An Unreached People Group

Do you like statistics? Numbers, yes. Not real folks will real stories, I know.

Yet without the firsthand knowledge that our Discovery Trip will provide we are limited to these statistics. These numbers to help paint a picture of the need for an evangelical witness among the Teso. The latest Annual Statistical Report from our partners in the Kenya Baptist Convention record the following for the Teso Baptist Association churches.

• Total churches: 61
• New churches in last year : 2
• Total outreach groups: 1
• New outreach groups last year: 0
• Baptistms: 68 (sadly, just a bit more than 1 new believer per church)
• Total membership: 1217 (less than 1/2% of the Kenyan Teso population)

Yes, there are other evangelical groups and we will seek to meet them & understand what God is doing among them. But as these statistics show, the work among the KBC Teso is struggling.

This is why the Teso of Kenya are referred to as Unreached People Group. So few Christ-followers. So much need.

Pray for Doug Lee, our regional missionary in Kenya, as he makes a pre-trip January 21-24 among the Teso to prepapre for our trip. He will be seeking to meet our Teso Baptist pastors & other evangelicals among the Teso. We will join him in those relationships in February. May God give us discernment & guidance as we go.

That the Teso May Know

I am entering the 21st Century and you are here to read it: My first ever blog. The idea herein is to try it out. A test run if you will. But it is a test run with a purpose.

My purpose is to join God & other Christ-followers to catalyze a Church Planting Movement among the Teso of Kenya. The 304,000 Kenyan Teso along the Ugandan border are less than 2% evangelized. An unreached people group (UPG) is what missiologists would call the Teso of Kenya. The Teso of Uganda, however, are highly evangelized or reach with the Gospel.

That all peoples may know the saving power and love of Christ Jesus is my heart & motivation in this matter. The Teso of Kenya is where I believe God has led me & my church to make a difference.

Pray for our Discovery Trip in February '08. Four of us from my church, Southview Baptist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, will travel to Western Kenya to meet Teso Christ-followers & scout out the opportunities for our involvement.

We will be partnering with missionaries of our Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board (IMB) and the Central Eastern Southern Africa (CESA) region.