Koiri of India

Please pray for the ...
Koiri of India
Population: 6,885,000
Language: Bhojpuri
Religion: Hinduism
Evangelical: 0.00%

Taking the Church Where It's Needed Most

Kunbi of India

Please pray for the ...
Kunbi of India
Population: 15,367,000
Language: Gujarati
Religion: Hinduism
Evangelical: 0.00%

The Lewa Kunbi people live in the Western Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. They have gotras such as Shendilya, Kashyap and Bharadwaj. They are known as Lewa Patil.

They speak the Marathi and Telegu languages and use the Devanagari script. A few of them also speak Hindi. The incidence of colour-blindness is reported in 5 percent of the Lewa Kunbi population.

The Lewa men are non-vegetarian but their women are vegetarian. Jowar is their staple cereal and they eat rice occasionally. The economy of the Lewa Kunbi is mainly based on agriculture. They either cultivate their own land or work for others on a share-cropping basis. They participate in the local weekly markets. The problem of alcoholism is prevalent among the men.

The Lewa Kunbis generally follow monogamy. The women contribute to the family economy as wage earners and take part in socio-religious activities. In a marriage a series of rituals are performed simultaneously at the bride and groom's residences. Marriage rituals include the thread wearing ceremony, the exchange of garlands and circumambulating the sacred fire seven times.

The Lewa Kunbi has an association, which looks after the socio-economic development of the community. They cremate the dead and observe death pollution for ten days.

The Lewa Kunbi worship both family and village deities. The Brahman officiates as a priest at their rituals. Their traditional customs prevent them from exchanging water and cooked food with certain communities, such as, the Bhangi, Chamar and Mahar. Ancestor worship is also prevalent among them. Diwali is the main festival celebrated by the Lewa Kunbi.

Pray:
- For the salvation of the Lewa Kunbi people and that God may send several Christian workers to work among them and meet their spiritual and physical needs.
- That the Lewa Kunbi people may be freed from alcoholism, ancestors' worship, colour- blindness and be able to accept all the communities without caste prejudice.

Text source: Copyright © India Missions Association - Edited by Philipose Vaidyar. Used with permission.

Taking the Church Where It's Needed Most

Taking the Church Where it's Needed Most

Please pray for the ...
Nai, Muslim of Bangladesh
Population: 1,109,000
Language: Bengali
Religion: Islam
Evangelical: 0.00%

Theology and Church Planting

Ed Stetzer, Dir. of Research for the NAMB, wrote an article on theology and missional church planting. This is an excerpt. Click on the link at the end of this excerpt for the full article.

How would we define church planting?

The best definition I know of which describes church planting is the word "missions." Church planters are missionaries. If church planting isn't about missions it's only about rearranging Christians. You can start a new church using attractive programs, dynamic worship, and fancy PowerPoint displays, but if all you're doing is drawing other Christians from other churches That's not missions. We call that "sheep-stealing," or "swapping chairs on the Titanic."

Church planting is about missions, reaching out to the unchurched.

The study of missions is called "missiology." Missiology includes the study of cultural and historical components, all of which we will study in this session. In order to understand church planting, there must be a theological base for our work. Otherwise, we simply end up establishing monuments to ourselves and our creativity. Calvin Guy wrote this:"We apply the pragmatic test to the work of the theologian. Does his theology motivate men to go into all the world and make disciples? Does it so undergird them that they, thus motivated, succeed in this primary purpose? Theology must stand the test of being known by its fruit."

Cal Guy is telling us that if our theology doesn't motivate us to reach the lost, then truth is aborted. We simply have a set of principles that we think about but fail to live out. Our theology has become something we muse over, but we're unwilling to lay down our lives for it.

Theology must be missionary theology because therein lies the heart of God. It has been said that missiology is the mother of theology because theology was developed in an emerging missionary situation. Churches were being planted and divine missionary principles were being brought to their attention through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to meet needs and answer the questions of the people.

Stuart Murray in Church Planting: Laying Foundations seeks to provide a theological framework for church planting (often missing in church planting literature). Murray's argument:

Why Theology?

If you hire a carpenter to build a house, one of the first things you have to decide is if you want your house to be built up off the ground on blocks or on a concrete slab. A house built on blocks is kind of an old-fashioned method of building, but many people still like it because of the accessibility of pipes that need repairing or air conditioning duct work. But the problem with a house on blocks is that over time, the ground settles and the structure of the house can shift. It's not unusual in an old house like this to find cracks in walls and problems with the floor. But if a house is built on a solid concrete slab, that's a foundation that does not change. Theology is like the concrete slab. God says, "I am the LORD, and I do not change." [Malachi 3:6 NIV]

God's ways, God's plans, God's purposes are the unchanging foundation upon which we build.

