Texas Baptists urged to adopt unreached groups in Houston

September 5, 2006

Posted: 9/01/06

Texas Baptists urged to adopt
unreached groups in Houston

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

HOUSTON—Significant numbers of people in Texas’ largest city never have heard the gospel.

But the Baptist General Convention of Texas is seeking to change that with a new ministry opportunity supported by the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions.

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Cathy Dundas, BGCT intercultural ministries strategist, is helping Texas Baptists adopt the 100 unreached—or nearly unreached—people groups in Houston.

None of these groups has a Baptist church that shares the gospel in its language. Few have a church of any kind to minister to them.

Sharing the gospel with these groups is like ministering in a foreign mission field, Dundas said. Texas Baptist groups—including churches, Sunday school classes and youth groups—who would like to minister to unreached groups in Houston are asked to commit to three months of prayer before taking on any ministry projects.

Then they are required to go through cultural training before they become involved in hands-on ministry.

This preparation allows God to build a passion in Texas Baptist hearts for the people groups they adopt, Dundas said. These actions are what many churches do before undertaking a large missions effort.

“I just think that we’re very ‘doing’ oriented when it comes to missions projects,” she said.

“It’s what mission project can we do? With unreached people groups, prayer is the key. If you don’t pray, you’re just doing a bunch of empty activities.”

Ministering to unreached people groups changes lives today but also lays the foundation for larger ministry in the future. There are Vietnamese Baptist churches today because Texas Baptists ministered to Vietnamese refugees 25 years ago.

From there, deep relationships formed, Christians shared the gospel and churches formed.

Refugee groups still are a place where Texas Baptists can make an impact on people groups, Dundas noted.

Some of the unreached people groups will be ministered to most effectively through refugee agencies.

Texas Baptists can have a great impact on these unreached groups, Dundas believes. But they are going to have to be willing to get outside their comfort zone.

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