����������������������Staying the Course �in Member Care and Mission�Episode 2—Prioritizing Frontier People Groups�Interview with Rebecca Lewis�����������Kelly O’Donnell, PsyD and Michèle Lewis O’Donnell, PsyD � GMC Book Series Editors, Member Care Associates, Inc. �Global Member Care Volume 3 �©2024 Kelly and Michèle O’Donnell�GMC book series--https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/��  � � �

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Global Member Care Volume 3 �Overview

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A collaborative volume with 43 authors and 9 consulting editors from colleagues around the world, including many senior-level colleagues and husband-wife teams.

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A directional, legacy platform for member care as we learn from the authors’ seasoned, global voices.

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A strategic bridge to shape and support member care among all peoples, now and into the future.

�Examples of efforts by member care and mission workers who are ministering across sectors and cultures to help vulnerable people in many settings.

�References and links to a variety of core materials and resources for readers who want more information.

�Global Member Care Book Series��

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• Describe several “global” resources to fight corruption—organizations, tools, and efforts across sectors. They are grouped in two areas: United Nations and Civil Society.

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• Consider ways to connect and contribute to some of these resources. How can they support our work in view of our distinctives and purposes + understanding of Scripture and theology?

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PART ONE—GMC 3�Staying the Course in Mission Frontiers�

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Chapter 1—Prioritizing the Frontier Peoples�Strategic Implications for Mission and Member Care �Rebecca and Tim Lewis

Chapter 2—Following and Serving Jesus Globally �Kelly O’Donnell & Michèle Lewis O’Donnell

Chapter 3—Promoting Wellbeing for All People and the Planet �David and Charlotte Johnston

Chapter 4—International Psychology �Joyce Yip Green and Karen Brown

Chapter 5—The Universal Declaration of Human Rights �Kelly O’Donnell

Chapter 1—The Remaining Frontier Task: �Strategic Implications for Mission and Member Care� Becky Lewis and Tim Lewis�

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In this chapter, we highlight the incredible progress made in bringing Jesus into previously overlooked communities through an emphasis on people groups and through the development of new forms of member care designed to support pushes into pioneering areas. We then clarify why 25% of humanity remains in “Frontier People Groups” (FPGs), which are the least reached subset of UPGs. We propose the strategic priority of sending many more workers to start family-blessing movements to Christ in the largest FPGs. Lastly, we suggest ways to prepare and support today’s workers to overcome the barriers that keep these groups outside the Kingdom.

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We need to undertake significant rethinking of strategic training, innovations in outreach, and relevant member care for those involved in pioneering or frontier work. As this chapter explains, the remaining FPGs share specific challenges that help to explain why movements to Christ have not taken hold among these groups. Historically, the greatest progress has happened when support for mission workers is geared toward the unique difficulties of a particular mission context, such as happened with tribal people groups beginning nearly 100 years ago. Lessons from that era still apply today.

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Becky Lewis and Tim Lewis were raised in Latin America. They met and married when Becky’s parents, Ralph and Roberta Winter, founded the U.S. Center for World Mission (now Frontier Ventures) and Tim’s parents, Norm and Anabeth Lewis, came to help. Moved by Dr. Winter’s statistics, they did pioneering work among Muslim tribal groups, raising a team of 40 adults and 56 children while having four children themselves. Tim helped to found the Frontiers mission organization and was later its third International Director. In 2018, Becky realized that clarity had been lost as to which people groups still had no indigenous movements to Christ. They subsequently identified which UPGs had no movements yet, naming them Frontier People Groups.

The Winter family in 1966. �In the front row (left to right) are Ralph, Becky, Beth, and Roberta.� In the back row (left to right) are Tricia and Linda.�

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Prioritizing the Frontier Peoples�Strategic Implications for Mission and Member Care�Sections

• Breakthroughs from Seeing with “People Group Eyes”
• Astounding Progress among Unreached People Groups
• Understanding the Remaining Frontier Mission Task
• The Growth of Member Care Focusing on Unreached People Group

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• Strategic Considerations for Effectiveness among Muslim and Hindu FPGs

1. Blessing the Families and Communities of FPGs

2. Building on a Shared Humanity by Bringing Them Jesus, Not Christendom

3. Planting Movements, Not Institutional Churches

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Chapter 1�Prioritizing the Frontier Peoples: �Strategic Implications for Mission and Member Care

• In this chapter, we highlight the incredible progress made in bringing Jesus into previously overlooked communities through an emphasis on people groups and through the development of new forms of member care designed to support pushes into pioneering areas.
• We then clarify why 25% of humanity remains in “Frontier People Groups” (FPGs), which are the least reached subset of UPGs.
• We propose the strategic priority of sending many more workers to start family-blessing movements to Christ in the largest Frontier People Groups.
• Lastly, we suggest ways to prepare and support today’s workers to overcome the barriers that keep these groups outside the Kingdom.