Therefore, Theology is critical because the foundation determines the building.

The church is the Bride of Christ; therefore, it must be pleasing to Him. So we must be careful that everything we do is pleasing to Him. "Cutting edge" keeps changing. There are new methods coming out everyday that seem promising to the church planter. And we have to be careful not to develop a critical spirit towards ideas that may seem strange to us. New ideas are important to explore to a certain degree. But if we look simply to new ideas rather than unchanging biblical theology, we find ourselves following fads rather than the Father because cutting edge changes. Remember 45s and 8 track tapes? We must avoid building our ministry on cutting edge and opting rather for a solid theological foundation.

Theology is critical because it determines strategies and techniques.

God has no obligation to the success of anything outside of His will. Man-made innovations mean nothing to God unless they are created in the center of His will.

Theology is critical because it brings us to the principle of Missio Dei.Missio Dei means the mission of God.

God is a God of action. The acts of God are occurring around us on a daily basis. He is constantly active and on mission to a lost world. Therefore as servants of the Lord, we carry out our mission in the world realizing our work is Theocentric not anthropocentric.

It is not based on us but upon God. John Piper wrote in his book Let the Nations Be Glad, "God has set in motion a missionary movement that will reach to all peoples of the earth on the analogy of the universal spread of God's glory," and "missions is for the glory of Christ. Its goal is to reestablish the supremacy of Christ among the peoples of the world. . . The goal of Christ's mission and ours is that God might be glorified by the nations as they experience His mercy."

The emphasis in the Missio Dei is seeing where God is already at work and that our involvement with Him is ultimately for His glory. So the church is not an end in itself. It is simply the means God uses to accomplish His work.

We must shift our emphasis from the life of the local church to the needs of the world because therein lies the heart of God. Our work recognizes the need for Divine empowerment because ultimately anything we do that is lasting must come from God. And His heart becomes our heart. His passions become our passions.

Church planting reveals God's heart for the lost.

Ephesians 3:10 says: "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, and according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence" (Ephesians 3:10 NIV).

God's instrument through which He carries out His plans for the world is the church. The task of the church is to be His missionary to the world. So the church is not so much a mission-sending agency; the church is missionary at its basic core.

We use the term "the missional church." Simply put, the missionary endeavor draws the church to reach to its community, or "Jerusalem" as Jesus called it. Simultaneously, it will send out missionaries to "Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8 NIV).
So the work of the church as a whole is missionary. The task must not be relegated to a chosen few when in reality we are all called as missionaries. Paul wrote: "And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors" (2 Corinthians 5:18 NIV).

This is our participation in the Missio Dei... the mission of God. It is the eternal faith once delivered unto the saints, God at work in the world, touching hearts and lives, our participation with Him seeing men and women converted, their lives changed by the power of the Gospel, and establishing New Testament congregations.

© 2004 North American Mission Board

Full Document Here

A church for Every People and the Gospel for Every Person

According to AD2000 and Beyond:

"The Great Commission is a two-fold command. In Matthew 28:19,20 Jesus commands us to 'Go and make disciples of all nations (peoples)'. The focus is to establish disciples in mature fellowships among every people group. In Mark 16:15 Jesus gave the task of preaching the gospel to every person. The focus here is to present the Gospel to every individual. The watchword of 'a church for every people and the Gospel for every person' sums up this two-fold command."

The Joshua Project list of 'least reached peoples' was developed as a tool for measurement and mobilization. It establishes those peoples over 10,000 in number, and below 2% Evangelical or 5% Christian adherents, as most likely to need a church planting initiative. Approximately 1600 least reached peoples fit these criteria. The Joshua Project list has helped draw the attention of the Church to the neediest, most ignored, least resourced, and most challenging part of the unfinished task of world evangelization.

Praying Through the (10/40) Window initiatives were followed by specific commitments of church planting agencies to focus ministry on these peoples. Over the years the list became shorter, and at Amsterdam 2000 this year all the remaining peoples were embraced. About 99% of the world's population live in a people group that has a commitment for church planting team in the near future.

The vision is for a mission-minded church within every people. A goal was established as a basic minimum of a vital, witnessing congregation of at least 100 individuals within each people group. There are reports of such congregations in nearly 1/3 of the Joshua Project peoples.

Taking the Church Where its Needed Most

Please pray for the ...

