One of the great things of our passport country, is to be able to brows on the internet! 🙂 While gathering some information for a brochure, I came across these statistics:
• Even though Christ came to earth more than 2000 years ago… of the 6.5 billion people live on Earth. 2.3 billion live in darkness and fear… • There are still nearly 7000 unreached people groups.** • There are some 6,600* languages in the world BUT in 2010 the complete Bible was translated into only 469 languages and the New Testament into 1,231. (www.unitedbiblesocieties.org/) • the 3 main organizations involved with translating the Bible into new languages: Wycliffe Bible Translators, New Tribes Mission and the Bible society (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible) • NTM plants churches under the unreached people groups of the world in Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region and has over 3000 missionaries. • Only about 0,2% of all missionaries in the world, end up working in a unreached people group. Most missionaries work in countries and under people that have free access to the Gospel.
**Of the 16,713 people groups by country, 6,926 or 41,4% are still considered unreached. (www.joshuaproject.net/)
* Some recourses state 7,358 languages worldwide, depending on the different interpretations between “language” and “dialect”.(The Ethnologue – languages of the world,, SIL International, 2009, 16th edition ).
Clearly, there is much work to be done in reaching the unreached and especially in translating the Bible! However, each one of us has a different role to play as part of the Body of Christ. What is your role?
“… go make disciples of all nations…” Jesus, according to Matthew 28:19