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Tracking the Gospel Spreading to “All the families of the earth.”

In every century, people like Paul have been called to preach the gospel to those people groups who have never heard.

We can discover how God is fulfilling His promise by tracking which people groups have indigenous movements to Jesus.

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People groups won by centuries�(every advance involved significant suffering and martyrdom)

30-1792 AD:

• Jews
• Greeks, Ethiopians, Mar Thoma Indians
• Romans, Armenians
• Irish, Saxons, English, Scotts
• Germans, Slavs, Vikings
• Some Persians/C. Asians
• The Americas, Caribbeans
• Philippines
• Northern Europe goes Protestant

Gospel spread to 25% of humanity

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1792-1974: �

• Protestant missions begin
• Inland N. and S. America
• Africa (sub-Saharan and inland areas)
• Pacific Islands
• New Guinea
• Tribal and outcaste India
• Korea

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Gospel spreads to 40% of humanity

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In every generation,�great progress of the Gospel came by�focusing on overlooked people groups

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Data from Operation World and Joshua Project

Produced by TelosFellowship.org and TransformingInformation.org

We have just lived through the greatest expansion of Christ’s kingdom in history!

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“Hidden Peoples” or Frontier People Groups without believers or churches��60% of humanity (87% of non-believers)

The Extent of the Gospel Spread by 1974

Followers of Jesus

Cultural Christians

Non-believers culturally near to Christians (13% of non-believers)

Latin America, Europe, Australia, Oceana

USA & Canada

Muslims,

Africa

Muslims,

Asia

Other

Africa

Other

Asia

Chinese

Hindus

The world’s

Population:

4 billion

Gearing up for a new context for frontier workers:

• [By 1974] mission workers from the United States had settled almost entirely among the people groups and in geographic areas with high percentages of national Christians, helping with discipleship, pastoral training, and evangelistic outreach [within their own culture]…However, with the new data emerging on UPGs, member care personnel increasingly needed to address problems of workers facing the complexities of pioneering within huge people groups with no believers.
• We need to undertake significant rethinking of strategic training, innovations in outreach, and relevant member care for those involved in pioneering or frontier work. As this chapter explains, the remaining Frontier People Groups share specific challenges that help to explain why movements to Christ have not taken hold among these groups.
• Historically, the greatest progress has happened when support for mission workers is geared toward the unique difficulties of a particular mission context, such as happened with tribal people groups beginning nearly 100 years ago. Lessons from that era still apply today.

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Remaining Frontier People Groups: 1974-2024 (the population doubles but not the number of languages or peoples)

1974

4 Billion people

2024

8 Billion People

60% of the World’s Population

lived in Frontier People Groups

(those with no indigenous

church movement)

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Only 25% of the world’s population lives in

Frontier People Groups.

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Unreached Peoples

WITH movements to Christ

(40% of the population of UPGs)

Location of the Frontier People Groups (2024)

UPGs still without

movements to Christ

(60% of the population of UPGs).

Muslim-

Majority Countries

Latin America

N. America and the Pacific

Europe

Non-Muslim Africa

China

Other Asia

During the last 50 years, the greatest advance of the Gospel occurred in China, sub-Saharan Africa,�East Asia

India

Frontier Peoples

97% of the population of �FPGs are in India or Muslim countries.

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The challenge for today’s global member care movement

• The fact that more than 95% of the remaining FPGs, both by count and by population, are Muslims or Hindus (along with a few Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, or animist groups) has enormous implications for member care.
• Most of these people are in huge people groups that have been significantly neglected in mission outreach and/or see Christianity as a threat.
• Most are in countries closed to mission work; many are hidden in South Asian megacities.
• It can be hard to gain positive access and relational acceptance in these people groups, just as in the isolated jungle tribes of 50 years ago. Member care will need to help workers from around the globe thrive in these Frontier People Group settings [or they will continue to go to the “reached” peoples of the world.]

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Global workers gravitate to partnering with believers rather than pioneering in FPGs.