Dosadh, Hindu of India
Population: 4,788,000
Language: Hindi
Religion: Hinduism
Evangelical: 0.00%

Interesting Facts for Global Church Planters

• There are 9,608 ethnic people groups and 15,942 people-in-country groups, counting each group once per country of residence.
• Of the 15,942 total groups, 6,430 are Least-Reached, totaling 2,576,038,000 individuals.
• Of these 6,430 groups, 4,975 are in 10/40 Window countries. That means 77% of the unreached / least-reached people groups are in the 10/40 Window.
• The largest least-reached group is the Japanese, with over 120,000,000 individuals.
• 3,285 groups are primarily Muslim, totaling nearly 1,300,000,000 individuals.
• 2,436 groups are primarily Hindu, totaling about 900,000,000 individuals.
• 561 groups are primarily Buddhist, totaling nearly 375,000,000 individuals.
• 6,486 groups are primarily Christian, totaling over 2,000,000,000 individuals. "Christian" is defined here as Christian adherents, not restricted to evangelicals.
• The Mandarin Chinese is the largest people group, being in 98 countries with a total of about 793,000,000 individuals, and with 783,000,000 of those in China.
• Jews are found in 130 countries, Arabs in 84 countries, and Chinese groups in 117 countries.

There is still lots of work to be done!

Unreached People Facts

569 of Indonesia's 774 people groups do not have even Bible portions available in their primary language. The largest of these is the Banjar, 5,320,000

Taking the Church Where It's Needed Most

Please pray for the ...
Yadava of India
Population: 54,584,000
Language: Hindi
Religion: Hinduism
Evangelical: 0.00%


The Yadava people from all over the country trace their descent to the Krishna of Yadu lineage. They are also known as Ala Golla, Poone Golla, Mong Golla, Idaiyar, Konarulu, Pillai, Nayudu, Naikan and Yadukulam, etc. The Yadava of the South speak Dravidian languages, practice Dravidian kinship. Those of the North speak languages of the Indo-Aryan family and are generally vegetarian. The Yadava consist of both landowning and landless people. Their traditional occupation is animal husbandry and selling its products. Child labour is common among them. Agriculture, business, trade and self-employment are their present occupation. Some Yadava are businessmen, teachers, doctors, engineers and political leaders. The Yadava live in joint families. They cremate dead and observe pollution period for thirteen days; however, in Kerala the Yadava community bury the dead and observed death pollution for six days. They have caste associations at the regional and national levels. The Yadava participate in the local traditional and socio-religious festivals. They are known to have more faith in astrology and talismans rather than in the services of a doctor. They have expertise in oral traditions like Sevagaridi or group singing in praise of the god Vishnu. Similarly, they are good in musical dance and mock-fighting with swords. Boys are favored for formal education.

Alternate names: Ala Golla, Poone Golla, Mong Golla, Idaiyar, Konarulu, Pillai, Nayudu and Naikan, Yadukulam

Pray for:

• The salvation of the Yadava people and that God may send several Christian workers among them and meet their spiritual and physical needs.
• The practice of child labour to end among the Yadava people.
• Education to be made available to girls as well as the boys.
• The Yadava people to seek the Living God and give up their faith in astrology and talismans.
  

Copyright © India Missions Association - Edited by Philipose Vaidyar. Used with permission from The Joshua Project, www.joshuaproject.net

Are You Praying for God's Glory to be Seen in Iraq?

