'Is Jesus some person living in your village?'
“I have personally met people who, the only image that they have of Jesus is what they’ve seen on TV in American movies. I have met people in the Philippines or in East Asia who don’t know Jesus’ name at all. They’ll ask me, ‘Is Jesus some person living in your village?’”
Folks like these, whom International Director Warren Janzen meets as he travels to SEND’s fields around the world, live in unreached people groups.
SEND International workers are part of a global movement of Jesus followers making disciples among the unreached. Today, we’ll explore what “unreached” means — and what it doesn’t.
Unreached means outside help is needed
As SEND considers where to focus our efforts, we primarily rely on the Joshua Project
definition: “An unreached or least-reached people group is a people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group without outside assistance.”
“The unreached are people who have little or no access to the gospel,” Janzen explains. “They don’t know where a local church is. They don’t trust a local Christian because there are no local Christians that they know of in their setting.”
Mathematically, SEND considers a people group unreached if it’s less then 2 percent evangelical Christian. Add all the people in all the unreached groups up, and you have 3.11 billion people — 42 percent of today’s world population — with little or no access to the gospel. The need is great. The opportunities are enormous.
>> Watch a short video in which Warren Jantzen shares SEND’s heart for the unreached.
>> Watch a short video in which Warren Jantzen shares SEND’s heart for the unreached.
A people group is based on barriers
“For evangelization purposes, a people group is the largest group within which the gospel can spread as a church-planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance,” according to the Lausanne Committee. Language tends to be the main barrier, but caste, religious tradition, location, and common histories and legends can also act as primary boundaries.
A people group is not a country
SEND just opened a new field. It’s in North America, where Christianity is the largest religion. It may seem nonsensical — but Joshua Project reports that 85 unreached people groups have populations that live in the United States, and 50 live in Canada. Our new field — Diaspora | North America
— intentionally seeks to reach people from these unreached groups with the gospel.
This is the case for SEND’s work throughout the world. Though we refer to our teams by geographic region, our missionaries often minister both to the majority population and to minority groups. SEND Europe, for instance, has contacts with members of 29 unreached groups — only a handful of which are majority populations.
There are nearly 200 countries in the world; there are about 16,600 people groups. More than 6,700 of these groups remain unsaved. God’s Kingdom still has plenty of room for growth.
A people group is not a religion
Joshua Project reports that:
Fifteen percent of the Islamic people groups today are considered reached. Praise God! But Islam is a religion, not a people group. There are thousands of Muslim people groups that still have little to no chance to hear the Good News.
The unreached are not the unsaved
You might live in a North American neighborhood where not a single one of your neighbors are Christian. They might not yet be saved — they might never be saved — but they aren’t without a gospel witness or access to the Word in their own language. They have a chance to know a Christian. They have a chance to know you.
>> SEND Canada’s director shares a video: ‘What is a UPG?”
>> SEND Canada’s director shares a video: ‘What is a UPG?”
Unlike your neighbor, many of the world’s unreached will never meet a Christian. Worldwide, there are 300,000 Muslims for every one Christian worker; only 13.3 percent of Muslims personally know a Christian.
By all means, reach out to your unsaved neighbor! But, as you consider how you will use your resources and direct your prayers, don’t forget the unreached.
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Read SEND’s statement of faith.
• Learn about SEND International's mission, focus, and values .
• Learn about SEND International's mission, focus, and values .
Additional Posts
Choosing a Missions Organization: Why SEND International Stands Out “Why should I be a missionary through SEND International?” Jenna, a new missionary in Eastern Europe, shared with us what she appreciates about working with SEND. The highlights for her are: - Devotion to prayer - Diligence in communication - Commitment to development - Intentionality in accountability Prayer “Back in September of 2022, the Lord reconnected me with SEND after I had met them a year prior at the Moody Bible Institute. However, before he would sign me up for anything, my Missions Coach encouraged me to pray. He said something to the effect of, "I know that you've been praying on your own for a long time. But as the Church, we are not called to walk alone. So, you and I won't talk for about a month unless you have questions. I want you to go pray with 5 or 6 others from your church about where God is calling you." That October, more than 10 friends prayed with me and we saw God answer as He directed me to Romania. From February 2024 to November 2025, I had the pleasure of being a part of team meetings in Romania with my SEND colleagues. Our meetings were four hours long, two for prayer and two for business. This has been the minimum for our team. There are also prayer meetings with the local churches we partner with, among smaller groups within our team, of course prayer with many of you across the pond, including those at our US office. The organization was built, has been sustained, and continues to run on prayer. This is my favorite thing about SEND. Communication As I mentioned above, we have a two hour block for business / ministry details in each of our meetings. This provides consistency across our team which works alongside three different churches and in a variety of ministries. It also helps us to communicate about the need for change or growth, alongside what is working well. In addition, my team director also meets with each of us, allowing us to communicate needs, considerations, and prayer requests. I've also enjoyed getting to work with SEND workers outside of my immediate region . We receive emails with the minutes from the Europe leadership team, Friday communications from our international director, and information regarding projects that affect our work among the unreached. In December of 2024, our international director at the time wrote a note to my parents for the first Christmas that I was gone. If nothing else had convinced my mom yet, this did. He took the time to care for me, but also to care well for the parents that were sending me (What it meant to my dad and mom for him to do this well has been one of the greatest ways I've been supported.). I also have some pretty wonderful regional directors. These people have prayed alongside us (while also serving in their own countries of service), they have taken time to come visit and encourage our team, and they have also taken the time to encourage the people in our churches. Development SEND has provided much in the area of development and care (spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally). At our regional conference (every three years), there have been medical check ups available, counseling options, and time for connecting with others on the field with similar experience. At our conference last October, I connected with a missionary who served overseas for many years, and is now serving on the administrative side of SEND. She has met with me since then for mentorship and has also invested much of her time recently in preparing a retreat for the singles across Europe. Accountability Over the years I have read and heard amazing stories of how God has worked through missionaries. God has done great things and great things He is still doing! However, people who have committed their lives to the Lord in this way are not “super Christians”. We are still humans with the same struggle against flesh that others have . A major challenge is in being isolated -- living in areas with little to no presence of other believers to sharpen them can cause many difficulties. SEND has been a great resource in this area too. Through my team, I have an accountability partner that I meet with monthly. When my regional director came to visit, he and his wife spent a day with me and asked intentional questions about how I lead, handle conflict, and how I am growing in general as a Christian. In addition, my teammates share their wisdom with me on a regular basis. These things and more have assured me that SEND International is a highly valuable organization and I'm excited to partner with them in service to, for, and with our great God! Interested in being sent by SEND?
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