96% go to work with�“reached peoples”

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3 %

1 %

96 %

Let’s focus on the nearly 300 mega Frontier People Groups �(>1 million in population)

1. The evangelicals in “reached people groups” can easily reach the 37% of all non-believers in their own people groups (these groups have >99% of all Christians and >96% of the missionaries). (E0 and E1 evangelism)
2. The movements already going in 40% of the UPGs can reach the 26% of all non-believers in their own people groups (with 3% of the missionaries).
3. Who is going to the 37% of all non-believers in the Frontier People Groups? (virtually no Christians, and <1% of missionaries)

Remember, focusing on these “mega” groups covers:

• 80% of the FPGs population;
• 20% of the world’s population;
• 1.6 Billion people, with trickle down to smaller FPGs.

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57% are Muslim�41% are Hindu�70% are in So. Asia

52% are in India

Issues and opportunities for member care for FPG workers

• There are still many glaring gaps in member care mindsets and resources across the globe. In particular, we believe that much more specific training for member care personnel supporting workers in FPGs is needed, as attrition rates can be very high. Many workers struggle to connect with “families of peace” in today’s chaotic urbanizing world, so they lack the deep relationships that would keep them encouraged and engaged. Due to the internet, workers can often remain dependent on their friends at home and their home culture, which undermines their ability to bond and adapt locally in FPG settings.

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• Thankfully, proactive coaching and counseling via the internet is now possible, increasing field longevity and helping to avoid burnout, deteriorating marriages, and family breakdowns. Greater preparation and timely help are especially needed for those experiencing what we call “theology shock”—when God doesn’t act as expected and people’s worldview and understanding of God’s goodness are shaken to the core. Also, timely help is needed for those traumatized by the spiritual warfare that can accompany even successful movements, such as the persecution, jailing, or martyrdom of disciples or teammates.

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• More spiritual, emotional, and missiological resources must be developed that are geared specifically to support frontier mission workers’ adjustment, character, and competencies. This need is not merely for relatively well-resourced Western mission workers, but especially for the growing numbers of frontier mission workers from the Global South---including some coming from people groups that are still “unreached” but now have movements to Christ, such as in Indonesia.

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The member care community itself must sustain a high level of commitment to helping people and families stay in and be effective among the FPGs, even though this work can be much more difficult than mission service elsewhere.

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Applications: Prioritizing the Frontier Peoples ��

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Core Strategies

1. Focus on the nearly 300 largest FPGs, so as to impact 1.6 billion people, representing 80% of the two billion people in FPGs.

�2. Overcome barriers among FPGs by learning to bless their families and communities, building on our shared humanity, bringing them Jesus rather than Christendom, and promoting movements rather than institutional churches.

�3. Innovate new roles, new training, and additional member care resources and structures specifically designed for the unique challenges that face workers among FPGs (internationals, nationals, and locals), including culturally relevant support and virtual technologies.

Applications: Prioritizing the Frontier Peoples �

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Core Resources

--1. Data resources for FPGs. Joshua Project (including the sortable FPG map) and Telos Fellowship websites. Clarifying the Remaining Frontier Mission Task (Lewis 2018a) and What’s Gone Wrong with the Demographics? (Lewis 2018c). See the animated video, Understanding the Remaining Mission Task (Joshua Project; Maynard and Lewis 2018).

--2. Prayer resources for FPGs. For groups larger than 10 million people: Bless Frontier Peoples and Go31.

--3. Member care resources. Global Member Care Network and Member Care Updates (Member Care Associates).

Reflection and Discussion

--1. Discuss some reasons why it has been difficult for movements to Jesus to develop among Muslims & Hindus, who represent 97% of the remaining FPGs. Are there things that we have done or not done to make it more difficult for them to understand & embrace the gospel?

--2. What attitudes and skills would help mission workers to thrive and form deep connections with families and communities in FPGs?

--3. What member care structures and training are needed to support mission workers going to FPGs? How can they be collaboratively developed?

More Resources

1) PRAY for the 31 Largest Frontier People Groups, prayer guide:

Go31.org, or phone app at BlessFrontierPeoples.org

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2) MOBILIZE with materials, videos and posters in many languages: JoshuaProject.net/frontier and graphics booklet at JoshuaProject.net/greatprogress

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3) ADOPT ONE OF THE 300: See them on a map with list, sortable by country or religion or language, size, etc:

joshuaproject.net/frontier/interactive

Every people group on the list is linked to a full profile, and there is a short video that shows how to use the map.

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4) LEARN MORE at TelosFellowship.org and FrontierPeoples.org

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Podcast --https://sites.google.com/site/globalmca/gmc-3-podcasts

Thank you!