• A broken and demoralized society is the fruit of a past harsh dictatorship and the present war against terrorism. A small Sunni Arab minority and an elite within it had repressed the Shi’ite majority in the south and Kurdish majority in the north. Efforts at establishing a national government with the help of the United States and the United Nations are slow and frought with murderous opposition.
• Pray for:
• The binding of the evil spiritual powers that brood over this land.
• A viable, indigenous government to arise that unites and rebuilds the shattered country.
• Adequate material and social help for the millions of refugees in Iran, Jordan, Turkey and the West.
• The provision of the needs of children and young people. One million children are suffering from chronic malnutrition and 300,000 were estimated to have died.
• The Christian community which is largely Assyrian with some Armenians. The Assyrians are descendants of the Nestorian or Ancient Church of the East; in two denominations since 1964. The Nestorian Church became one of the greatest missionary denominations of history, winning 6% of all of Asia’s population 1,000 years ago. It is reduced to less than 2 million in the world today through persecution, compromise and harassment. About one third of all Christians left Iraq in the 1990s and are a high proportion of the Iraqi refugee population. Pray for a restoration of their biblical heritage, present revival beginnings to spread and a vision for outreach. Many Assyrians are studying the Scriptures in ‘Light Clubs’ in the churches.
• Most Assyrians are members of the Catholic-linked Chaldean Church and some became Evangelicals through the activity of foreign missionaries in the past 150 years. Pray for revival and growth in this Church. Only recently has there been an openness to reach the Muslim majority. There are now a growing number of Kurdish and Arab believers. Emigration is a major ‘disease’; pray for Christians willing to remain as lights in the darkness.
• The few Evangelicals are mainly confined to the cities. They were persecuted in the 1960s and ‘70s and numbers declined. God gave revivals in the 1980s and house groups multiplied - from one in Baghdad to over 300 for a time. There are around 70 evangelical congregations in Iraq, but conversions are doing little more than replacing those who are emigrating. Pray for these believers, their walk with the Lord and their witness to non-Christians. A small but growing number of Arabs and Kurds are seeking the Lord, both in Iraq and among Iraqi refugees in Jordan and elsewhere.
• Leadership for the churches is a desperate need. Many good leaders have had to flee. Some Iraqis are in training in Jordan, Lebanon and elsewhere. Pray that many may return to Iraq.
• All peoples are unreached apart from Assyrian and Armenian minority groups. Pray specifically for:
• The Shi’a Arabs of Basra and the south. There is no known direct witness to them.
• The Sunni Arabs - few have heard the gospel.
• The Madan or Marsh Arabs - There is no known outreach to them.
• The Bedouin, Persians and Gypsies are all totally unreached.
• The Kurds have caught the attention of the world. They have fought for survival and a national identity for 70 years. The period 1985-91 was particularly bloody and cruel. Iraqi atrocities have included the razing of 3,800 villages and towns (including 61 Christian Assyrian villages), destruction of the local economy, mining of fields, deportation of 500,000 to distant camps, and killing of up to 250,000. In the aftermath of the Gulf War in 1991 almost the entire Kurdish population became refugees.
• The Church. Assyrian Christians have suffered much persecution, destruction of villages and intimidation first by Saddam and then by the Kurds. Assyrian Christians have been reduced by emigration to 45,000.
• The growing number of Kurdish believers have also suffered intimidation and several have been martyred, but the little church fellowships are growing with new converts being added. Pray that a vibrant, united Kurdish Church might impact every part of Northern Iraq.
• The unevangelized in Kurdish north: a) The Yezidi are a syncretistic offshoot of both Zoroastrianism and Islam. They speak Kurdish and are known as ‘devil’ worshippers. There are very few believers. b) The Turkoman are a distinct Turkic people numbering between 1 and 2.5 million, but ‘claimed’ by the Kurds as Kurds. There are no known believers.

The above is a modified excerpt from Operation World Web Site (www.operationworld.org), March 19, 2007. Copyright ©2001 Patrick Johnstone.

Taking the Church to Where it is Needed Most

Please pray for the ...
Bania of India
Population: 23,271,000
Language: Hindi
Religion: Hinduism
Evangelical: 0.00%

The Vania people are also called Bania or Mahajan. The word Vania is derived from 'Vaniji', which means 'trader' in Sanskrit. The Vania community has gotras such as Agarwal, Dasora, Dishawal, Kapol, Nagori, Vagada, Modh and Nagar. Many of these names are based on the names of the place they are from. The Agrawal, though they are settled mainly in North Gujarat, take their name from the Agar Town. The Jharola live in Eastern Gujarat and the come from Jalor of Rajashthan and Maharashtra. The titles used by the Vania are Shah, Shroff, Parikkh, Chokshi, Seth and Gandhi. The Vania community consists of two religious divisions, namely Vaishnava and Jain. Most of the groups of Vania are split into Visha meaning twenty and Dasha or ten. These subdivisions are further divided into Ekda and Bagda. The Bagda mostly live in villages, while Ekda live in villages and towns. They have an organization called the Mandal to look after the temples and the community's property. Business, trade, jewellery-making and agriculture are the traditional occupations of the Vania. Floor painting and folk songs represent the Vania's art and culture. The naming of the newborn ritual is performed by a Jangam priest by putting a thread around the infant's neck. The Vania are Hindu by religion. They are Vaishnavite and devotees of Shrinathji. A section of them are from the Jain community. The Vania maintain intercommunity linkages with the Brahman, Valand, Soni and other communities through trade and service. The Vania in the state of Maharashtra are mostly the followers of the Lingayat Cult. Alternate names: Bania or Mahajan. Religion: Hindu, Jain, Lingayat Cult. Pray: + For the salvation of the Vania people and that God may send several Christian workers among them and meet their spiritual and physical needs. + Pray for developmental and literacy programs among the people.

Text source: Copyright © India Missions Association - Edited by Philipose Vaidyar. Used with permission.

