Get A Vision For The UnreachedSýnishorn

See the Mission Picture Clearly

You have probably seen statistics that show great progress in missions in the last 50-100 years. For example: 
• Two generations ago there were 884 unreached people groups in Papua New Guinea. Today there is only one left, and it is not an indigenous tribe. 
• In 1900 54.3% of the world’s population had never heard the gospel. That has dropped to 28.4% today. Praise God!
• The complete Bible is now available in 553 languages; the New Testament in another 1,333. The Jesus Film has been translated into over 1,400 languages.
• The Church in China is at least 100 times larger than it was in 1949.
Believe it or not, with all that wonderful news, Christians are a slightly smaller percentage of the world’s population today than they were in 1900—33.5% today vs. 35.3% then. How is that possible, and how can you pray for that stubborn fact to change?

In 1900, three continents were 95-96% Christian—Europe and the Americas. Africa was 9% and Asia was 2%. During the 20th century, the non-Christian continent populations grew at a much faster rate than the Christian ones. Meanwhile in the Christian continents, the forces of secularism and communism took millions of children away from their parents’ faith. 

Personal Reflection: 
• Have you ever gotten the impression that world evangelization is basically done, and the only big challenges now are poverty, health, and education? The next time you think that or hear someone imply it, ask yourself if it is OK that the Christian percentage of global population is slightly less than it was in 1900.
• Take a moment to imagine a world that is 1/2 Christian instead of only 1/3, and imagine that most of those Christians are genuine versus nominal. What would poverty, health, and education look like in that world?
• How do so many children end up leaving the Christian faith of their parents? This is a very widespread problem today, even when parents are deeply committed.

Prayer: 
• Pray that the new and growing churches in Africa and Asia will multiply by leaps and bounds.
• Pray that Christian parents in Western countries will skillfully teach the faith, and that their children will take it in deeply and permanently.
• Pray that those whom communism has failed, and those who are disillusioned with Islam, will turn to Christ as the hope that will not let them down.

Click here to access this Missiographic: www.missiographics.com/global-percent-christian