The Amazing Countdown Facts
And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations (ethne), and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14 (Ethne is the Greek word translated here as nations. It means peoples or tribes rather than countries.) You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Revelation 5:9
The World For Whom Christ Died
On our planet live over 6.7 billion people within approximately 24,000 of these nations and languages and peoples. Some of these 24,000 peoples have heard the gospel. Some havent.
Those Who Have Heard The Reached peoples
In the rst place, there are about 16,000 peoples that have embraced the Gospel, resulting in strong churches led by national (non-missionary) leaders with a serious commitment to nish evangelizing the rest of their people. (Missionaries refer to this as a viable, indigenous church movement.) 4 billion people live in these ethne. Christian Believers 800 million have been born again into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Other Christians 1.37 billion who consider themselves Christians because they come from a Christian culture.
360
270
A.D. 100 1000 1500
World Population per Believer
Just think! In A.D. 100 only one in every 360 people was an active believer. That ratio has steadily dropped as the initiative of the Holy Spirit continues to accelerate the expansion of Christs kingdom!
85
21
1900
13 7.3
1970 2010
Those Who Havent Heard The Unreached Peoples
On the other hand, an estimated 8,000 peoples dont yet have a native church movement, and therefore no access to the Gospel! Almost 2.7 billion individuals live in these peoples. The Bible says that God our Savior . . . desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:3-4).
These 8,000 Unreached Peoples are divided into 6 megaspheres:
3,300 Muslims Peoples
(1.26 Billion Individuals)
1,200 Ethno-Religious Peoples
(166 Million Individuals)
100 Non-Religious Peoples
(124 Million Individuals)
300 Other Peoples
(31 Million Individuals)
2,400 Hindu Peoples
(865 Million Individuals)
700 Buddhist Peoples
(276 Million Individuals)
Finishing the Great Commission
Despite the tremendous progress of the Gospel shown on page one, being able to actually nish the Great Commission still seems like an impossibility to some. Thats because most of us tend to look at the immensity of the job, without realizing all that God has placed at our disposal to do the job. The task before us is no doubt very large, but God has given His Church everything we need to do just as He commanded!
What Is Needed ?
Personnel Each of the 8,000 Unreached Peoples needs a team of at least 4 missionaries focused on establishing a church movement among them so, a total of 32,000 missionaries are needed. Well over half of these will come from countries other than the U.S. Finances Each of these 32,000 new missionaries will need an average of $20,000 per year to support their work. This means that $640 million more is needed annually. Prayer Prayer will always be the most crucial need in world evangelization. Missionaries can be sent out and work really hard, but if people back home dont pray, very little will be accomplished. Exactly how much prayer is needed? All we can really do is make an estimate. Each missionary should be covered by at least an hour of specic prayer dailyboth for the people group they work with and also for personal needs. So we need a foundation of 32,000 more hours of prayer daily.
What are the Resources?
Personnel There are 800 million Great Commission Christians in the world. So, assuming an average church size of 100 persons, we only need one new missionary from every 250 churches in order to send out the additional 32,000 that are needed! Finances Worldwide, believers give $17 billion on average to missions; about 5.5% of all giving to Christian causes, or about $2,125 a year per church. To make up an additional $600 million needed would require only $80 more per year from each church! Thats only 80 cents more a year per person! If the U. S. alone had to supply this need through its approximately 144 million born again adults, the cost would be only an extra $4.16 each. Prayer Prayer is something that everyone can do. Assuming the hour a day rule mentioned earlier, a church of about 50 praying members could readily supply the prayer support for an entire team of four missionaries if they only prayed 5 minutes a day.
The Final Proof
Aside from all these interesting facts, gures and charts, we have one more proof which leaves no doubt that all peoples will be reached Gods Word! In Matthew 24:14 (quoted earlier) Jesus Christ prophecies that the Gospel will be proclaimed to every people before the end comes. Then, in Revelation 7:9, the Apostle John writes, I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. With John we see the future; as we imagine this glorious scene there is no room left for doubt. All peoples will be present to worship God!
1000 to 1
Congregations of Active Believers per Unreached People Group
Just think! In AD 100 there were twelve (see heart shapes below) Unreached peoples per congregation of believers. By AD 1000 that was down to ve. Jumping ahead, to 1900 there were twenty times as many such congregations per group to be reached. That astonishing trend has continued until there are more than 1,000 congregations today per group to be reached!
150 to 1
1 to 12
100
1 to 5
1000
1 to 1
1500
20 to 1
1900
1970
2010
Year (A.D.)
Total World Population (Millions)
Active Believers (Millions)
World Population per believer
Christian Congregations Unreached People Groups per Unreached People Group
Column
This chart demonstrates the amazing progress the Church has already made, just how close we are to nishing the task and the resources available for discipling the nations.
100 1000 1500 1900 1970 2010
180 270 425 1,620 3,700 6,700
0.5 1 5 78 277 800
360 to 1 270 to 1 85 to 1 21 to 1 13 to 1 7.3 to 1
60,000 50,000 44,000 40,000 18,000 8,000
1 to 12 1 to 5 1.1 to 1 20 to 1 150 to 1 1000 to1
Finishing the Task!
As you can see, the possibility for reaching each remaining unreached people group early in the 21st century is a very real possibility. The job is clearer than ever, and every needed resource is available. Among the many signicant initiatives today to link these resources with this task is the Adopt-A-People movement. As the name implies, Adopt-A-People links a local congregationthrough adoptionwith one Unreached People group. Several churches (or even several hundred) will adopt the same people and focus their prayers, nances and energies together through one or more mission agencies to the end that a strong, vibrant, evangelizing church movement is established in that people. Mission agencies provide a very concrete and specic mechanism for participating churches to channel resourses to their adopted people. And adopting introduces the kind of direct involvement that helps keep churches challenged and on the task. Most importantly, as thousands of congregations successfully adopt and reach their Unreached People, we will literally see the completion of this task! God has given every resource to do the work. We have no excuse not to do it.
It can be done. It must be done. Will you help?
For more information on how your church can adopt a people, contact: Mobilization Department 1605 Elizabeth St Pasadena, CA 91104 Tel: 626-398-2200 Fax: 626-398-2263 Email: mobilization@uscwm.org
Compiled and written by Ralph D. Winter, Phil Bogosian, Larry Boggan, Frank Markow and Wendell Hyde.
