Benjamin and Missy Hatton Connecting You With Tribal Missions 
Out of the many people groups in the world today how would you identify an unreached people group? NTM has focused their vision on reaching new tribes with the Gospel message and planting indigenous churches among them. Along the way criteria has been developed to help identify “new tribes” where Christ has yet to be named. This criteria can be summed up in the following three characteristics.
Language Distinctives
There are measurable differences that distinguish one language from another. NTM’s highest priority is the people groups who do not currently have the Gospel available to them in any of the languages in which they are proficient. Of the nearly 7,000 spoken languages in the world today there are still 2,200 languages with no translated Scripture at all. In the South Pacific Islands of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea nearly 800 of the 2,200 languages exist. NTM has been ministering in PNG for over sixty years and has impacted 72 of these 800 or so languages that have zero Bible translated. These are unreached people groups.
Cultural Distinctives
Cultural distinctives are the integrated set of beliefs, values, and behaviors that comprise the unique worldview of a people group. NTM’s highest priority is for the people groups whose unique worldview remains intact and consequently isolates them from the Gospel message. In the year 2000 the Moi people were touched by the modern world for the first time through NTM missionaries. They were living in the Stone Age with only wood, bone or stone utensils at their disposal. Needless to say their cultural distinctive were intact and they were completely isolated from the Gospel message. There are many more just like the Moi who have yet to be reached.
Existing Church Impact
In a country like Papua New Guinea where there is open opportunity for mission work there are “churches” rampant. One missionary accurately described PNG as missionized but not evangelized. NTM’s highest priority is the people groups among whom no mature church exists, and who are isolated from the outreach vision of other viable churches or mission agencies.
Once an unreached people group has been found it must be determined whether the resources are available to allocate missionaries. However, before the resources are brought into question there has to be a missionary team to allocate.
NTM could allocate missionaries with 200 unreached people groups tomorrow. The real challenge isn’t in identifying new tribes. Tragically we simply do not have the people enough for the great task of reaching these new tribes. The message of hope – of abundant, eternal life – is still out of reach for millions.
Our desire is to be allocated among one of the unreached people groups in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. We are looking to the Lord to be in PNG by early Fall 2010. Could you pray that the Lord would continue to raise up laborers to expand the reach of the Gospel with us?
