Cameroon Bible Institute

CHAPTER 6:
ANALYZING A PEOPLE GROUP;

The people of this world are divided by a number of barriers which may affect the spread of the
Gospel. There are geographic barriers such as mountains, oceans, and valleys. There are also
political boundaries that separate countries.
But people are also separated by cultural barriers. In general, culture refers to the differing ways
people live in our world. Culture includes such things as language, beliefs, values, social
structure, customs, etc.These cultural barriers have resulted in the development of various “people groups” throughout
our world. A people group is any group of people where marriage and intimate life generally
takes place only within the society. For example, a people group is a specific tribe, caste, clan,
or lineage.
When Jesus told His disciples to preach the Gospel to all nations, the word He used for “nations”
was the Greek word “ethnos.” A nation is made up of many groups of “ethnos” or “people
groups.”
It is not enough just to reach a nation in general with the Gospel. You must be sure that every
people group within that nation hears the good news. When this is done, the whole nation will
be evangelized. Jesus commanded that the Gospel be preached to all peoples. If you are to
fulfill this command, you must analyze people groups to determine how they may be reached,
make a plan to reach them, and then put the plan into action.
The purpose of your study is to reach a people group with the Gospel. It is research for the
purpose of evangelism, not just for the sake of research. Be careful that you do not spend all of
your time studying and never get around to accomplishing the purpose which originally
motivated your study!
Thank you