This BackPage editorial is a follow-up to my grousing about the presentation of unreached peoples at Cape Town 2010. You’ll recall that I felt a) the list wasn’t sourced nor in sync with what seems to be the most popular list of unreached peoples today, b) the pace was too rushed for many of the cultures in attendance that morning, and c) the over all effect seemed too American. (See the “BackPage” editorials in both the Oct. 31 and Nov. 7th Brigada Todays.) Last week, I attended a follow-up conference on the subject of “Finishing the Task.” I was, in a word, encouraged.
First, I learned that this “Finishing the Task” (FTT) thing is a network of mission agencies and churches that desires to see reproducing churches planted among every people group in the world. The focus of the FTT network is to recruit full-time workers for unengaged, unreached people groups. (They use the word, “engaged” to mean that there are full-time workers within the group and active church planting is occurring.) So FTT people group lists are not a listing of all unreached people groups.
I also learned that this Finishing the Task movement (FTT) traces its roots back to a discussion group at a consultation in Europe by the name of Amsterdam 2000. The delegates there were seated at tables for a particular session. The guys at Table 71 were fairly heavy-hitters (some larger organizations, some who were more passionate about lost people). Somehow, during the conference, some of the tables started taking responsibility for certain blocks of unreached peoples. Their conclusion was that there shouldn’t be any untargeted peoples. But when all was said and done, there were *hundreds* of major unreached peoples remaining. The guys at this table stepped up to the plate and volunteered to get the word out about the remaining groups the best they could. They didn’t start another organization. They just started working together in harmony to make it happen. That’s the origin of FTT. They’ve met 3 times a year ever since. In 2007, they asked Phil Eshleman to take leadership of the effort. So far, some 340 partners (churches, agencies, groups) have joined together.
My conclusion, at the end of the conference, was that it really doesn’t matter as much which exact list we use. There are really only 4 or 5 different lists in use today and, outside of the sub-continent of India, they’re all fairly similar. The point, I learned, isn’t so much which list but rather, on a relative basis, where is the Good News not being preached.
Was the presentation in Cape Town hurried? Probably. But I’m convinced that was more due to the built-in constraints of a very packed-out program. Does it smack of something very American? Yes, in so much that there is an effort to “organize” our outreach, but if this serves to sound the trumpet call on behalf of those ignored tribes, castes, and kindreds, I’m left to wonder what’s so bad about that. Is there dissonance among the lists of various presentations of unreached peoples — a “list-mania?” To a certain extent, yes — there is. Because the lists were all launched for different purposes, by different people, looking at different perspectives.
But the core message is still the same: Let’s find out who hasn’t heard, then get there with the Good News of redemption. We’ll be saying more about FTT in the weeks and months to come. But for now, I’m convinced the FTT movement is spot-on, and I’m inspired by Paul Eshleman’s humble attitude, inviting any and all to come alongside of the dream of “finishing the task!”
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