John Pudaite, president of Bibles For The World, helps distribute copies of the Gospel of John in China, where many have had no exposure to the good news.

NASHVILLE (WordNews.org) March 1, 2018 – A movement to accelerate missions efforts to unreached people groups has gained momentum with two additions to the International Day for the Unreached organizing group.

Frontier Ventures (www.frontierventures.org) and William Carey International University (WCIU, www.wciu.edu), two long-time leaders in the frontier missions movement who share a campus in Pasadena, Calif., have joined the Alliance for the Unreached, which is promoting the need for more focus on the 2 billion people around the world with no easy access to the gospel.

The expansion of the alliance was announced Wednesday at “Proclaim 18,” The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) International Christian Media Convention, in Nashville. The now 11-strong alliance is seeking to inspire churches and individuals by reports of what is being done among unreached groups, and involve them in further efforts through prayer, giving, and action. Centerpiece of the drive is the International Day for the Unreached (www.dayfortheunreached.org), on May 20.

Held on Pentecost Sunday, the day when the Holy Spirit fell upon the early church and empowered members to take the good news to the ends of the earth, this year’s concert, celebration and challenge, will be held at the headquarters of Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. The event will be live-streamed on the internet, with artists and speakers to be announced next month.

Founded as the U.S. Center for World Mission in 1976 by the late missionary statesman Dr. Ralph Winter and renamed in 2016, Frontier Ventures (www.frontierventures.org) promotes mission among the world’s unreached people groups through research, education, and mobilization. Its subsidiary ministries include the acclaimed Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course.

Named after William Carey, a pioneer British missionary to India in the late 1700s and early 1800s, WCIU (www.wciu.edu) was established in 1977 at the former U.S. Center for World Mission to equip international cross-cultural workers for overseas service. The distance-learning school has equipped students in 20 countries.

“We’re delighted to welcome Frontier Ventures and WCIU to the alliance,” said chairman Jon Fugler. “Both are widely respected and appreciated for their many years of advocacy and action on behalf of those who have not yet heard the gospel. Their participation in the International Day for the Unreached further demonstrates the growing importance of its message.”

Both groups sharing a common goal to fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission command to spread the good news to the ends of the earth. However, alliance members strategies and approach are different.

As part of its focus on unreached people groups in South and Southeast Asia, Bibles For The World (www.biblesfortheworld.org) last year distributed more than 300,000 copies of John’s Gospel in key regions of 12 Chinese provinces.

“With more than a billion people in China, it’s easy to think we’re barely scratching the surface,” said BFTW President John Pudaite. “But our focus is to reach those much smaller segments of the population that have had no exposure at all to the gospel.”

Media and medical ministry Reach Beyond is focused on the unreached and those with limited access to the gospel, building more than 500 local FM and AM radio stations in more than 100 countries, and partnering with indigenous believers to run them. It also conducts medical caravans and clinics in places where the gospel has little presence, opening the door for its proclamation.

InChrist Communications (www.inchristcommunications.com) is a full-service Christian communications agency serving missions group as well as faith-based organizations, churches, businesses and individuals. Founder and President Palmer Holt served as world missions correspondent with the Communications Team for Cape Town 2010: The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization.

The Alliance for the Unreached is urging a reclamation of the real meaning of the word “unreached,” which it says has been diluted and has lost its impact. Unreached peoples are not just all non-Christians, but rather those who have no access to the gospel because of political or religious barriers, geographical location, or simple neglect.

More than 6 million people learned about the International Day for the Unreached on Facebook last year.

To reach members of he Alliance for the Unreached, click the links below:

• Bibles For The World (www.biblesfortheworld.org);
• Frontier Ventures (www.frontierventures.org);
• InChrist Communications (www.inchristcommunications.com);
• Mission Network News (www.mnnonline.org);
• Missio Nexus (www.missionexus.org);
• Operation Mobilization (www.omusa.org);
• Partners International (www.partnersintl.org);
• Reach Beyond (www.reachbeyond.org);
• William Carey International University (www.wciu.edu);
• World Mission (www.worldmission.cc);
• ZimZam Global (www.zimzamglobal.org).