Written by S. Kent Parks, Ph.D.
Co-Facilitator, Ethne and President & CEO, Act Beyond
The Problem:
- Currently, 86% of non-believers do not personally know a follower of Christ. This 86% would largely be Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist – and large percentages urban.
- The “Least Evangelized Peoples,” (similar meaning with “Unreached People Groups” or UPG ) are population segments that do not have the ability to evangelize/disciple their own people without cross-cultural assistance. The majority of people in these ethne have never heard & experienced the Good News in a way they could understand. Their only hope for transformation is to see the church of Jesus birthed and living out the whole gospel in their community
- The global percentage of “No or Least Access Peoples has gone down and back up: 54% in 1900 24% in 1985 29.3% in 2015
- The absolute number of unevangelized individuals (who live in places/cultures never touched by Gospel) is growing: 880 million—1900 2.1 billion—2015 2.3 billion—2025 2.6 billion—2050
The Emerging (but old) Solution which surpasses population growth:
- God has started 150 modern movements with at least one on every continent.
- Movements reproduce obeying groups of disciples start new disciple groups who start new disciple groups (call them ekklesia if you prefer).
- Movements are defined by consistent 4th generation reproduction of new churches in multiple streams within a few years.
- These groups transform societies from within by obeying Jesus: 1) Families and relationships improve; 2) the sick are healed; 3) alcoholism and addiction rates shrink; 4) economies improve; 5) social and spiritual justice emerges from inside that society.
- Jesus trained 12 and 70 “movement catalysts” in three years who then launched global efforts.
- Barnabas and Paul and teams launched six more Disciple Making Movements in the next 15 years.
- Acts 19:10 give proof of this happening where all 15 million in one Roman province heard the Gospel after only two years.
The Ethne Ephesus Initiative: An Update of a Way Forward
- Ethne Strategy Groups (specifically Strategic Prayer, Crisis Response, Church Planting Movements, Research) are collaborating globally to stimulate movements in whole population segments.
- The Purpose is to see the “Book of Acts” happen among every UPG & city & nation & region
- The Vision: In this generation, cascading Ephesus Movements throughout the most-neglected families of the Unreached.
- The Plan: Focus on several related People Groups simultaneously (variously called People Group families or clusters) rather than on one group at a time. Movements more easily “jump” boundaries between related peoples or cities.
- The Equipping: The Ephesus Hubs will provide mentoring from leaders who have catalyzed exponential movements among Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others. “Interns” from all over the world would receive on-the-job and field training from successful movement catalysts.
- The Hubs: Potential hubs and successful CPM teams have already been identified in global-level cities (Middle East-2 cities; East Asia – 2 cities; South Asia-3 cities; SEAsia-3 cities; USA – 2 cities).
- The Next global Ethne meeting: September 2015, hosted by a major India Mission Association (one of the core networks of Ethne) This meeting will be mainly a planning and strategizing meeting although updates and celebration of what has happened will certainly be a part of the meeting.
See the Ethne website for more information: http://www.ethne.net/
