The presidents of the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and International Mission Board (IMB) simultaneously hit buttons Feb. 7 to launch the new North America People Groups Web site.
In a joint ceremony, interim NAMB President Roy Fish in Alpharetta, Ga., and IMB President Jerry Rankin in Richmond, Va., "threw the switch" on the new site, www.peoplegroups.info.
The interactive Web site — developed and funded jointly by the two mission boards — now offers a wealth of data to Christian users and the public at large.
Using census data, the people groups database is designed to break down groups living in a given state, city or zip code by nationality, language spoken at home and ancestry.
The user-friendly Web site is intended for the pastor, church staffer or church member who wants to better understand and minister in his or her changing community by knowing what ethnic groups live nearby and how many people they encompass.
"For instance, say you need to know the top 10 counties in the United States populated by those born in Ethiopia," said Ed Stetzer, director for NAMB’s Center for Missional Research. "Or maybe you’d like to know how many people speak French, Spanish or Russian in your state or community. It’s available via an advance search engine on www.peoplegroups.info."
Web site users can also request missions expertise from North American and overseas missions personnel for a particular people group.
They can also participate in online discussion forums with other people group workers registered with the Web site.
Additionally a resource database permits the user to search for available ministry resources on the Internet for thousands of languages.
The people groups site also enables registered users to report back on people groups in their areas — including cultural characteristics, the people groups’ degree of evangelization and ministry opportunities.
Once reported by Web users in the field, this information will be accessible on the Web site for all users.
"The face of North America is changing," Stetzer said. "From 1970 to 2006, the foreign-born population in the United States rose from 4.7 to almost 13 percent, 18 percent in Canada. By 2050, it’s predicted that half of the U.S. population will be of a different race than non-Hispanic white.
"North America is becoming a mosaic of people groups representing hundreds of languages, nationalities and religions." (BP)
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