Who has already heard the good news about Jesus, and who is still waiting to hear for the first time?
Video Script:
Nearly 10 percent of the world’s population are committed followers of Jesus, who believe Jesus is who he said he is, and who have given their lives to him. They believe anyone can know God through Jesus, and they tell people around them about him.
Many other people also identify as Christians. These other Christians need deeper faith in Jesus and a personal relationship with God through him. About 33% of the world’s population identify themselves as Christians. But where do the world’s Christians live? The good news of Jesus is spreading in the world– but not evenly.
First, let’s divide the world into regions by population, then show where the Christians live. Two countries, India and China, each have one-fifth of the world’s population, so they will get their own section. The Muslim-majority countries also get their own section, because they are similar to each other. There are some Other Asian countries, and other Non-Muslim-majority countries in Africa. Here is Europe’s population, and North America lumped with all the Pacific island countries, including Australia and New Zealand. And finally, Latin America, from Mexico south.
In each region, let’s show the followers of Jesus and the others who identify themselves as Christians. Latin America has the highest total percentage of Christians, followed by North America and the Pacific. Europe has many nominal Christians, while Non-Muslim Africa has many committed followers of Jesus. Today China has also many committed followers of Jesus. “Other Asian” countries average about one-third Christian, including Korea and the Philippines. Some Muslim-majority countries have had Christian people groups for centuries. Of all the large areas of the world, India has the lowest percentage of Christians.
As you can see, the Christians are not evenly spread around the world. Today most Christians live in the Americas, Europe or sub-Saharan Africa. In each region, the committed followers of Jesus can renew the faith of the “other Christians” and can tell the non-believers in their own people groups about Jesus. Let’s call these people “culturally-near non-believers” and show them as green. These non-believers are their relatives, neighbors, and coworkers, who speak, eat and dress like them. In China, hundreds of millions of non-believers are now “culturally-near” to followers of Jesus. 40% of the world’s non-believers have many Christians in their own people groups who can reach out to them without learning a new language or culture. So, their groups are called “reached people groups” because the good news is spreading there. Believers in China have a challenging job to share the gospel with so many non-believing relatives and neighbors, yet thankfully they can do it in their own language. In the “reached” people groups, committed followers of Jesus can encourage the other Christians in their families and communities to become fully committed to Jesus. They can also tell the many “culturally-near non-believers” in their own people group about Jesus without learning a new language and culture.
Many people in the world live in other ethnic groups which have almost no followers of Jesus who belong in their communities and know their language. They have no chance of learning about new life in Jesus from someone within their own people groups. 60% of all non-believers in the world have few followers of Jesus in their own people group. They are “culturally distant” from believers. Let’s show these “culturally-distant non-believers” in blue. Most of them live in India, Muslim-majority countries in Africa and Asia, or other parts of Asia. They need believers from other people groups to come learn their language and culture and tell them about Jesus. They live in “unreached people groups”, distinct ethnolinguistic people groups made up of less than 2 percent followers of Jesus and less than 5% other Christians.”
Which unreached people groups are the “frontier peoples”? Some culturally-distant nonbelievers have so few believers that they have no chance of hearing about Jesus from people they know. Let’s use a darker color of blue to show those with less than zero point one percent Christian in their own people group. About one fourth of the world’s population live in frontier people groups and over 95% of them are in India and Muslim-majority countries. These frontier people groups have no movement to Christ and no breakthrough of indigenous faith.
Now is the time to unite what we know with what we do. So, we know that the “reached” people groups have lots of followers of Jesus who can tell them about Jesus, but guess what? We send 30 times as many cross-cultural Christian workers to them as we do to the people in “unreached” people groups? 30 to 1! These workers are not just going out from the West, they’re going “from everywhere to everywhere”, but most of them are sent to work with other churches in their training or outreach programs. Currently, for every 30 cross-cultural Christian workers that go to the reached people groups of the world, roughly ONE goes to the unreached people groups, including the frontier people groups. As a result, the needs of people in unreached people groups, especially those in frontier people groups, are being grossly overlooked!
The Remaining Mission Task is largely in India, Muslim-majority countries, and Asia. We need many more witnesses for culturally-distant non-believers …in Unreached People Groups and …in Frontier People Groups. The frontier peoples are still waiting to hear about Jesus for the first time. This is the mission mobilization challenge of our generation!
