url=http://gettingthere.imbresources.org/|work=IMBresources|publisher=International Mission Board|access-date=10 July 2011}}

The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization defines a people group as "the largest group within which the gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance."{{cite web|last=Parks|first=S. Kent, John Scott|title=Missing Peoples: The Unserved "One-Fourth" World: Especially Buddhists, Hindus & Muslims|url=https://www.lausanne.org/content/missing-peoples-the-unserved-one-fourth-world-especially-buddhists-hindus-muslims|work=Lausanne Global Conversation|publisher=Committee on World Evangelization|access-date=6 July 2011}}{{cite web|title=Ethnê06 . . . Launching A Global Prayer and Strategy Initiative Focused on the Least Reached Peoples|url=http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/lausannereports/266/03-2006?pg=all|work=Lausanne Reports|access-date=10 July 2011}}

"Nation" is sometimes used interchangeably for "people group".

The term is sometimes applied to ethnic groups in which less than 2% of the population is Evangelical Protestant Christian,{{cite web|title=Unengaged Unreached People Groups|url=http://public.imb.org/globalresearch/Pages/default.aspx|work=Global Research, International Mission Board, SBC|publisher=International Mission Board, SBC|access-date=10 July 2011}}{{cite web|last=Morgan|first=Timothy|title=Mr. Jabez Goes to Africa|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/november/1.44.html?start=4|work=Christianity Today|publisher=Christianity Today International|access-date=6 July 2011}} Including nations where other forms of Christianity are prevalent such as Western Catholicism, Eastern Christianity or Lutheranism.{{cite book|url=https://thecripplegate.com/why-roman-catholic-countries-should-be-considered-unreached/|publisher=the Cripplegate|date=January 21, 2020|first=Standridge|last=Standridge|title=Why Roman Catholic Countries Should be Considered Unreached}}{{cite book|last1=Atherstone|first1=Andrew|first2=David Ceri|last2=Jones|year=2018|publisher=Routledge|title=The Routledge Research Companion to the History of Evangelicalism|isbn=9781317041528|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VbJjDwAAQBAJ&q=evangelical+eastern+orthodox+unreached+people&pg=PT170}}{{cite web|publisher=Pioneers|title=PHOTO ESSAY – IS EUROPE UNREACHED?|url=https://pioneers.org/2015/08/11/is-europe-unreached/}}