World Mission Update

Global Missions Statistics, 2001 ADPrepared by Mobilization Division

U.S. Center for World Mission, Pasadena, CA

World Population

6.055 Billion PeopleOne third call themselves ChristiansOne third (non-Christians) live in already reached people groups.One-third (non-Christians) live in unreached people groups

Adherents Of Major Religions

2.02 Billion - Christians of all kinds 1.21 Billion – Muslims1.07 Billion - Roman Catholics925 Million - Atheists & Nonreligious 824 Million – Hindus657 Million – Evangelicals364 Million – Buddhists320 Million - Chinese Folk Religionists231 Million - Tribal Religionists200 Million - Other Religions24 Million – Sikhs14.5 Million - Jews

Growth Rates

World Population – 1.6%Muslims - 2.6%

All Christians - 2.6%

Roman Catholics - 1.2%

Protestants - 2.8%

Evangelicals - 4.7%

Pentecostals and Charismatics - 7.3%.

Missionaries425,000 Missionaries from all branches of Christendom

(Only between 2 and 3% of those missionaries work among unreached peoples.)

140,000 Protestant Missionaries 64,000 Protestant Missionaries From USA

Distribution

Distribution of Protestant Missionaries Among Cultural Blocks74% Among Nominal Christians 8% Among Tribal Peoples 6% Among Muslims4% Among Non-Religious/Atheists3% Among Buddhists2% Among Hindus2% Among Chinese Folk Religions

1% Among Jewish Peoples

Finance

15,500 Billion - Total Annual Income of Christians Worldwide

280 Billion - Giving to Christian Causes (1.8% of total income)

16 Billion - To Foreign Missions (5.7% of Giving to Christian causes)

Where The $ Go

Approx. 87% goes for work among those already Christian.

Approx. 12% for work among already evangelized non-Christians, and

Approx. 1% for work among people groups in the Unevangelized or Unreached category.

Unimax People GroupsA Unimax People is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.

Of 24,000 Unimax people groups, 10,000 are unreached

3700 Muslim 2700 Hindu 2000 Tribal 1000 Buddhist 400 Other 150 Chinese Folk Religions 50 Non-Religious/Atheist

(Of those Unreached, 1600 have more than 10,000 persons; 8,400 fewer than 10,000. A large number of these Unreached Groups live in so called closed countries.)

The 10-40 Window

A group of 50 countries Containing 2.5 billion peopleStretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific OceanAnd between 10 degrees North and 40 degrees North latitude.Most of the world’s unreached peoples live in this area.

Challenges & Trends - 1

1) The Challenge Of Islam

2) India – The Next Big Frontier?

3) The Decline of Tribal Religions

Challenges & Trends - 2

4) The Movement Of The Church To The Developing World

5) Kingdom Paradigm

6) Power Ministry, Prayer and Spiritual Warfare

Challenges & Trends - 3

7.      The Global Mega-City As The Center of Mission

8.      The Rise of Ethnic Churches In Global Cities

9.      Reached To Unreached - Not West To Rest.

Challenges & Trends - 4

10. Globalization, Labor Movements and Opportunities for Tent-Making Minstries.

11. Partnerships To Reach UPG’s12. House-Church Based Church-planting

Movements13. Radio Ministry – New Unity & Plans 14. Cyber-Mission – Mission On The Internet

Cyber-MissionWorldwide Internet Population:445.9 million (eMarketer)533 million (Computer Industry Almanac)Projection for 2004:709.1 million (eMarketer)945 million (Computer Industry Almanac)Online Language Populations (September 2002)English 36.5%; Chinese 10.9%, Japanese 9.7%, Spanish 7.2%, German 6.7%, Korean 4.5%, Italian 3.8%, French 3.5%, Portuguese 3.0%, Russian 2.9%, Dutch 2.0% (Source: Global Reach)

Religion OnlineThere are over 275 million Internet searches each day and 80% of all Internet session begin at a search engine. (Internetstatistics.com) Religion is one of the main topics people search for. Pew Internet surveys found that 28 million Americans get religion information online, that 3 million do so daily, and that 25 % of net users search for religion-related topics. Barna Research estimates that up to 50 million Americans may worship solely over the Internet by 2010. There is every indication that the Internet is a major source of religious information where people of many cultures and languages collect their spiritual facts and opinions in private. It’s a place where missionaries must be.

Internet PossibilitiesOnline evangelism using email, web pages and chat rooms.Online counselling and mentoring.Web-based distance education such as that provided free by the Asian Internet Bible Institute (http://www.aibi.ph)Cross-cultural exposure for young people.Using email groups to coordinate missions specialists.Reach into “closed countries” and unreached people groups.Evangelistic pen-pals using email.Advocacy, mobilization and awareness raising about missions.

Your Church And The Internet

Set up a Cyber-Missions department where your young people can get experience in cross-cultural ministry without leaving home.Have a church website that is deliberately evangelistic and culturally sensitive.Train your lay workers using online training tools so they can train after work / at their convenience.Use email to contact church members, missionaries etc and have a pen-pals coordinator.Free Paper On Cybermissions: http://www.aibi.ph/missions/cybermissions.htm

For More Information On Missions

http://www.aibi.ph/missions/