Glossary of terms
Every field of endeavor has it’s own set of unique terms and terminology. Step one in understanding a particular field is to learn its unique terms. The field of mission work (“Missiology”) is no exceptions.
We hope these definitions will not only help you in understanding what we do but give you a clearer understanding of global mission work in general.
Indigenous People
People born, raised and living among a particular group of people. They are cultural and linguistic natives.
“Well established, multi-generational community within a country” (Joshua Project)
“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”(Source: 1982 Lausanne Committee Chicago meeting.) Another definition: an ethnolinguistic group with a common self-identity that is shared by the various members. Two parts to the word ethnolinguistic: ethno, and linguistic. Ethno refers to the unique cultural traditions and ethnic characteristics of the group’s members. Linguistic refers to the language and dialect. For an in-depth understanding of the term read The Joshua Project’s article.People Group
Unreached People Group (UPG)
An unreached people 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.
Typically these people groups have 2% or fewer evangelical Christians.
Source: The Joshua Project
Unengaged, Unreached People Group (UUPG)
A people group that has no known active church planting activity underway, and within which there are no missionary workers committed to long-term work.
Joshua Project definition:
“An unengaged unreached people group (UUPG) has no known active church planting underway. According to the IMB Global Research Office: “A people group is engaged when a church planting strategy, consistent with evangelical faith and practice, is under implementation.
In this respect, a people group is not engaged when it has been merely adopted, is the object of focused prayer, or is part of an advocacy strategy.” At least four essential elements constitute effective engagement:
- apostolic effort in residence;
- commitment to work in the local language and culture;
- commitment to long-term ministry;
- sowing in a manner consistent with the goal of seeing a Church Planting Movement (CPM) emerge”
10/40 Window
This is the area of the world where the vast majority of unreached and unengaged people groups reside.
It is where the bulk of the remaining work of “finishing the task” is needed. Unfortunately, less than 1% of all Christian giving goes to financing church planting among unreached peoples.
Here’s the Joshua Project’s definition and description: “The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. The 10/40 Window is often called “The Resistant Belt” and includes the majority of the world’s Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. The original 10/40 Window included only countries with at least 50% of their land mass within 10 and 40 degrees north latitude. The revised 10/40 Window includes several additional countries that are close to 10 or 40 degrees north latitude and have high concentrations of unreached peoples.
Approximately 4.84 billion individuals residing in approximately 8,144 distinct people groups are in the revised 10/40 Window. 5,568 (68.4%) of these people groups are considered unreached and have a population of 2.98 billion. This means approximately 62% of the individuals in the 10/40 Window live in an unreached people group.
An estimated 2.98 billion individuals live in approximately 5,568 unreached people groups in the 10/40 Window. The 10/40 Window also contains the largest unreached peoples over one million in population. In addition, the 10/40 Window contains the overwhelming majority of the world’s least evangelized megacities — that is those with a population of more than one million. The top 50 least evangelized megacities are all in the 10/40 Window! That fact alone underscores the need for prioritizing 10/40 Window Great Commission efforts.”
Disciple
A dedicated follower of Christ who desires to become like Christ, who desires to become become a “fisher of men”, and who is willing to give up the things of this world to serve Christ.
Mature Disciple
A self initiating, reproducing, fully devoted follower of Christ.
Making Disciple Makers
“Go therefore and make disciples …” Matthew 28:19
Disciple making is a relational process of helping people to “follow Jesus and be like Him”. It is the process of mature disciples making mature disciples who make mature disciples.
“The things you’ve heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful man who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2
Replication
The process of something creating a copy of itself.
In evangelization this is the process of mature followers of Christ training others to become mature followers of Christ.
Jesus trained the twelve until they had become like him …
…. in their conversation, conduct and character
…. in their hearts, thoughts and actions
…. in their passion, purpose and power
“… and they began to recognize them as having been with Jesus” Acts 4:13
Those twelve (who were now replications of Jesus) replicated themselves in others and, in doing so, began the greatest movement in history!
Now we are responsible to keep the movement going. In the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28 Jesus is telling us that we are to make replicates of Him so that the entire world will be evangelized.
Church Planting
The process of replicating mature churches …. which begins with “Making Disciple Makers” (the fundamental, foundational element of church planting)
According to www.gotquestion.org: “Church planting is the establishing of an organized body of believers in a new location. The process of church planting involves evangelism, the discipleship of new believers, the training of church leaders, and the organization of the church according to the New Testament model. Usually the process also includes writing a church charter and/or doctrinal statement and finding a place to meet or buying property and erecting a new building.
Church planting is a specific focus within the larger work of ‘missions’. Church planters are missionaries who concentrate their efforts on preaching and teaching the Word of God.
The ultimate goal of most church planters is to glorify the Lord in a community by founding an autonomous, self-propagating body of believers. Once this goal has been reached and the church is able to stand on its own, the church planter will usually move on to a different community and begin the process again.”
Mature Church
A self initiating, reproducing, fully devoted body of followers of Christ
Church Planting Movement
“A rapid multiplication of indigenous churches planting churches that sweeps through a people group.
Characteristics of a CPM:
Rapid: As a movement, a Church Planting Movement occurs with rapid increases in new church starts. Saturation church planting over decades and even centuries is good, but doesn’t qualify as a Church Planting Movement.
Multiplicative: This means that the increase in churches is not simply incremental growth—adding a few churches every year or so. Instead, it compounds with two churches becoming four, four churches becoming eight to 10 and so forth. Multiplicative increase is only possible when new churches are being started by the churches themselves–rather than by professional church planters or missionaries.
Indigenous: This means they are generated from within rather than from without. This is not to say that the gospel is able to spring up intuitively within a people group. The gospel always enters a people group from the outside; this is the task of the missionary. However, in a Church Planting Movement the momentum quickly becomes indigenous so that the initiative and drive of the movement comes from within the people group rather than from outsiders.”
Source: Church Planting Movements, David Garrison
Simply put, a church planting movement has begun when indigenous churches begin planting churches without the aid or support of outside sources.
The ultimate goal of modern missionaries working among unreached peoples is to ignite self-perpetuating, multiplying church planting movements. Once this is accomplished in one unreached people group they are no longer needed in that group, and they move on to another unreached people group.
