Fellowship is an irreplaceable means of grace in the Christian life and offers us two priceless joys: receiving Gods grace through the helping words of others and giving his grace to others through our own. Half of the world's least-evangelized large cities are in the 10/40 Window. Where Are Christian Missionaries Needed Most Today: 5 Areas To Consider 52 Countries Where the Bible is Illegal | Love Packages Healing Eucharist Mass | Teleradyo (30 April 2023) - Facebook None have an indigenous church capable of taking the Gospel to the entire group. Iraq Israel God is laying claim on the entire creation, and you are being swept up into that glorious plan. How Many People Believe in Christianity? - Topical Studies Therefore, about one out of three people in the world do not have online access to spiritual information and the message of the Messiah. The word Jesus used for nations in Greek is "ethne" from which we get the English word "ethnic". When Jesus commanded the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, did this mean just reaching the nations, or reaching every single person in those nations? It appears he did, and that raises implications about the urgency of the Great Commission today. This makes it more imperative than ever to partner with our God to reach the lost. David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Dont Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me,Counter Culture,Something Needs to Change,Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series. The Finishing the Task initiative suggests this number may be significantly lower. Be a part of it find a place of historic significance in declaring "His glory among the nations! Its a big job, but its the very best use of our resources. Read what the Apostle Pauls response was to those who dont believe in God and why he says they have no excuse: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Baxter 2007, 12) 60% of unreached people groups live in countries closed to missionaries from North America. Now, notice what that text does not say. Another factor to consider here is native missionaries. However, the 10/40 Window does contain huge blocs of people who, by any definition, Its interactive over there. Radical exists to equip Christians to be on mission. It seems clearer in Colossians 1:23. The list is specifically about the ease with which believers can share the message of the Christian Bible and access the scriptures. Of course the languages with the larger number of speakers have been translated but many millions of individuals still do not have the Scriptures in their mother-tongue. U.S. State Department reports on Here are just a couple of the testimonies weve received from distributors in some of the 52 restricted countries listed above. The use of latitude/longitude lines began more than We hear stories from our own distributors in India that suggest this is true. Put another way, churches are spending approximately 1% of our missions resources among the 3 billion people in 7,000 people groups who havent heard the gospel. We know that God will still hold all people accountable for the light that theyve been given about God. We are writing to say Thank You for the Christian books, Bibles and Sunday school materials. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has gone all over the world but has not been accepted all over the world. Sadly, And yes, I think I can explain it, and I hope I can not only explain it, but explain it in a way that intensifies your commitment to reach the nations rather than dampening that commitment. Before Jesus ascended up to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father in glory, Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Is it possible that the gospels now been preached to all nations?. In Paul's words in Romans 1:14, we owe the gospel to those who have not heard it. United Arab Emirates Vietnam While the percentage of the world who are unevangelized has decreased, the absolute number of unevangelized has increased. Thanks for your input! Unreached The gospel must be preached in order for people to hear it and so started the great commission. It gets printed on t-shirts and stitched on bible covers. In many of the 67 countries represented in the 10/40 Window, witnessing the Christian Gospel means . Now that weve reviewed the timeless truths that God can reach people anytime, anywhere, we can answer the question of what happens to people who never hear the gospel. people groups, "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all sometimes seen 10,000 new converts daily. Please enable it, Steve Schmidt teaching on How to Rule Over Your Mind, https://lovepackages.org/category/testimonials/india/, https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/colombia/. Even if the Scriptures are translated and news media available, an estimated 1 billion adults are considered illiterate. Many of these, such as the United States, did not exist as entities when Jesus gave the command. When we repent of our sin and accept Jesus as our savior, He restores our relationship with God so that we might live with Him forever. evangelism. researcher Justin Long has estimated that only about 10% of the global missionary force is Consider for example the 135,000,000 unreached Shaikh of Bangladesh, the 59,000,000 unreached Brahman of India, 58,000,000 unreached Yadav of India or the 37,000,000 unreached Java Pesisir Lor of Indonesia, most of the individuals in these groups and thousands of other unreached people groups are completely ignorant of the King of Kings. The common definition of an "unreached people group" is an ethnic and cultural group in which 2% or less of the population professes a form of Christianity that would loosely be called "evangelical.". Operation World presents data suggesting that after peaking in the mid-1990s the growth rate of both Christianity in general and Evangelicals (an approximation of true Christ-followers) has slowed significantly. It is alsonot about which countries do or do not have physical church buildings or the presence of Christian communities. But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. If God is so loving and gracious then