ABOUT MISSIONS
TOP 10s
These lists can be used as a raw reference to get an idea of where missions efforts should (or shouldn't) be concentrated. The contrast between the left and right columns is a sobering indication that there is a major imbalance and we need to restructure our global mission efforts. Keep in mind that some of the data can be 10 years old or more, so it might be partially outdated, but is still useful. Also, one needs to understand that every country and people group is unique, so the types of mission efforts needed will vary.
GENERALLY BAD IDEA TO SUPPORT
MISSION EFFORTS HERE
COUNTRIES WITH THE SMALLEST PERCENT
OF POPULATION UNEVANGELIZED:
1. Poland....................................0.0%
2. Grenada.................................0.0%
3. Wallis & Futuna Is. ..............0.0%
4. Guatemala.............................0.1%
5. Nicaragua..............................0.1%
6. Honduras...............................0.1%
7. El Salvador............................0.1%
8. Dominican Republic.............0.1%
9. Haiti.......................................0.1%
10. Costa Rica...........................0.1%
COUNTRIES WITH THE LEAST
UNEVANGELIZED PEOPLE:
1. Saint Pierre & Miquelon...........4
2. Wallis & Futuna Is. ..................5
3. Montserrat................................7
4. Saint Helena..............................9
5. Cook Islands.............................10
6. Palau..........................................11
7. Anguilla.....................................17
8. Tuvalu.......................................20
9. Grenada....................................28
10. Saint Kitts & Nevis................28
HOW OFTEN THE AVERAGE INHABITANT
WILL HEAR THE GOSPEL:
1. Puerto Rico................once every 14.6 hrs
2. Ecuador.........................................14.9 hrs
3. Portugal.........................................15.1 hrs
4. Norway..........................................15.1 hrs
5. Croatia...........................................15.1 hrs
6. Peru................................................15.1 hrs
7. Colombia........................................15.1 hrs
8. Costa Rica.....................................15.1 hrs
9. Spain..............................................15.1 hrs
10. Malta...........................................15.1 hrs
PERCENT OF POPULATION THAT IS
EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN:
1. Kenya............................................48.9%
2. Vanuatu.........................................45.9%
3. St. Vincent.....................................39.1%
4. Uganda..........................................37.0%
5. Bahamas........................................35.9%
6. Barbados.......................................34.2%
7. Solomon Islands............................33.3%
8. Central African Republic..............32.3%
9. El Salvador....................................31.6%
10. Zimbabwe.....................................30.9%
FULL-TIME CHRISTIAN WORKERS PER
MILLION POPULATION:
1. Somoa............................................18,326
2. Tonga.............................................10,148
3. Saint Pierre & Miquelon................8,375
4. Malta...............................................8,313
5. Monaco...........................................7,739
6. Ireland.............................................6,836
7. Cook Islands...................................6,659
8. Kiribati............................................6,596
9. Belgium...........................................5,669
10. Wallis & Futuna Is. .....................5,511
FOREIGN MISSIONARIES PER MILLION
NON-EVANGELICAL INHABITANTS:
1. Saint Pierre & Miquelon................9,271
2. Samoa.............................................8,446
3. Monaco...........................................6,050
4. Tonga..............................................5,661
5. American Samoa............................5,283
6. Micronesia.....................................4,987
7. Cook Islands..................................4,117
8. Saint Helena...................................3,900
9. Netherlands Antilles......................3,359
10. Guam............................................2,987
DIFFERENCE IN LITERATE NEW BAPTIZED
BELIEVERS PER YEAR AND BIBLES
DISTRIBUTED PER YEAR:
1. USA...........................................-14,921,166
2. Brazil...........................................-3,955,157
3. Spain............................................-1,626,442
4. China............................................-1,142808
5. Italy.............................................-1,126,427
6. South Korea...................................-914,703
7. Britain............................................-724,629
8. Pakistan.........................................-482,577
9. Germany........................................-452,667
10. Australia......................................-200,987
_______________________________________
ANY UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP IS
WORTH REACHING OUT TO
THERE ARE 42 COUNTRIES, MOSTLY
ISLAND NATIONS, THAT HAVE NO
UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS, PLUS
ANOTHER 52 COUNTRIES THAT HAVE ONLY
1 OR 2 UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS.
OVER 100 NATIONS HAVE NO TOP
PRIORITY PEOPLE GROUPS.
62 COUNTRIES HAVE 0% OF THEIR
POPULATION LIVING AMONG UNREACHED
PEOPLE GROUPS, AND ANOTHER 47
COUNTRIES WITH LESS THAN 1%.
42 COUNTRIES, MOSTLY ISLAND
NATIONS, HAVE 0% OF THEIR PEOPLE
GROUPS UNREACHED.
