Unreached Peoples of Houston
What do you think of when you think of Texas? Guns? Weird Austin? Border disputes? Chris Clayman? You’re likely not thinking of huge populations of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists–members of unreached people groups. Yet
Houston is home to ten different significantly unreached people groups. Maybe your calling to missions is to Texas?
Who are the Unreached People Groups of Houston?
Most of these UPG’s are Muslims from Central Asia, the Middle East, and South Asia. Gujarati and Hindi-speaking
Indian Hindus also have a substantial presence. These groups are mostly concentrated in Sugar Land and Mid West Houston. Buddhists are represented by about 6,000 Thais mostly concentrated in Woodland Heights.
Gujaratis in this area are most in need of a cross-cultural witness. These Hindus are unlikely to encounter Christians or a church that is relevant to their culture. It’s a population of around 27,000 with little to no evangelism efforts among them. It’s kind of like if there was a small suburb in Texas without any churches. That’s the Gujarati population.
Global Gates has a team reaching out to many of the different Muslim groups in Houston. They are always looking to recruit and would love to see people join in all kinds of capacities! One such recruit is a man named Jim.
Be Like Jim
Jim is the oldest member of the Global Gates Houston team (mid 70’s) and runs circles around all of the younger team members. Two years ago, Jim played football at an apartment complex in order to connect with some young Bengali Muslims. Jim broke his foot, but this did not slow him down from meeting daily with Muslims in Houston. This year, Jim is playing cricket with Pakistani Muslim men (no broken bones yet).
Few Muslims in Houston have responded to the Good News, but this does not slow Jim down. Recently Jim heard about a gradual approach to evangelism. Instead of sharing the gospel with a Muslim in his neighborhood at first encounter, Jim waits until he eats two meals with a Muslim in his neighborhood, then shares the gospel. This way he builds some rapport and shows that he cares for the relationships. According to Jim, “My Muslim neighbors have declined acceptance of the gospel but they remain open to talk about spiritual topics and continue meeting with me.”
How is God Calling You to Reach Unreached People Groups?
Maybe God is calling you to be a Jim among Gujarati Hindus or among Pakistani Muslims in Houston? It all starts with contacting us and seeing how you can get involved. If you’re ready to jump into things, you can join a nine month internship in Houston! It gives you the chance to be mentored by veteran missionaries while you learn to reach out to these unreached people groups.
