Facts & Statistics

What is Missions?

Motivation:
For the glory of God – 1 Cor. 10:31
For Christ’s Sake – 2 Cor. 4:5
For the Gospel’s Sake – 1 Cor. 9:23
For Their Sake – 1 Thess. 1:5

The Heart:
John 3:16 The heart of missions is love for God, love for man, and the love of God for man.

The Great Commission:
Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:44-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; Ps. 96:3, 10; Rom. 15:20; 2 Cor. 10:16 

The task of Mission: Matt. 28:19-20
Teach: Preach the gospel to all
Baptize: Public commitment
Teach: Train in discipleship

A Definition of Missions:
MISSIONS is going to a group of unsaved people, and:
1. Preaching the Gospel
2. Planting a church
3. Training them in discipleship and imparting world vision
4. Ordaining national leadership
5. Translating the Bible and printing it.
6. Go on to a new group.
7. Do it all again.

Why We Must Include Bible Translation:
Because Mt. 4:4 applies to them as well as to us.

A Biblical Definition of a “Nation” :
A Biblical “nation” is a group of ethnic people bound together by a common lineage (ancestry), language, culture (law and customs), and land and is distinct in these characteristics from other people.   Sometimes they are referred to as “ethno-linguistic” people groups.

A Practical Missions view of “People Groups”:
This is a practical definition of people groups used in the missions world.  It helps mission leaders to identify and target specific people groups for mission activity. An ethno-linguistic people group can be characterized as “the largest ethno-linguistic group sufficiently unified to be reached by a single church planting movement before encountering barriers of language or prejudice.”

The Number of People Groups in the World:
None of us knows for certain how many people groups there are in the world. Estimates vary depending on the precise details of the definitions used.  Unless otherwise noted, all the figures in this fact sheet come from “www.peoplegroups.org” a ministry of the International Mission Board. On this web site you will find the people groups listed by name and location along with many other pieces of information.

These figures are current as of Feb. 28, 2006.
Total Number of People Groups: 11,328
Total World Population:6,650,452,072

God’s Promise of the Fulfillment of His Plan: Rev. 5:9

God’s Strategy:
Acts 1:8 – Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria were first reached with the Gospel in Acts 1-8. The uttermost parts, the gentile world, began to be reached in Acts 9 and 10. We are still going to the uttermost, but much of the uttermost has never been reached.  The Great Commission has not yet been fulfilled!

Missions Definition of “Unreached People Group”:
A Biblical nation whose population is less than 2% born again believers.

When a Biblical Nation is “Reached”:
A Biblical nation is “reached” when there has been established a “a viable indigenous church planting movement that has the potential of continuing to evangelize the rest of the people group.” Viable=Self-supporting, self-governing and able to stand on its own.Indigenous=It is not seen as foreign. It is a “church planting movement” not just one or several churches planted.

What is the Current Condition of the World?

The Unreached World:
Total Unreached People Groups: 6,449
Total Unreached Population: 3,737,029,023
Last Frontier Peoples: 5,876*
Last Frontier Population: 1,674,465,441*

*Last Frontier Peoples are defined as “no evangelical Christians or churches”  or “Less than 2% evangelical…no active church planting within past 2 years.”

The 10/40 Window:
This is an imaginary box drawn on a map from 10 degrees north latitude to 40 degrees north latitude and from just west of Africa to East of Japan. Over 90% of all the world’s unreached peoples live in this area. A huge part of them are Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, and animist.

People Groups Unreached and “Unengaged”:
A people is “engaged” when a gospel, Biblical church planting strategy is under implementation. Some of the peoples above are engaged by one or more missionaries. As far as is known, those below have no one of any denomination attempting to reach them.

Total Unengaged People Groups: 3,327
Total Unengaged Population:606,150,924

Bible Translation Work: There is a great need to translate the Bible into the mother tongues of unreached and reached peoples. The total number of languages below comes from The Ethnologue which is the most complete listing of the world’s languages available. The rest of the statistics come from Wycliffe Bible Translators and are estimates only.

Total Number of Living World Languages: 7,000
Languages with the Whole Bible (Approximate): 422
Languages with only the NT: 1,079
Languages with at Least One book: 876
Languages with active projects: 1,640
Languages with NO Scripture: 2,983

The fact is that many of the translations that have been done are the equivalent of “Good News for Modern Man” (called Today’s English Version) or the NIV in English. Many old and good translations have been revised away from their traditional text base. So the need is greater than this shows.

What Will You Do Now?

Will you pray for Laborers? Mt. 9:36-38 Will YOU become a laborer?
Time is Running Out!