---------------------------------------------------------------
RESPONSIVENESS TO EVANGELISM:
1. Dominica.............................................8
2. Spanish North Africa..........................9
3. Tonga..................................................9
4. Macedonia.........................................14
5. Latvia.................................................14
6. Grenada.............................................15
7. Portugal..............................................16
8. Antigua...............................................17
9. Spain...................................................17
10. Romania...........................................18
COST PER BAPTISM:
1. Japan............................$2,720,658
2. Switzerland...................$2,655,555
3. Bermuda.......................$2,507,474
4. Denmark......................$2,336,982
5. Belgium........................$2,202,317
6. Norway.........................$2,189,908
7. Germany......................$2,119,414
8. France..........................$2,030,056
9. Austria..........................$1,942,919
10. Italy.............................$1,902,000
REACHED AND OVER-EMPHASIZED
NO HARVEST AND NOT HUNGRY FOR THE GOSPEL
EMPHASIS ON PEOPLE GROUPS
GENERALLY GOOD IDEA TO SUPPORT
MISSION EFFORTS HERE
COUNTRIES WITH LARGEST PERCENT
OF POPULATION UNEVANGELIZED(1):
1. Maldives ........................80.4%
2. Bhutan............................79.2%
3. Sahara............................75.4%
4. Afghanistan.....................70.4%
5. Mauritania.......................68.1%
6. Turkmenistan..................65.5%
7. Azerbaijan.......................63.0%
8. Iran.................................62.8%
9. Comoros.........................62.7%
10. Mayotte.........................59.3%
COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST
UNEVANGELIZED PEOPLE(2):
1. China................................444,219,082
2. India.................................412,122,495
3. Pakistan.............................83,307,766
4. Indonesia...........................78,805,877
5. Bangladesh........................55,267,877
6. Iran....................................42,507,292
7. Japan.................................41,890,821
8. Turkey...............................34,243,536
9. Vietnam.............................26,516,153
10. Thailand...........................26,509,177
HOW OFTEN THE AVERAGE INHABITANT
WILL HEAR THE GOSPEL(3):
1. Afghanistan............once every 30.5 yrs
2. Maldives...................................11.2 yrs
3. Sahara.......................................6.7 yrs
4. Mauritania..................................3.5 yrs
5. Yemen........................................3.5 yrs
6. Bhutan.......................................2.9 yrs
7. Somiland....................................2.1 yrs
8. Algeria........................................1.9 yrs
9. Iran............................................1.6 yrs
10. Niger........................................1.2 yrs
PERCENT OF POPULATION
THAT IS EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN(4):
1. Turkey..............................0.01%
2. Tunisia..............................0.01%
3. Morocco...........................0.02%
4. Yemen...............................0.02%
5. Afghanistan......................0.03%
6. Turkmenistan...................0.03%
7. Somalia.............................0.05%
8. Montenegro......................0.05%
9. Bosnia...............................0.06%
10. Mauritania......................0.06%
FULL-TIME CHRISTIAN WORKERS
PER MILLION POPULATION(5):
1. Afghanistan..................3.1
2. Saudi Arabia.................6.0
3. North Korea.................7.1
4. Somaliland....................7.1
5. Iran...............................8.9
6. Uzbekistan..................10.3
7. Somalia.......................11.0
8. Tajikistan....................11.3
9. Yemen.........................12.7
10. Turkey......................13.5
FOREIGN MISSIONARIES PER MILLION
NON-EVANGELICAL INHABITANTS(6):
1. North Korea....................1
2. Afghanistan.....................2
3. China...............................3
4. Iran..................................3
5. Iraq..................................3
6. Somaliland.......................4
7. Myanmar........................5
8. Saudi Arabia...................5
9. Somalia...........................7
10. Syria..............................7
DIFFERENCE IN LITERATE NEW
BAPTIZED BELIEVERS PER YEAR
AND BIBLES DISTRIBUTED PER YEAR(7):
1. Mexico.....................1,589,977
2. Congo-Zaire.............1,303,663
3. Nigeria........................873,632
4. Kenya.........................530,736
5. Uganda.......................484,367
6. Russia........................402,652
7. Poland........................371,773
8. Venezuela..................333,110
9. Argentina...................313,728
10. South Africa.............312,455
_______________________________________
LARGEST UNREACHED PEOPLE
GROUPS IN THE WORLD(8):
1. Shaikh in Bangladesh......pop of 132,950,000
2. Japanese in Japan.......................121,950,000
3. Shaikh in India...............................73,079,000
4. Brahman in India...........................54,955,000
5. Yadava in India..............................54,272,000
6. Turk in Turkey...............................52,739,000
7. Chamar in India.............................48,011,000
8. Rajput in India................................39,839,000
9. Han Chinese, Xiang in China.........36,033,000
10. Sunda in Indonesia.......................35,105,000
COUNTRIES WITH THE MOST
UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS(9):
1. India........................2,222
2. Pakistan....................448
3. China.........................427
4. Bangladesh................372
5. Nepal.........................355
6. Indonesia...................200
7. Sudan.........................138
8. Laos...........................134
9. Iran..............................93
10. Russia/Thailand........76 each
TOTAL TOP PRIORITY PEOPLE GROUPS
TO REACH(10):
1. Sudan.......................65
2. Afghanistan.............47
3. Nepal.......................45
4. Chad........................40
5. China.......................35
6. Indonesia.................33
