AD2000 & Beyond Movement: A worldwide movement of organizations and individuals dedicated to the goal of "a church for every people and the gospel for every person by the year 2000." While remaining committed to doing everything possible to achieve this goal, the movement is not predicting "closure' or the completion of the Great Commission by end of the year 2000.

Adoption (of an unreached people): Making a commitment to an unreached people until there is an indigenous, reproducing church established among them.  Aspects may include prayer, research, and networking toward church planting. Sometimes called "people group adoption" or adopt-a-people.

Advocate: People group advocates, also known as people specific advocates (PSAs) are individuals who have committed themselves to one specific people group (ethnic group)… to learn about them, their environment, culture, demographics, and status. They pray about how churches can be established among them. They may network and partner with others to encourage their involvement. 

Champion: An individual in a local church who feels called to spearhead the UPG adoption process in their congregation for a specific people group.  This person serves as an advocate in their own church.  They may expend their role outside their congregation.  At that point they become an Advocate.

Church Planting Movement  A church-planting movement is a rapid and exponential multiplication of indigenous churches within a population segment (people group, city, or country).

Closed Country: Countries that limit or prevent Christian ministry by expatriates as missionaries.  Alternatively they are called creative-access countries, restricted access country, closing country, restrictive country, or sensitive country.

Cluster: Grouping of peoples within each affinity bloc, which are closely related peoples and, for strategic purposes, may be clustered together. These relationships are often based on a common identity of language and name, but sometimes on the basis of culture, religion, economy, or dominance of one group over another. Most peoples in the Joshua Project List may be grouped in people "clusters" and almost all clusters have total populations of over one million.

Contextualization: Adapting something (a biblical concept, mission method, etc.) to make it understood within the context of an ethnic culture.  See Lausanne for a series of articles on contextualization in missions.

Email: Electronic messages sent from one computer to another computer over a computer network, usually utilizes existing telephone lines.

Ethno-linguistic People: An ethnic or racial group speaking its own language. A people group distinguished by its self-identity with traditions of common descent, history, customs and language. Also known as a people.

Evangelicals: The subdivision of Protestantism which generally emphasizes: 1) the Lord Jesus Christ as the sole source of salvation through faith in him; 2) Personal faith and conversion with regeneration by the Holy Spirit; 3) A recognition of the inspired Word of God as the only basis for faith and Christian living; 4) Commitment to biblical preaching and evangelism that brings others to faith in Christ.

Evangelism: Activity of sharing the message of redemption in Christ.

Expatriate: One who has taken up residence in a foreign country.

Facilitator: A network facilitator provides leadership to a network: 1) by being a champion for the cause, 2) by calling, organizing and presiding over the meetings, 3) recognizing and encouraging member's resources, gifts and concerns, 4) with the end result of making it as easy as possible for a diverse group to work together harmoniously.

Fax: Facsimile transmission of digitized pictures or text over telephone lines using fax machines or fax-enabled computers.

Field: The location where ministry/church planting/evangelism takes place.

Field-based or Field-driven: Strategy determined by those on the field, rather than from those at the 'home," sending, or resource base.

Frontier: Pertaining to unreached peoples or areas.

Great Commission: Matthew 28:18-20.  Jesus' final instructions to his followers to go everywhere to make disciples among every people.

Great Commission Christians or Great Commission Christian Organization (GCC): An evangelical Christian or organization that is actively engaged in or committed to the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

Harvest Field: All who are not true Christians; not part of the Body of Christ.

Home Team Leader: Term used by PeopleLink for a congregation that becomes a stateside advocate for a specific UPG and the strategy coordinator responsible for that people group.  Similar to a Strategic Mission Partnership.

Home Team Network: Term used by PeopleLink for a group of churches working together to reach a specific UPG of a cluster of UPGs.  Similar to a People-Specific Advocacy Network.

Indigenous peoples or persons: Those individuals or groups who originate in a particular area, a national, a native.

International Service Corps (ISC): Individuals or couple serving with the IMB on the field a four months to a two-year appointment.  Must be at least 21 years old.

Joshua Project 2000 Unreached Peoples List: A listing of "country-distinct" peoples each over 10,000 in population that were chosen, by their ethno-linguistic distinction and their status of being less than 2% Evangelical and less that 5% Christian adherents.

Journeyman: A two-year ISC appointment for a single person who has just completed college up to age 31.

Last Frontier: Pertaining to unreached peoples or areas.

Martyr: A Christian believer who dies in a situation of witness as a result of human hostility.

Mission: The loving work of God to bring humankind to himself as the Church.  Secondarily, the overall ministry of the Church for world evangelization.

Missionary: One who is sent with a message.  The Christian missionary is one commissioned by a local church to evangelize, plant churches and disciple people away from his home area, often among people of a different race, culture or language.  IMB has several designations: Career Missionary - serving on an ongoing appointment in four- year segments.  Missionary Associate - serving one four-year appointment.  Maybe be re-appointed for another term if effective and may be moved to Career Missionary status if appropriate.  ISC or Journeyman- Serving two-year appointment (or as little as four months for some ISCers) with limited theological and language training.

