At oneMESSAGE.tv we talk a lot about the 3,200 unengaged unreached people groups around the world who still need the gospel in a way that they can hear and understand it. Our mission is to help everyday Christians with a heart for those people to reach these groups even if they cannot personally go.
But when we hear about 3,200 people groups that can be pretty overwhelming. Where do we even begin to make an impact? So let’s start with one people group that our partners and donors are reaching in South America.
This indigenous people group* live around the coffee and sugar cane fields in the Andes Mountains. There are about 29,000 of them dotted around small villages throughout Colombia. Most barely live above subsistence, working for coffee farmers and raising their own small coffee plants.
Within this people group, fewer than two percent are believers in Jesus Christ. One perfect example is in one of the villages where we shot some of the stories for our pilot video Bible storying project. There were about 100 people who lived there, and there were only two who had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, two percent, maybe less, and that’s a village where our missionary partners are working.
One of the challenges of reaching these people is their spiritual background. Their beliefs are rooted in animism. That means they spend much of their daily lives trying to avoid spirits, omens and other superstitions. They often won’t leave home after dark or on cloudy days because they are afraid of evil spirits or physical consequences. In order to rid themselves of these spirits, they will often go to the village shaman, or witch doctor, for help.
Obviously, communication is another challenge. Because they live in a Spanish-speaking country many of the men and most of the children do speak Spanish. But their indigenous heart language is as different from Spanish as German or Swahili. So when our missionary partners begin to share stories from God’s Word with them, the people can often understand the stories in Spanish. But to truly understand these deeper spiritual concepts, they need to hear it in the language they grew up speaking.
That’s where oneMESSAGE.tv can help everyday Christians in North America reach these precious people of Colombia. With our pilot storying project, this set of video Bible stories can reach our group of about 29,000 people. (Click here to view one of the video Bible stories) Once finished, our missionary partners can show the stories as part of their outreach, and the indigenous people can carry the stories on their own phones to places the missionaries cannot even go.
Our donors and partners have already raised the funding for nearly 65% of the project, enough to pay for the entire field production. Together, we are now raising the remaining support to edit of all the videos. You can go here to see how you can help meet the goal of our second phase. It costs $1,028 to completely pay for one video. Would you pray about what you can do, whether it’s an entire video, half, or a quarter? Also, do you know someone who shares your heart for reaching the unreached? Please tell them about oneMESSAGE.tv as together we carry the gospel to oral learners one people group at a time.
* The name of this indigenous unreached people group is withheld at the request of our missionary partners due to cultural perceptions and challenges.
OneMessageTV, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation registered in the state of Georgia.
All donations are tax deductible under Internal Revenue Code Section 170.
Comments