What About the Hidden People?

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 by Doug Nichols
The number of those to be won to Christ in Africa andAsia has more than tripled since 1900. Almost3.5 billion people today have little or no knowledge of Christ and Hissalvation. Never has the challenge been greater for total, global advance withthe Gospel. If you sent a missionary to each group of 5000 (of the 3.5billion), there would be a need for 700,000 additional missionaries.
Most of those to be reached are often called the “HiddenPeople.” Why? Because major cultural, racial, linguistic, social and otherbarriers hide them from the eyes and the concerned efforts of most evangelizingChristians. For example, if every Christian were to win his or her culturallynear neighbor to Christ, 2.5 to 3 billion non-Christians would still remaintotally untouched because they live outside the cultural home base of everyactive Christian in the world.
Where can some of these Hidden People be found? Considerjust a few illustrations:
The Philippines is a countryof over 100 million people, with as few as three million (as high as ten million)true followers of Christ. There are over 24,000 small towns without a localevangelical church. These small towns are hidden! There are also 1.5million street children with few Christians seeking to reach them with thegospel.
There are 500,000 towns and villages with no gospelwitness in Europe.
For every Christian in Thailand there are 999Buddhists, most of whom have never once heard of Christ.
There are 100 million street children worldwideand an estimated 143 million orphans. Most are hidden from thepriorities of many church-planting ministries and missions.
For every 10,000 villages in India, 9950 have noChristian community whatsoever. Furthermore, less than 100 of its 3000 castesand tribes have any Christians in them.
Despite the strong Christian movement in Latin Americathere are still many Hidden People. In the jungle lowlands there are atleast 600 small primitive tribes with over 5 million people. Many have yet tohear of Christ.
The almost one billion Muslims are concentrated in44 countries and dispersed throughout 40 others. In the face of such diversityand with such numbers to reach there are fewer than 2000 evangelical missionariesworking with them. Hidden!     
Thousands of new missionaries should be sent out forevangelism and discipleship among each of the 16,700 culture groupings whereno churches exist!