The Great Commission was Jesus' last command before leaving Earth:
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV)
So how are Christians doing on a global scale when it comes to fulfilling this command to go to ALL nations? In a 2021 article by David Platt (click here to read the original), we find some hard numbers.
First, there are still A LOT of unreached people and places:
Second, our resources are not as focused on reaching the unreached as you may have thought:
This doesn’t mean that funding going to the 5 billion people of the world who live in places already 'reached' by the Gospel is being wasted. But it does mean that only about 1% of money given to missions is going to reach the 3 billion unreached peoples and places.
Also concerning is the possibility that demographics are not on our side when it comes to reaching ALL people groups. David Platt puts it this way:
“The number of unreached people is higher now than ever before. It will continue to increase until Christians and churches decide to change how we use our resources…” David Platt
So, let’s change how we use our resources to reach the unreached! 💪
Investing in digital tools to reach the unreached
The 'digital revolution' of the last 40 years has opened up many new doors for reaching people. A huge portion of the 3 billion unreached people in the world are now only a click away. More specifically, they are a click away using a device they carry around all day: their phones.
A 2023 study by We Are Social found that 4.76 billion people access the internet via mobile devices:
Here is a breakdown of countries with the highest internet adoption rates. Some of them are countries where the Bible is not widely available:
Not only do more and more people have access to the internet, they are spending more and more time there:
However, most churches, ministries, and missionaries lack the tools and expertise to leverage the Internet to reach these people.
This is why we at One Village Group are committed to helping missionaries bridge the digital gap and master new tools (like social media, video production, and websites) to share more Jesus with more people.