Missionary Sending Agency: Agency which facilitates the sending, placement and supervision of missionaries.

Missions: Any activity in which Christians are involved for world evangelization.

Missions Resource Organization: These agencies support the work of field missions and missionaries by offering information, resources, materials, and mobilization of the Church.

Mobilization: The awakening and equipping of the whole body of Christ to participate in the whole mission of God to reach the whole world with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Network: An extended group of people with similar interests or concerns who interact and remain in informal contact for mutual assistance or support (see also People Specific Network).

Non-Resident Missionary (NRM): Professional career missionary who is working towards the evangelization of a particular people or cluster, but resides outside the group, usually in a city with good international communications facilities and no surveillance.  Some IMB strategy coordinators are NRMs.

Partnership: An association of two or more autonomous bodies who have formed a trusting relationship and fulfill agreed upon expectations by sharing complementary strengths and resources, to reach their mutual goal.

People: In the context of this program, the word people refers to ethno-linguistic peoples (See also Joshua Project 2000 Unreached Peoples List, ethno-linguistic and people group.)

People Group (short definition): A homogeneous group of individuals, families, and clans sharing a common language and sense of ethnic identity.

People Group: A ethnic or racial group speaking its own language and distinguished by its self-identity with traditions of common descent, history, customs, and language.   Note: This is the largest possible group within which communication can take place without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.  Although there are other types of people groups, it is understood that the word people refers to ethno-linguistic people groups unless otherwise stated.

People Group Advocate: See Advocate

People-Specific: Referring to one particular people or people group

People-Specific Advocate: See Advocate

People-Specific Resource Network (PSRN): Network of organizations and individuals committed to reaching a particular people

Platform: The legal conditions under which one resides within a country.  The nature of one's permission to reside in a foreign country as reflected on one's visa.

Prayer journey: A trip to pray on location for the lost. Team members may spend extended time prayer walking, asking God to bring the Gospel to that unreached people group. Does not entail evangelism or mercy ministries (See Praying Through the Window).

Praying Through the Window: Prayer initiatives developed for the purpose of worldwide focused prayer for the countries and peoples in the 10/40 Window.

Prayer walking: Praying "on-site with insight"-- taking prayers outside the church walls as we walk through an area. Praying in the very places we expect to see God bring forth His answers. Usually low profile and unobtrusive in appearance.

Rapid Advance Mentoring Program: A field-based program of accelerated mobilization, training, mentoring, and strategy implementation aimed at expediting progress in difficult clusters of unreached people groups.

Reached/Unreached: A term that is widely used today to describe people groups and areas that have or have not responded to the preaching of the gospel.  The use of the term has continued despite the faultiness of the terminology.  Strictly, it should be a measure of the exposure of a people group to the gospel and not a measure of the response.

Regional Leader: A missionary selected by staff leadership and the IMB trustee board to lead the missionaries in one of the IMB's 14 geographical regions of the world.  Responsible for developing and implementing church-planting strategies among all of the people groups in their region. 

Regional Team: Regional Leader, Administrative Associate, Strategy Associate(s), and Richmond Associate.

Resource-based: Emanating from the country sending mission resources and personnel, i.e., the "home" base.  Opposite is "field-based."

Restricted-access country:See Closed Country

Richmond Associate: Richmond-based member of the Regional Leadership Team who provides primary representation and support for the region in relation to the Richmond office and the stateside churches.

Security: The protection of individuals, property, organizations and nations from espionage, opposition, theft, and other dangers.  Information that could identify national believers and mission strategies is particularly important to protect.

Sending Agency: See Missionary Sending Agency

Sensitive Country: See Closed Country

Strategic: Important or essential in relation to a plan of action.  Highly important to an intended objective.

Strategy Coordinator (SC): A missionary responsible for building and leading teams in the design and implementation of strategies that initiate and nurture a church-planting movement among a specific ethno-linguistic people group or population segment.

Strategic Mission Partnership (SMP): Occurs when the leadership group in a church has developed a significant relationship to a specific mission field, and the personnel on that field, to the degree that they make an ongoing commitment to become a vital member of the strategy team.

Synergy: The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. Cooperative interaction among groups that creates an enhanced combined effect.

Teams:  A group of people working together effectively toward a common objective.

10/40 Window: The area of the world between latitudes 10 degrees and 40 degrees north of the equator in the Eastern hemisphere, covering North Africa, Middle East and Asia.  The window has in view most of the world's areas of greatest physical and spiritual need, most of the world's least-reached peoples and most of the governments that oppose Christianity.

Unreached People, Unreached People Group (UPG): A people or people group among whom there is no viable indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize their own people without outside (cross-cultural) assistance.  Other researchers have adopted the terms "hidden people" or "frontier people group." See Joshua Project 2000 Unreached Peoples List.

World Evangelization: The whole Church taking the whole gospel to the whole world.  The goal of giving every person the opportunity to hear the gospel in a way they understand, to become disciples of Christ, and to join with others in fellowship without leaving their own culture or people.