these people certainly wouldnt go to hell, would they? to the Gospel. Thanks to the Efforts of True Christians, Millions Will Starve to It is also not about which countries do or do not have physical church buildings or the presence of Christian communities. Particularly among unreached peoples and places. Its not that they can hear or have heard the gospel, and they choose not to believe it; its that they cant even hear it because no one around them knows it. Gambia Gibraltar Greece Guinea Guinea-Bissau India And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. The point is not that he has finished going through the whole world. politically, religiously, ancestral heritage, population size, and climate-wise. Urgent comes alongside indigenous believers in some of the hardest to reach places on earth. . Has The Gospel Now Been Preached To All Nations? north of the equator up to 40 degrees north of the equator and stretching from westernmost Has the gospel been "preached to all nations"? For evangelistic purposes it is "the largest group within which the gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance." Voice of the Martyrs recently published a world map that highlights the most difficult places to own or bring a bible. Although these are only imaginary lines, they appear on maps and globes as if they Some would argue, What about the innocent jungle native in the deep parts of the Amazon? My answer to them is, nobody is innocent (Rom 3:10-12, 23). Our hope laid up in heaven includes forgiveness of sins, a dwelling in the kingdom of Christ, and an inheritance in light. John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. Malta Mauritania Illegal may not be strictly true, but it might as well be in most of these places. Now, to underline that were on the right track in saying that, we just need to remember that Paul himself said later in Romans 15:2024. Its so well known in some circles that the idea that the bible is illegal in 52 countries is fairly well known. China Cyprus Djibouti A few decades ago missiologist Luis Bush coined the phrase "10/40 Window." There are almost as many different strategies as there are ministries, and its breathtaking to consider how the Lord orchestrates his plans: One ministry prints, another uses cutting edge digital technology, another collects and recycles discarded material. We collect new and used bibles and other Christian literature from all over the country, and ship it overseas. The words of James may apply to those of us who are wealthy compared to the rest of the world: "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Japan That doesnt mean all people in these nations have heard the gospel, but the gospel has now gone into all nations when you think about the reach that radio has had, as well as satellites, the Internet (where available), or other wireless devices. ", Nigeria: a collection of over 540 distinct people groups each needing a church planting movement in their midst, Center for the Study of Global Christianity, All 50 of these people groups have less than 2% Christ-followers. https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/colombia/. Primary religion: 26 are Muslim, 17 Hindu, 5 Buddhist, 1 Ethnic Religions, 1 non-Religious. It does not say, has been proclaimed it is proclaimed in all creation. Everywhere it goes, it is being proclaimed, and it is bearing fruit. Morocco Myanmar You can change the title of your list, or you can do some research first and remove those countries that shouldnt be on the Illegal list. Javascript is disabled in your web browser. While the spread of Christianity has been nothing short of supernatural, there are still huge segments of the worlds population that have never heard the name of Jesus let alone a clear presentation of the message of salvation. It will continue to increase until Christians and churches decide to change how we use our resources. the world. These passages teach us that if a person truly desires to know God, God will make Himself known. You will see that a church and a mosque are right next to each other. Jordan He is a mighty missionary, and he will be able to use these little small tracts in different areas. The French tracts are also being sent to Senegal to pastor [redacted] and to Uganda to the area where the Kampala camp is with 12,000 refugees. In the original Greek, the word is etnos, meaning ethno-linguistic groups, or people groups. We wanted to share VOMs great work in assembling this resource and also provide some context to the very nuance that you pointed out! There was a man named Theing and originally his religion was Buddhist. Third, we must do justice to Jesus's declaration, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. It seems the priority is backwards with the vast majority of Christian resources being used to tend the flock and few being used to seek the lost. ways to avoid becoming a missionary But heres the problem . -- Dale Butler, Nazarene Bible College little or no access to the Gospel [, PowerPoint on relational, friendship evangelism [. No, but does that mean God is not fair? Listen to our episode on desperate prayers right now: Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/krisanapong detraphiphat. Using this definition, we discover that there are somewhere between 242 and 361 unreached people groups living in the United States right . Dont think youve embraced a little thing thats number one. All of these 50 largest unreached people groups are in the 10/40 Window, 47 are in sensitive countries. We cant ship 20 tons of bibles and Sunday school workbooks to Beijing, for example, because it would never get past port authorities. Unengaged means there are definitely no missionaries, and in all likelihood no outreach, no church, no Christian materials, and few, if any, Bibles in these people groups. Practically, unless something changes, this means unreached people will be born, live, and die without ever hearing the gospel. Testimonies from our distributors in India are here https://lovepackages.org/category/testimonials/india/, Yes. After describing numerous advances of the Gospel, Operation World states "The sobering fact is that, even with all this activity, probably 