The Last Tribes and Tongues

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” —Acts 1:8

“After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne,and to the Lamb!’” Revelation 7:9-10

Every nation has heard the Gospel. I mean really heard it.

Every human being? No. Even 20% of Americans:

• Don't know that Easter celebrates Jesus' Ressurection.

• Don't have any clue what "Trinity" means. (Pew Research Center)

(Sure, those details are slightly more advanced than the Gospel, but who knows how many of those people have ever heard the Gospel?)

Today, missions organizations use the term “unreached people group” to mean a group that:

• Is less than ~2% Christian

• Has no self-sustaining church

Most of these groups are in North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

That definition is helpful—but it can be misleading. Because a group can be called “unreached” even if:

• Someone in their nation, tribe, or tongue has heard the Gospel before, meaningfully enough to truly accept or reject it.

That’s not who this article is about.

We’re talking about something far rarer:

• A group for whom there is no evidence the Gospel has ever been proclaimed at all to any member of their nation, tribe, or tongue.

Most of these groups are in Brazil, Peru, Papua, and Indonesia. There are also isolated cases, like the Sentinelese, on a small island off of the coast of India.

In 2018, a young missionary named John Allen Chau attempted to bring the Gospel to the Sentinelese.

He spent years training and studying in missions, in adjacent languages and related cultural anthropology, and in medicine and survival. He quarantined himself beforehand to mitigate the risk of bringing any diseases. He offered gifts (like fish) from a distance at first and tried to communicate peacefully, withdrawing when he encountered hostility.

And he died faithful.

His story shook the world—and exposed something important:

These groups are not just unreached. 

They are humanly unreachable.

Because the obstacles are overwhelming:

• Governments forbid contact with all of these groups for their protection. One missionary carrying even the common cold could kill every single one of them –and this has happened many times before.

• No outsiders speak their languages. The language must be learned through friendly relations with the people themselves (likely years of study) or miraculously imparted by God Himself.

• Many groups are hostile to outsiders, and would kill you on sight—just as they did John Allen Chau.

• Not to mention, impenetrable wilderness.

What do we do?

There are no public efforts underway towards reaching these people. 

Humanly speaking, the best anyone could do is imitate or send another John Allen Chau, or fund a troop of sterilized boats, aircrafts, and audio/video enabled drones (some have tried drones). Perhaps even appeals for permission and assistance from the governments which protect these people.

(Or, if you are into sci-fi that is not so far fetched anymore, we could send an AI proxy to learn their languages for us like in this scene from The Wild Robot: https://youtu.be/9NTRIDZ9qcY.)

And perhaps one of these is God’s plan.

Honestly though, there is only one real answer; prayer.

Like, intentional prayer.

Like, remember to pray for it.

Like, pray every day until it happens. 

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” —Matthew 28:19-20a

Your response to the Great Commission cannot stop at “But I can’t” (Matthew 25:25-27). These people’s eternities are on the line! 

• Ask God to miraculously impart their languages onto people who can go. Just like He did at Pentecost. 

• Ask God to protect these people from disease.

• Ask God for missionaries to have favor with governments and protection from violence.

Ask God if there is anything that He wants you to do. 

Think of what you can do. I surely don’t know! But you are God’s soldier just as I am. His mission is your duty. 

But be encouraged! It is not by your power or intelligence that these people will be reached. It will be by His.

Every tribe and tongue is worshiping Jesus in Revelation 7. That includes:

• the Sentinelese

• the hidden tribes of the Amazon

• the unknown languages we cannot even name

So it’s not a matter of if they will be reached, it’s a matter of how and when.

Some specific groups that we know of:

• The Sentinelese — living on North Sentinel Island
   

• The Massaco people — in Rondônia
   

• The Mashco Piro holdouts — near Peru / Brazil
   

• The Kawahiva (Rio Pardo) — Mato Grosso
   

• The Piripkura holdouts — also Mato Grosso
   

• The Hi-Merimã and Flecheiros (“Arrow People”) — Vale do Javari
   

• The Hongana Manyawa holdouts — Halmahera
  
  
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