September 01, 1986 by

Growing attention has been focused this decade on the hope of reaching the remaining 17,000 unreached tribes, tongues, and peoples.

The U. S. Center for World Mission has been privileged to be used by God in that new movement of hope. The next ten pages tell the story in pan.

New focused prayer

In all nations, only focused prayer can break the bonds enclosing the remaining 17,000 unreached groups. The goal: 34,000 church based mission prayer fellowships focused on the unfinished task. The Center's daily prayer materials, monthly videos, and Frontier Fellowship groups are linking with other movements of prayer nationwide to wage this warfare.

Precise information, hopeful vision

Much more specific information and planning is needed to guide new efforts to reach the 17,000 unreached groups. Where, exactly, are they? What languages do they speak? What segment of the worldwide Church could best reach them and how? The goal: every one of the 17,000 groups adopted by churches and agencies by 1995 so as to finish by 2000. The Center's strategy institutes, linked by the Global Mapping Project's unprecedented capability in computer mapping, are searching out each of the remaining unreached groups.

New missionaries

From all nations, about 70,000 new missionaries are needed to reach 17,000 unreached groups. A viable goal: 4,000 new missionaries per year for other mission agencies  The Center's courses, seminars, videos, and travelling teams have been very effective in "converting" Christians to become World Christians and missionaries.

New supporting churches... and denominations

About 70,000 supporting churches worldwide are needed to reach the 17,000 unreached groups. The goal: to awaken 2,000 congregations per year and whole denominations to support new mission efforts. The Center's speakers, courses, and media have helped many churches to a new, shining vision of the mission task.

Mobilizing Workers!

Over 5600 students have taken the Center's "Perspectives" course. Here is the story of one.

Susan Jordan (not her real name) recently returned from two years of ministry and study in China. She plans to return there soon on a more permanent basis.In a recent interview, Susan said the US. Center for World Mission has affected her not only through its Perspectives course"giving me the mind set and intellectual framework from which I've pursued my missions career the last six years of my life," but also by means of its "supermarket" stock of mission resources.

Susan says it was through contacts made at the Center that she received her first "China' training and had the opportunity to go to Taiwan.In the summer of 1981, Susan moved to Pasadena to help out at the Center.

"One night somebody asked me what I hoped to do long term." I mentioned China.

''Oh! Have you met Jim Ziervogel (the founder and head of the Center's Institute of Chinese Studies)?' they asked. I hadn't.

"They told me Jim was putting together astudy team togotoTaiwan. lhadthe privilege of being part of that team."

In 1980, Susan and seven of her classmates at Perspectives formed Caleb Project as a recruitment and accountability structure. They wanted to recruit other college students to the mission cause and to hold each other accountable to the goals they had set for themselves during the course.Having gone to Taiwan, Susan wanted to stay there, but Caleb called her home. She realized, valuable as her services might be in Taiwan, they were more valuable recruiting others.

For three years I wanted to go back but felt unable," she said. "My heart was overseas, but the home base needed me more."

While here in the States, Caleb decided to locate its headquarters at the U.S. Center for World Mission. The reason?

"Pan of what Caleb does is to make mission resources available to students. This place is readily accessible to mission resources  the study institutes for example.

"We wouldn't have the information, or we wouldn't be able to get the information   we couldn't afford the time or money to dig it out if we were someplace else. But being here, we're in the supermarket; the information is available. We may not know exactly where it is, but we know it's here someplace.

"Then, too, the people who pass through here keep us challenged. The Thursday night Frontier Fellowship meetings: we need that stimulation if we're going to give direction to students."

Teams Mobilize 25,000 Students

Imagine the leader of a team made up of representatives from five different mission agencies approaching the leaders of a college ministry like Navigators or Campus Crusade. "I have a team of people who represent five different mission agencies," he says.

"We would like to speak to your students about the mission movement  about crossing cultural bathers and preaching to people who have never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel before. May we speak to your group?"

Caleb, a member agency at the U.S. Center for World Mission, is doing exactly this kind of cooperative mission mobilization.. and people are opening up their doors.

This school year, the four Caleb traveling teams expect to speak faceto face to more than 25,000 students about God's purpose for their lives and the hidden peoples.