24-27% of the worlds population have not had the good news presented to them in a way they could appreciate and meaningfully respond to." They may have limited access to the Scriptures in trade or major languages, but no access in their heart language. And the third reason, I think, he talks this way and stresses the global dimension of the gospel for the Colossians is to show that it is the power this gospel has power to change people of every kind, all kinds of people. majority of the world's Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs live in the 10/40 Window. It clarifies and defines the kind of gospel were talking about. missionaries in the 10/40 Window have become creative in how they evangelize and disciple Finally, it is worth noting that in many larger countries, especially, experiences vary based on specific location. Very literally it would read like this: . Although the church has made great progress in evangelizing the world, the statistics here show that there is still a lot of work to be done. One sometimes hears the comment "Certainly most everyone has heard of Jesus by now. Despite Christ's command to evangelize, 67% of all humans from AD 30 to the present day have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ. We hope to use these during the year in the villages of Kisumu rural areas where not many has bibles even the pastors who borrows from brothers who are privileged to have one. Voice of the Martyrs (the ministry that created the map) lists the Philippines as dangerous and/or difficult. So there are brave believers sharing the gospel, but they face some level of persecution in some places. Instead, they are sentenced to hell based on the fact they are sinners. Ultimately, again, this is not our list. We copied their color coding in our text list. Paul preaches in Acts 17:26-28, From one man He [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 'Ethne' means a group of people with a common identity, such as the same language, culture, religion, ethnicity. grace. Pioneers - Unreached Peoples Thats why hes going to Spain. While these percentage figures are somewhat arbitrary, "we should not underestimate the significance of the small group of people who have a vision of a just and gentle world. Is it close? Has the Gospel Already Reached the Entire World? Or, to state it in terms of people groups, over 7,000 of the worlds 17,000 people groups are classified as unreached. Together we can change that! While thats a big statement, think about why we know its true. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them (Rom 1:18-19). We know God exists. The fact that so few of our financial resources and missionaries are sent to the unreached is what is known as the Great Imbalance. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. We must Go! There is no plan B. Paul says its because his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. and passion." political instability, and the influence of other religions. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. Window harvest field! less than 2% Christ-follower and less than 5% Professing Christian? dominant religions in many of these countries, and Christianity is often viewed with suspicion or . Even if people have listended to missionaries, such as those of the Joshua Project, and rejected the message, they have at least heard of . Open Doors: 50 THUMB -- an acronym to remember the unreached peoples VOM is working hard to get bibles into these countries, and we are honored to be working toward the same goal. Do you have a missions call? I think they understood that meant they were to go into all parts of the nations around them, knowing that not every single person everywhere on earth would have a chance to hear the gospel in their lifetimes. Individuals in these groups may have very limited, if any, access to the Gospel. Here are some sobering facts about just the 50 largest unreached people groups: It is important to note that this does not mean every individual within an unreached people group has never heard of Jesus or the message of salvation. across 134 countries, Good news: Researcher David Barrett says the country which has Click to see it on their site. (World Evangelization Research Center) Christians make up 33% of the worlds population, but receive 53% of the worlds annual income and spend 98% of it on themselves. Now he knows that he has many great sinfulness in his life according the Bible which I gave to him. He would be fair to cast us all into hell. Before we can answer the question of what happens to people who never hear the gospel message about Jesus Christ, lets ask another question: How were people saved prior to Jesus crucifixion and resurrection?. For statistical agreement, numbers and percentages used here are based on the Ethnologue number. Finally, Jesus commands them to teach the new disciples the same thing that Jesus taught His disciples. (Operation World p. 10) That translates to very close to two billion individuals, one in four individuals, without any knowledge of the Savior! But this does not get us off the hook. terms of "degrees north" and "degrees south." Much of this is concentrated in only eight countries (Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan) all countries with very high concentrations of unreached people groups. You will see a 360 view of one of those Armenian churches. These 50 unreached people groups are comprised of 1.48 billion souls. Notice several things: "God always punishes people because of what they know and fail to believe.". Whatever commands He gave them, they are to give the new believers. Clearly, the countries of the 10/40 Window are not the only places that need missionaries. Possibly. Iran remain outside the reach of current evangelistic efforts. It is a way to refer to a group of countries and people who are in the least reached region of the world. We did explain that in the post. World evangelism statistics: Of the 55 least evangelized countries, 97% of their population Two passages in Romans explain this point further. Bhutan Burkina Faso Yet another reason much of the world remains unevangelized is the apathy among many Christians in Western cultures. Jesus commanded His followers to make disciples from every nation meaning every ethnic people group. Bible translation agencies report that approximately 1,800 languages have definite translation need. Churches are spending approximately 99% of their missions resources in places that are already reached with the gospel. Tale of two churches Ten Rather, hes saying, Thats the kind of gospel it is thats whats happening. The fact of the matter is there are people who never heard the gospel beforethe coming of Christ. And also youre harming peolples trust in you and their testimony based on your not so right list. In the middle 1990s mission strategists sought to quantify this definition. 