Regan Neudorf
Director of New Ventures
When we think of least reached people groups (LRPG), we tend to think of other countries or far off places, but thousands of least-reached and underserved people live right here in Ontario. The least-reached & underserved describes those:
1. who have no gospel engagement or positive response.
2. with some gospel engagement but there isn't a vibrant community of Jesus followers present.
3. with a vibrant community of Jesus followers but access is limited due to geography, cultural barriers, and/or linguistic obstacles.
Despite limited access and gospel presence, Jesus is drawing people to Himself, and there are individuals, churches and new ventures partnering with Him in the Central District along with international workers who are ministering around the world in some of the hardest and darkest places.
Whether this is the first or the hundredth time that you’ve heard about least reached people, we invite you to pray strategically and join Jesus and His Church to intercede on their behalf. We also encourage you to learn about local and global needs and to consider how Jesus may be asking you to partner with Him in the work He is doing here in the Central District and around the world.
Did you know that many of the least-reached groups from around the world also have significant populations in Ontario?
Despite the great need and existing obstacles, Jesus is on the move, and we are thankful for the many individuals and ministries who are ministering to the least-reached in and from our district. Please also pray for the churches, new ventures, networks, and international workers listed below each people group.
Arabs: Gulf & North African
Canada has a substantial population of Arab diaspora. Approximately 1 million Arabs living in Canada are from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq. Many people from the Arab diaspora have left their passport countries for better career opportunities and political stability. Many are international students. Approximately 285,000 Arabic people live in Ontario.
Please pray for ...
Doug & Denise who serve as the Africa Area Directors encouraging and directing our Alliance teams. While supporting others, Doug & Denise are also ministering to another unique LRPG.
The Arabic Alliance Network who are supporting existing churches and new ventures while also focusing on
reaching new people in new places here in Ontario.
Japanese
Despite 500 years of Christian presence in Japan, Christianity is regarded as a foreign religion. Over 1,000 cities and half of all the villages have no church. With 126 million, Japan is the largest least reached country entirely open to missionaries. Dominated by atheism, Buddhism, and Shintoism, evangelical Christianity represents only 0.5% of the Japanese population.
In Canada, there are approximately 90,000 people of Japanese descent with large percentages of the population living in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Many are under the age of 24 and claim to not belong to any religion.
Please pray for ...
Doug & Carol Woon as they are retiring as international workers in Japan. The Woons served in Tokyo, which is part of the Kanto area of Japan. This area has a population of 43,488,970 with a ratio of one church for every 16,532 people. This area is in desperate need of more international workers and vibrant communities of Jesus followers.
Vietnamese in Cambodia & Canada
Approximately 800,000 Vietnamese live in Cambodia. Most are undocumented migrants, materially poor, and many are illiterate or pre-literate with 38.5% of whom are under 20. There is a growing church presence in a few other areas, but there is little to no gospel access in most other regions of the country.
There are approximately 108,000 Vietnamese people living in Ontario with the majority of the population found in the Greater Toronto Area. The following cities in the Central Canadian District have substantial Vietnamese representation: Guelph (2,423), Windsor (2,555), London (3,110), Hamilton (4,855) and Waterloo (5,555).
Most Vietnamese in Canada are Buddhists, though about one fourth are Christian, usually Roman Catholic. Another one fourth are non-religious.
Please pray for ...
David and Donna who serve as Area Directors providing oversight to the Cambodia team, half of whom are engaged in ministry within the Vietnamese communities in Phnom Penh, surrounding area and beyond. Pray for unity of spirit as our team discerns where God is moving and how He is inviting them to join Him.
The 7 Vietnamese Alliance churches in the Central District who are ministering in Guelph, Brampton, Windsor, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London & Mississauga. Vietnamese immigration looks very different today than it did in the 1970’s and 1980’s but the Vietnamese population of Canada continues to grow. Pray for our Vietnamese churches and pastors as they continue to broaden their scope beyond immigration and transition leadership to the 2nd Generation.
Fulani of Senegal
Fulani pride themselves on being the group that brought Islam across the Sahara to Western Africa. They will quickly listen to the Gospel, however, turning from their own beliefs and practices to exclusively follow Jesus is very difficult. Only 0.2% of the 3.9 million Fulani are believers and there are around 5000 Fulani that reside in Canada.
Please pray for ...
Gary & Sharon Howell and Mike & Nikki Howell who serve in Senegal among the Fulani as well as the Wolof people. Please pray for open doors to build relationships and for clarity on what God is calling them into. Please also pray for quick minds and loose tongues for Mike and Nikki as they engage in language study.
Pashtuns
There are approximately 40-45 million Pashtuns, mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Joshua Project suggests about 47,000 Pashtuns call Canada home, with many living in the Greater Toronto Area.
Less than 0.1% of this people group are Christian.
Please pray for ...
An individual from one of our family of churches who is working intentionally with the Pashtun people in the Gulf region. Pray for this person, that he would continue to know God’s clear guidance as he looks for opportunities to share the love of Jesus among Pashtun people. Also, that God would grow the seeds already planted in the hearts of his friends.
Kurds
The traditional homeland of Kurds spreads across Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. With 30 – 45 million people worldwide, the Kurds are the largest people group in the world without a state. Kurds are somewhat receptive to the Gospel, yet only about 1% are Christian; most are Muslim. About 7,400 live in Canada.
Please pray for ...
The Arabic New Venture Network who is currently discerning how to increase access to Jesus with the Kurdish populations. Please pray for people and churches, that God will inspire and equip them to share the love of Jesus with the Kurdish community. Ontario has the highest population of Kurdish and Kumanji-speaking people in Canada. In the Central Canadian District, London, Kitchener and Hamilton have growing populations. The Kurdish community is also growing in Windsor and in the Peel Region, but unfortunately, we don’t have any churches or new ventures in our district who are intentionally ministering to them.
South Asia
The Punjabi Arain people are one of the most least reached in the world (0.0% Christian) but they are just one of thousands of least reached people groups in South Asia . This geographic region has the largest concentration of least reached people groups in the world. Over 1.7 billion people living in over 500,000 villages have never encountered the Gospel; thousands of languages without a Bible; South Asia is a mission field the size of which this generation has never seen. And it’s still growing by nearly the population of Canada every single year. Central and South Asians are within the top 18% of the world’s migrant populations and 2,600,000 South Asians currently call Canada home. A large majority live here in Ontario and more are arriving every year to live, work and study. How may Jesus be inviting you to share His love with people from South Asia, locally or globally?
Please pray for ...
A new venture In the Riverdale neighbourhood of Hamilton, called Prarthana Ka Ghar (House of Prayer). This new venture ministers to their Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and English speaking neighbours. Please pray for Stephen Roy, as he leads this new venture and for Paramount Drive Alliance Church as their lead partner.
The Alliance Canada strategy in this difficult to reach area is to work in partnership with other like-minded organizations with access. Together we can multiply our reach to this massive segment of unreached peoples of our globe as we partner together to provide training for local, indigenous church planters. This has been the focus of the Jaffray Project campaign for the past 3 years.