Lausanne World Pulse – Urban Articles – A Focus on Northeast Asia: 473 Least-Reached People Groups Remain

August 2006

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Overview
The seven countries of Northeast Asia are lands humming with action. China, Japan and South Korea have economies that are growing at rates that almost defy imagination. The twenty-first century could easily be the time when Korean and Chinese missionaries take the lead in reaching the world for Christ. Presently Korea is the second largest sending base in the world and is preparing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the great Korean revival of the early 1900s when Pyongyang was known as the “Jerusalem of Asia.” But China may soon catch up and surpass them because of their “Back to Jerusalem” vision to send Chinese missionaries back to Jerusalem along the old Silk Roads with the gospel. This is also the first time Mongolia has had a lasting church and they too are sending missionaries to other nations. Still, over 450 people groups in Northeast Asia remain least-reached. North Korea, Mongolia and Japan remain formidable challenges with over ninety-five percent of the people still least-reached.

Prayer Points

  • Fulfillment. Pray for God to show the peoples of Northeast Asia that true fulfillment and prosperity is found only in Jesus Christ who gives life and that more abundantly.
  • Freedom from fear. Pray for the people groups living in fear of spirits and of the future to experience the peace, joy and freedom from oppression found only in Jesus.
  • False teachers. Pray for discernment to recognize false teachers and through the Holy Spirit to know the truth that sets them free.
  • Father’s heart. Pray that the Father’s heart of love, acceptance and forgiveness be experienced by every person among these 473 Least-Reached People Groups of Northeast Asia.
  • Faithfulness. Pray for new believers to daily experience God’s faithfulness and to be faithful in their walk with him, letting their light shine before men and women so that they glorify God in heaven.

Links

Historical Background
(Information taken from “The Many Attempts to Bring Christ to Northeast Asia” by Wes Kawato, Global Prayer Digest, August 2006)

When God confused languages at the Tower of Babel, some people fled to the far corners of the earth, including Northeast Asia. After this calamity God focused his redemptive activity on Abraham and his family. However, the Jews kept the message of salvation to themselves. After Jesus rose from the dead, a new era began; however, things did not change immediately. With the possible exception of Thomas, the apostles took the message of salvation West, into the heart of the Roman Empire. It took another three hundred years for the gospel to make small, temporary inroads into East Asia. The Nestorians were expelled from the Eastern Roman Empire for being heretics. To this day church historians are divided as to whether or not they were heretics or not. This we do know: the Nestorian exiles settled in Persia and formed strong churches that sent missionaries to neighboring lands.