178 & 244. Today the percentage of those who have not heard is about 28%; a major move forward. I feel an urgency to unreached nations. This is the reason why GCP works exclusively with native missionaries that are spreading the Gospel inside unreached people groups. Im going to read the ESV. Moreover, they can be supported at a fraction of the cost of a foreign missionary. In fact, only 1% of all Christian giving is going toward evangelizing unreached people groups. Korea (North and South) Kuwait Of the 5.8 billion people in our world, 1.2 billion (around 20%) have yet to hear the Gospel. Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism are the The point is that this gospel that you have believed, you Colossians, in your little out-of-the-way town of Colossae, is a triumphant, global gospel laying claim on every single person and people group in the whole world, wherever it goes. So they have been labeled The 10/40 Window is home to 6,921 people groups that have not yet been touched by the gospel. The book "Future of the Global Church" has a section on the unevangelized. You can find her on GodUpdates, iBelieve, Crosswalk, Hello Darling, Focus On The Family, and in Brio Magazine. Connect with her atwww.HeatherRiggleman.com or onFacebook. Tiny countries like India and China have populations that are so immersed in the gospel, and the Bible, that many have heard it over 1,000 times, and have rejected it as much. As of 2020 about 65% of the worlds population has internet access. I say that not only because they werent that ignorant they really werent that ignorant of the rest of the world but I say it mainly because Paul himself (we already saw this) said in Romans 15 that he was intending to proclaim the gospel in a vast region of Gaul, called Spain, where there hadnt been yet the preaching of the gospel. Your phone, tablet, computer, hard drives, memory cards etc are throughly searched and tou are forced to delete anything like that and more. working there. Those who deny the obvious existence of God are only suppressing this knowledge, which means in the Greek, they are holding down by force this knowledge; therefore, they really are without excuse.. If God is loving and good, how will He resolve the destiny of so many people who will never get a chance to be introduced to Christ? The 10/40 Window and Christian missions - Southern Nazarene University Estimates suggest that approximately 7,400 people groups are still considered unreached. . Together The It is a great injustice to think that 2,000 years after Jesus gave the Great Commission that many people groups have no witness in their midst. Although this is a great milestone, there is an even greater challenge that our faith is facing. You may have heard that the bible is illegal in 52 countries. Sorry, you are unable to subscribe at this time. (The Traveling Team) 818 unreached people groups have never been targeted by any Christian agency ever. countriesNazarene missions In addition 60% of the worlds population is considered oral learners meaning their preferred learning mode is oral, not written. Short-term missions Someone is considered a missionary (for the sake of these statistics) if they have moved somewhere else for the spread of the gospel. Havent we just about completed the Great Commission?" These mission agencies use these definitions of reached and unengaged to help them strategise how to use their resources (people and money) most effectively so that every person on the planet will hear the gospel, whether through a local preacher or a missionary. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt 28:18-20). With the article the in front of the participle, it is not an adverbial participle telling when. I think there are three reasons. That doesnt mean that those who serve among reached peoples are not worth honoring, but surely more than 3% of missionaries in the church should go to the over 3 billion people who never hear the gospel. Over 3 billion people in over 7,000 people groups are currently unreached by the gospel. . Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. GCP believes that the biggest problem in missions today is that the majority of the western churchs resources are being spent on evangelizing places that have already been evangelized, while almost no resources are going to the least reached places. Almost all of the world's 55 least-evangelized countries are in the language they can understand. While you are at it, google ancient enthusiast Vank cathedral. That doesnt really matter though because all of us have no excuse, wherever we live (Rom 1:18-21). it is not banned in the Philippines nor in Mindanaowe have churches and missionaries in Mindanao. The world today has almost 10,000 people groups; more than 4,000 of these people groups are considered unreached. Remember, the most of early church lived with the expectation that Jesus was coming back in their lifetime. Out of those 400,000 only 1112,000about 3%are going to unreached people. the 10/40 Window. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God' (2 Corinthians 5:20).Those who have heard the gospel and still reject God's offer of forgiveness are in grave danger: 'If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of . Portugal Qatar According to the Joshua Project there are more than 4,000 people groups that are less than 2% Christian. There, we seek to make disciples, multiply churches and provide humanitarian relief in ways that are biblically faithful and practically effective.