(Sept. 15, 2016 - by Darin Campbell, InChrist Communications) - The Alliance for the Unreached announced that effective Thursday, Sept. 1, Wayne Pederson assumed the role of chairman for the second annual International Day for the Unreached (IDU), set for Pentecost Sunday, June 4, 2017.

The alliance includes Reach Beyond, Bibles For The World, Operation Mobilization, Missio Nexus and Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Pederson said he accepted the role as a natural extension of his eight years as president of Reach Beyond. He recently retired from that position so he and his wife, Willi, could spend more time with family while broadening their ministry influence as global ambassadors for Reach Beyond while serving on various ministry boards.

“I was blessed to serve in a ministry focused on reaching the unreached,” said Pederson. “Now I get the blessing of extending that focus as the chairman of the 2017 event. As Willi and I enter our ‘fourth quarter’ of ministry, I can’t think of a better way to invest our time than serving ministries we love and raising awareness of the plight of those who have never had a chance to hear the gospel.”

The purpose of IDU is to educate and inspire North American Christians to increase their passion and efforts to reach the more than 6,000 people groups worldwide in which the population is no more than 2 percent evangelical.

“Wayne is the perfect ambassador for this event. He understands the issues in the U.S. and around the world,” said Steve Johnson, president of the IDU Alliance steering committee. “We’re seeing less and less emphasis placed on the Great Commission in many churches. The alliance came together around one cause—to reignite a passion in the hearts of believers to reach the lost, locally and globally. We’re trying to drive a stake in the ground to say, ‘The time is now.’ We have the technology. We have the resources. We have the means. Now we just need the commitment to get the job done.”

The alliance encourages pastors, lay leaders and churches across North America to commemorate the day by preaching on the subject of the unreached, passing out materials, viewing videos, conducting awareness campaigns, praying and advocating for the cause via social media.

“So many people advocate for countless causes, and most of them are good,” added Pederson. “But the fact is, when you consider that there are over 2 billion people who haven’t ever heard the message of Jesus and that about 70,000 people die each day without that opportunity, it gives me a great burden and sense of urgency. The International Day for the Unreached is all about moving people from concern to action.”

The inaugural event (held on Pentecost Sunday, May 15, 2016) garnered support from noted Christian leaders such as Rick Warren (senior pastor of Saddleback Church), Paul Eshleman (director of the Jesus Film Project), George Verwer (founder of Operation Mobilization) and Marv Newell (executive vice president of Missio Nexus).

IDU, an idea first conceived in 2015, occurs annually on Pentecost Sunday in honor of the day when the Holy Spirit equipped believers to take the gospel message around the world. For more information visit www.dayfortheunreached.org.

Sources: InChrist Communications, Reach Beyond