Taking the Church to Where it is Needed Most

Please pray for the ...
Gadaria, Hindu of India
Population: 5,794,000
Language: Hindi
Religion: Hinduism
Evangelical: 0.00%

Biblical Rationale - Church Planting Among the Unreached

“Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul (e) for the work to which I have called them.’ Then having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews). They also had John as their assistant.” Acts 13:1-5

“And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout the region.” Acts 13:49

“And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.’ So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” Acts 14:21-23.

“From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them (n), and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” Acts 14:26-28

Acts 13 and 14 highlight the beginning, middle and end of Paul’s first missionary journey. These passages describe a dynamic interplay between the local church, missionary church planting teams, and the lost communities surrounding them that led to church planting movements. Paul’s first church planting mission illustrates that missional church planting environments are created by God when local churches and church planting teams intentionally engage unreached peoples with the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

These verses highlight several universal characteristics for which to look in an emerging missional church planting environment: believers using their spiritual gifts, genuine worship, fasting and prayer, discipleship, recognizing God’s call, sending out those called by God to a specific ministry task, accountability between the sent and the sending church, contextual evangelism and indigenous leadership development. Underlying all of these is a focus on the Kingdom of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit. In such environments rapid multiplication of believers and churches is most likely to occur.

Is God calling you to be part of a church-planting team to the unreached of the world?

Planting the Church Where it is Most Needed

Please pray for the ...
Dubla of India
Population: 791,000
Language: Gujarati
Religion: Hinduism
Evangelical: 0.00%

What are their beliefs?

Virtually all of the Dubla are Hindus. They look to the village bhagat (priest and medicine man) for spiritual guidance. He is thought to be the ultimate "good man," who is able to communicate with the gods. He is considered a friend, a philosopher, a guide, and a healer.

What are their needs?

Teachers, missionaries and humanitarian aid workers are needed to work among these precious people and share the love of Christ with them.

Prayer Points

Pray against the spirit of Hinduism that is keeping the Dubla bound. Ask God to raise up prayer teams who will break up the soil through worship and intercession. Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth faithful laborers to live and work among the Dubla. Ask God to grant His favor to missions agencies targeting the Dubla. Ask God to give the Dubla believers boldness to share the Gospel with their own people. Pray that God will reveal Himself to the Dubla through dreams and visions.

Text source: Bethany World Prayer Center © 1999.Used with permission from Adopt-A-People Clearinghouse

Planting the Church Where it is Most Needed

Please pray for the ...
Tibetan Bhotia of India
Population: 7,100
Language: Tibetan, Central
Religion: Buddhism
Evangelical: 0.00%

The Least-Reached and Secular Humanists in America Need the Lord

Never before has the climate for evangelism and church planting been riper for taking the love of Jesus to least-reached people right here in America! Not only are there over 800,000 least-reached people living within our shores, but there is a tremendous spiritual vacuum created by three generations influenced by secular humanism. People are searching for meaning, security and significance. New churches are timely, relevant and connect easily with their communities. Now is the time to plant more and better churches! Now is the time for existing churches to multiply and reap the harvest fields around them. Historically, church planting is proven to be the most effective form of evangelism.

Least-Reached in U.S.

Reaching the least-reached in the United States with the love of Jesus

The Hindi People

The Hindi people cluster has the greatest number of unreached groups (486, unreached population 408,643,000), then the Urdu Muslim (376, unreached population 36,2651,000).

Planting the Church Where it is Most Needed

Please pray for the ...
Bishnoi of India
Population: 593,000
Language: Hindi
Religion: Hinduism
Evangelical: 0.00%

Definition of an Unreached People Group

The Joshua Project gives the following definition of an Unreached or Least-reached People Group:

"A people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group."

The original Joshua Project editorial committee selected the critieria less than 2% Evangelical Christian and less than 5% Christian Adherents. While these percentage figures are somewhat arbitrary, there are some that suggest that the percentage of a population needed to be influenced to impact the whole group is 2%. Joshua Project uses the terms Unreached People Group (UPG) and Least-reached People Group interchangably.

If they are to be reached, churches must be planted.

Planting the Church Where it is Most Needed

Please pray for the ...
Bedouin, Yahia of Morocco
Population: 99,000
Language: Arabic, Algerian Saharan Spoken
Religion: Islam
Evangelical: 0.00%

Planting the Church Where it is Most Needed

Please pray for the ...
Arab, Tunisian of Tunisia
Population: 9,500,000
Language: Arabic, Tunisian Spoken
Religion: Islam
Evangelical: 0.00%

Planting the Church Where it is Most Needed

Please pray for the ...
Wolof of Senegal
Population: 4,650,000
Language: Wolof
Religion: Islam
Evangelical: 0.00%