1. The Seven Stages of Effective Engagement among the Unreached
Presented by: Tim Freeman April, 2018

2. Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples from among all people groups. He promises his support as the Church undertakes this responsibility. However, people groups remain that do not yet have known believers. Therefore, engaging the remaining people groups without disciples must be the highest priority in missions in our generation.

3. Revelation 5:9 and 7:9
Revelation 5:9 and 7:9 gives vital definition to Jesus’ commission to the Church in Matthew 28:19: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations….”
Revelation 5:9: “With your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.”
Revelation 7:9: “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

4. What is a people group?
A significantly large grouping of individuals who perceive themselves to have a common affinity with one another. "For evangelization purposes, a people group is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.“

5. The Process of Engagement
Engagement occurs when workers are living among the people and are actively implementing a biblical church planting strategy on their behalf. The process of engagement unfolds through seven stages.

6. The Seven Stages of Effective Engagement
UUPG adoption
Missionaries placed among the UUPG
Early disciples are made
The first church is planted
The indigenous church plants at least one other indigenous church
A church planting movement begins among the people group
The people group sends its missionaries to other people groups

7. Stage One: Adoption Commitment to the UUPG (“Grafting in”)
Research to pinpoint the opportunity
Prayer, prayer, prayer
Candidate selection and training
Early strategy identified
Authentic platform identified
Financial and member care support in place
Other logistics done

8. Stage Two: Missionaries Fielded
Missionaries arrive on the field
Housing, visas other details taken care of
Language and culture studies undertaken
Research conducted for location with access to the UUPG
Authentic platform refined which gives long term visa and also easy access to the people
Relationships are developed

9. Stage 3: First disciples
Missionaries continue relational development
Fears and aspirations of the local people begin to be identified and addressed by a contextual approach to ministry
The community is saturated with the Word of God through teaching, media, and practical ministries (extent may be limited by factors)
First believers come to Christ and discipleship is undertaken

10. Stage 4: First church planted
The number of new believers grows
A viable discipleship approach is undertaken
New disciples learn how to lead others to Christ
New disciples learn how to disciple and lead others
A church is inaugurated when there is sufficient numbers of disciples

11. Stage 5: Indigenous church plants at least one other indigenous church
The local church develops its own leadership
The missionary may help the church to plant others churches or this may come from within
Discipleship and leadership development in the new churches undertaken by the indigenous church
The new church plants at least one new church.

12. Hypothesis: Effective Engagement is achieved at Stage 5
Once the indigenous church has planted at least one additional church, this is a strong indication that the Gospel has taken deep root in the culture in a contextualized manner that produces local ownership of the ministry initiatives. Care must be taken that the new churches are thoroughly biblical.

13. Stage Six: A church planting movement begins among the people group
Ordinary believers are motivated to share their faith with others
They are given a simple and easily replicable process to use such as the Discovery Bible Study method
New groups overcome community pressure and organize into viable churches
Churches continue being planted along relational lines using simple, reproducible methods

14. Stage Seven: The people group sends its missionaries to other people groups
The church is anticipated to be a missional church from the very beginning
Early missional efforts to another people group will work best along relational lines
The church is taught basic principles of cross-cultural ministry
Missions to another people group can be done even as the home churches continue to reach out and grow within their own group.

15. Conclusion Engaging the unreached is a missiological priority.
Initial engagement, deepened through the seven stage process, can virtually eliminate the prospect of regression (“unengagement”).
The goal is not simply “engagement”, but “effective engagement” resulting in healthy churches and church planting movements.