7. Russia.....................32
8. India........................32
9. Iran..........................31
10. Uzbekistan............23
PERCENT OF POPULATION LIVING
IN UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS(11):
1. North Korea............................100%
2. Afghanistan.............................99.9%
3. Algeria.....................................99.9%
4. Western Sahara......................99.9%
5. Mauritania..............................99.6%
6. Mongolia.................................99.5%
7. Comoros..................................99.5%
8. Iran..........................................99.4%
9. Turkey.....................................99.4%
10. Somalia..................................99.3%
PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE GROUPS IN
THE COUNTRY THAT ARE UNREACHED(12):
1. Pakistan.....................96.8%
2. Afghanistan...............93.4%
3. Nepal.........................93.4%
4. Bhutan.......................91.4%
5. Laos...........................91.2%
6. Iran............................90.3%
7. Bangladesh...............87.9%
8. India..........................87.7%
9. Mongolia...................86.4%
10. Algeria.....................85.4%
_______________________________________
RESPONSIVENESS TO EVANGELISM(13):
1. Maldives.................434
2. Comoros..................361
3. Cambodia................353
4. Guinea.....................335
5. Nepal.......................319
6. Niger.......................318
7. Mayotte..................304
8. Oman.......................302
9. Gambia....................295
10. Bhutan...................284
COST PER BAPTISM(14):
1. Mozambique............$1,366
2. Ethiopia....................$2,127
3. Tanzania...................$2,495
4. Congo-Zaire.............$2,619
5. Sierra-Leone............$3,623
6. Nepal........................$3,715
7. Chad.........................$3,865
8. Burundi....................$3,986
9. Somaliland...............$4,245
10. Cambodia...............$4,292
UNREACHED, NEGLECTED, AND RESTRICTED
EMPHASIS ON PEOPLE GROUPS
WHERE THE HARVEST IS NOW - HUNGRY FOR THE GOSPEL
1. David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Trends, AD 30-AD 2200 (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001), 426-7.
(note: To be evangelized, or given an offer of discipleship, as recorded by World Christian Trends has been criticized as being too liberal. Data is from all different branches of Christianity and not just Protestant/Evangelical. This can partially explain why an average person in a country such as Puerto Rico is evangelized 596 times each year. Countries with a high Catholic population will be listed as being well evangelized. By the same data, an average person in the US gets evangelized 368 times each year. Most will admit these numbers don't reflect reality, so the evangelization data from this source should be used as a reference, but needs to be taken with a grain of salt.)
2. Ibid. (note: Countries with small populations, such as island nations will be seen frequently in the red column. This occurs as a natural result of their small size and past victories of Christianity)
3. Ibid., 424-5. (see note on footnote 1 above)
4. Jason Mandryk and GMI, "Current Country Data," Operation World Professional Edition DVD-ROM. 2010.
5. David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Trends, AD 30-AD 2200 (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001), 418-9.
6. Ibid., 414-5, 420-1. (note: Many countries restrict or deny access by foreign missionaries. The desire might exist to send missionaries to many closed countries, but the law prevents it. Some mission organizations, denominations, or churches might send missionaries there regardless, but not report the statistics. In other cases, missionaries might be undercover as tentmakers, students, etc. Some of these countries might also have healthy numbers of national missionaries (aka indigenous, native, home missionaries), who are fulfilling the Great Commission regardless of the absence of foreign missionaries.)
7. Ibid., 418-21. (note: In most true mission fields, Bibles are not given out as an outreach item, since there are simply not enough to go around. Rather Gospel tracts and New Testaments are more likely to be given out as outreach items. Bibles are generally given to new believers or a newly believing family. They can then devote themselves to the Word of God, be encouraged and fulfill their role in reaching out to others with the Gospel. Thus, it is more proper to analyze how many new believers are without Bibles rather than how many people in general are without Bibles. A country listed in the green might have all the missionaries already needed, but are lacking Bibles. Since this data is 10 years old and literature distribution is something that can fluctuate rapidly from year to year, one would want to check the latest data and consult ministries such as Bible League or Gideons.)
8. Joshua Project, "Unreached Listings," http://www.joshuaproject.net/unreached.php?listing=1&sf=population&so=asc.
9. Joshua Project, "All Countries," http://www.joshuaproject.net/global-countries.php?&sf=cntpeopleslr&so=asc&display=4&top=10.
10. David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Trends, AD 30-AD 2200 (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001), 426-7.
11. See note 9 above.
12. Ibid.
13. See note 5 above.
14. Ibid. (note: In a situation where a harvest is in existence, the missions need may not be of the same nature as in a pioneer setting. In the midst of the harvest the needs are likely to involve training and equipping nationals to continue to reach as many as they can. Bibles for new believers will be valuable. Too much outside involvement or improper involvement can hinder movements, but financial aid through the proper channels can greatly aid mission efforts. Cost per Baptism does not indicate in any way that salvation can be bought or that reaching the world is simply a matter of giving enough money to the efforts. Rather, it should be used as a reference to consider how cost effective our mission efforts are and how we can be more responsible with God's money.)
Copyright © aboutmissions.org. All rights reserved.