Category: Mapping

Field Update – Colombia, Bolivia, Panama

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Ongoing armed conflict and extreme geography make for a very difficult missionary field among Colombia’s indigenous tribes. Today, of 105+ tribes in Colombia, only nine are considered “reached” with the Gospel to the extent that there are any mature churches among them. At least 14 tribes, mostly in Colombia’s Amazon jungle region, are TOTALLY UNREACHED — meaning no believers at all. Some of these are nomadic tribes living in complete isolation. Over 60 tribes in Colombia are unreached in a more general sense, in that there might be handfuls of believers among them who may or may not be meeting together.  Our research so far validates a huge need for missionaries as we… Continue reading

Mapping Linguistic Diversity

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Mexico’s indigenous ethnolinguistic landscape is rich in diversity and complexity. While conducting research into the geography of ethnic people groups in southern Mexico from 2011-2013, we visited many indigenous communities. Amazingly, in Oaxaca state, by far Mexico’s most ethnically diverse, about 180 indigenous languages are still in use today. While many of these languages are disappearing, you will still encounter tribal communities where Spanish is hardly if at all spoken. Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas (National Indigenous Languages Institute, or INALI) released its most recent Catalogue of Indigenous Mexican Languages in 2008, listing each known indigenous language and dialect with… Continue reading

A hidden tribe emerges

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Alto Rio Envira, Acre - FUNAI

Last week, video footage was released by FUNAI (Brazil’s National Indian Foundation) of a tribe living in voluntary isolation, possibly since the Amazon rubber boom of the late 1800’s, perhaps much longer, emerging recently from the jungle near the Peruvian border. Speaking a language from the Panoan linguistic family, interpreters brought in by FUNAI were able to communicate with the group of three young men. Transcripts of the reported conversation are chilling. Many from their tribe, including most, if not all of their leaders, were killed recently by drug traffickers and loggers intruding in their traditional (and supposedly protected) land just… Continue reading

Missions & Mapping

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Over the past year we have been blessed to serve countless missionary movements around the world through our research and by producing detailed maps of the locations of people groups – from as close to home as Oaxaca, Mexico, to as far away as the Amazon Basin and across to the world to Africa and Asia! And though many of these maps have been printed and are in the hands of field missionaries, mapping for missions will be an ongoing process until the day Jesus returns. For that reason, we have integrated a mapping system within Etnopedia (see our Nepal page in… Continue reading

A Successful Journey to Guerrero

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Drake recently returned from a long journey into Guerrero state where he worked with indigenous believers from various Me’phaa Indian tribes who are training to become missionaries to their own people as well as to other tribes over a very large region. Before setting out, Drake published a series of maps of the Me’phaa region on which the Me’phaa Indians could identify their own village locations and where the gospel is presently available, specifically in their own language.  In the process they identified many places that do not have acces to the gospel, as well as places where Christians are still systematically… Continue reading

The People of Nepal

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While living in a remote village among the Chayahuita Indians in the Amazon jungle in 2003, a well respected mentor of mine named Paul Johnson gave me a simple answer to a burning question: “I see the need, now how do I serve?” Discerning my gifts, his immediate answer was “We NEED researchers”. Okay, the answer made perfect sense to me in theory, but turning that theory into reality would require years of follow-through, punctuated by far more times of discouragement than affirmation. I am certainly no more spiritual than any other Christ-follower. But only by trusting God with the… Continue reading

A Glimpse into the Mixtecs of Mexico

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Imagine, almost every town within your own home state speaks a completely different language. The country at large speaks a common national language, you’ve heard it but are suspicious of those who speak it. Few people in your own community really know it, or even care to. You speak the tongue of your ancestors, why give that up? Imagine…no two neighboring towns get along. Confrontations over municipal borders, religions, ethnic pride, even sporting rivalries, frequently result in deadly armed skirmishes, or ‘range wars’. Imagine, your town demands your complete unwavering loyalty. You have mandatory community workdays; if you ever leave… Continue reading

A six-month update from the field…

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The middle of August marks our 6-month anniversary working with Etnopedia in Mexico!  Your prayers and financial support continue to help us move forward and accomplish much with this ministry.  As indicated in our last post, we recently made a huge breakthrough in our research of Nepal’s ethnic people groups.  Having this information gathered in one location provides a common ground from which missionary movements in all languages from around the world can collaborate towards reaching the hundreds of nations within Nepal, many of whom still have no access to the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.  Very little is known… Continue reading

Finally, a complete list of Nepal’s people groups!

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This week, after over several months of detailed research, I finished and uploaded to Etnopedia a complete list of Nepal’s known ethnic people groups. So what exactly is the significance of such a list and what effect will it have on the Evangelical missionary movement? Short answer: used to its full potential, it will lead to major advances in eventually reaching 450+ people groups who currently have little to no access to the Gospel. Etnopedia serves Evangelical missionary movements around the world by providing information on unreached ethnic people groups.  Armed with this information missionaries can focus their efforts where access… Continue reading

Chiapas – Part 3

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After completing our first week in eastern Chiapas our investigation of the Gospel among the Zoque Indians continued in yet another region of the state.  The Zoque people are descendents of the Mayans who inhabited much of present day Chiapas and the Yucatan Peninsula.  Today the Zoques are divided into numerous ethnic groups throughout Chiapas each with distinct variations in their language and culture.  Dave and I gradually made our way back to Tuxtla Gutierrez after many hours in ‘colectivo’ taxi-vans winding through the jungle and mountain roads.  I was very pleased to hear from Megan that she would be… Continue reading