The Unfinished Task
Status of World
Evangelization
We’re Going to Talk About 5 Things:
1. The Big Picture - Jesus’ last words
2. The Status of the Great Commission
How are we doing?
3. The Gospel to the ends of the earth
What are we doing?
4. Dramatic recent progress
5. Challenges of the unfinished task
1. Jesus’ Last Words
The Command:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations”
Matt 28:19 - A church for every people group
Nations = ethne = ethnic people groups
“Preach the Gospel to all creation”
Mark 16:15 – The Gospel to every person
The Results:
God’s glory and Kingdom filling the earth –
worship from “every nation, tribe, people,
and tongue” Rev 7:9, Hab 2:14
2. Status of the Great Commission
A Church for Every People:
What is the Status?
2. Status of the Great Commission
How Many People Groups Are There?
Total People Groups
(A People Group is counted for each country it is in)
16,500
2. Status of the Great Commission
How Many People Groups Are Considered
Unreached / Least-Reached?
(Using criteria of less than 2% Evangelical
and less than 5% Adherent)
Best current estimate of
unreached / least-reached
ethnic people groups:
6,800
2. Status of the Great Commission
Countries with the Most Unreached Peoples
# Peoples
Total
# Unreached
Peoples
India
2501
2202
China
516
427
Pakistan
389
374
Bangladesh
400
353
Nepal
332
310
Country
3. The Gospel to the Ends of the Earth
What strategy can the Church use to
“make disciples of all the nations?”
Mark 16:15 says “Go into all the world
and preach the Gospel to all creation.”
Since we do not know who is part of
God’s family, we ought to have it as
our goal to give every person the
opportunity to respond to the Gospel.
Is this a realistic goal to present the
Gospel to every person on earth?
3. The Gospel to the Ends of the Earth
Vision of Coca-Cola:
“A can of coke in the hand
of every person on the planet.”
3. The Gospel to the Ends of the Earth
3. The Gospel to the Ends of the Earth
World as Coke
Drinkers
Approximate Percentages
10% Coke Fans (True Followers of Christ)
20% Cola Drinkers (Nominal Adherents of Christianity)
40% Non Cola Drinkers (Heard, but not responded)
30% Cola Unknown (Virtually no exposure to Gospel)
What are some ways being used to reach every person?
3. The Gospel to the Ends of the Earth
2500
What happened after
1500 that caused
such a dramatic rise?
2000
T ra n s la t e d
Bible
Translation
C u m u la t iv e B ib le P o rt io n s
B ib le T ra n sla tio n S ta tu s
1500
1000
500
0
0
500
1000
1500
2000
Year
The New Testament has been translated into the mother tongue
of over 82% of the world’s population. However the remaining
approximately 18% will require over 2,500 new translations.
3. The Gospel to the Ends of the Earth
Jesus Film
Accumulated Millions of Viewers
7,000
6,225
6,000
Jesus Film Viewers
5,000
3,600
4,000
What3,000
is the most viewed film in history
and 2,000
what film has been translated into
730
the
most languages
in history?
1,000
488
0
1990
1995
2000
2008
There have been approximately 6.225 billion cumulative
viewings or hearings to the Jesus Film. It is available in
languages known by over 90% of the world’s population.
3. The Gospel to the Ends of the Earth
Christian Radio Broadcasting
It is estimated that Christian radio
broadcasts cover at least 91% of
the world’s population.
3. The Gospel to the Ends of the Earth
Status Summary
A Church for every People Group
Global Total
Unreached / Least Reached
16,500
6,800
The Gospel to the Ends of the Earth
True Believers
Nominal Adherents
Heard, no response
Virtually no exposure
10%
20%
40%
30%
4. Dramatic Recent Progress
* Explosion of the non-western Church *
• True Christianity has grown by more than 300
million believers in the past ten years.
• About 10 million of these new Christians are from
North America and Europe
• The rest – 290 million – are from developing
countries like Nigeria, Brazil, India and China.
The Global South: The new faces of Evangelical Christianity
4. Dramatic Recent Progress
* Unprecedented growth of the
Church in the Global South *
Cambodia
1990 – ~ 10 tiny groups
1997 – ~ 300 fellowships
2005 – 1,000 churches
2005 – new church every week
2005 – 100,000 believers
4. Dramatic Recent Progress
* Philippines *
1975 – 3,000 churches
2005 – 55,000 churches
2010 – Expect to send out 100,000
contract workers into the 10/40
Window in the next 15 years as
tentmaking missionaries … the
most of any country!
4. Dramatic Recent Progress
* China *
• 1948 less than 1 million believers.
• 2008 upwards of 125 million believers. Most all
of the growth has been in the last 30 years.
• There are more followers of Jesus Christ in
China than in North America.
• More people are born in China every year than
live in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston,
Philadelphia, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, El Paso
and Denver combined.
• Over 12,000 new Chinese believers every day!
Great need is for pastoral training.
4. Dramatic Recent Progress
Developing World Missions Initiatives in the
10/40 Window
Koreans: 30,000
Estimated missionaries sent by various
countries over the next 15-20 years.
10/40 Window
Missionaries
Chinese: 50,000
Missionaries
Micronesian: ?
missionaries
Nigerians: 15,000
missionaries
Filipinos: 100,000
Contract labor
tentmakers
5. Challenges of the Unfinished Task
Why hasn’t the Great Commission
been completed?
5. Challenges of the Unfinished Task
* Spiritual Challenge *
Satan does not give up
ground without a battle.
More Christians have been martyred
in the 20th century than in the
previous 19 centuries combined.
5. Challenges of the Unfinished Task
* Population Challenge *
5.5 billion lost people in the world …
Viewing 5 per second it would take 35 years to see everyone.
Related video from International Mission Board-SBC at: www.churchmedialink.com
5. Challenges of the Unfinished Task
* People Group Challenge *
Remaining people groups are the
most difficult to penetrate.
• GEOGRAPHIC BARRIERS: remote, harsh climate,
difficult access, or nomadic.
• LINGUISTIC BARRIERS: illiteracy, no scripture in their
language, unwritten language, terminology confusion.
• CULTURAL BARRIERS: persecution, closed to change,
Christianity viewed as a “foreign” religion.
5. Challenges of the Unfinished Task
* Political / National Challenge *
Countries with the highest % of unreached tend
to be the most closed to Christianity
North Korea
• Open Doors ranks North Korea #1 in Christian persecution.
• Government severely represses all religious activity and there is
systematic oppression, imprisonment and execution of Christians.
• Physical and spiritual starvation of 23 million people.
5. Challenges of the Unfinished Task
* Church Challenge *
Imbalance in Missionary Distribution
• Over 87% of all cross-cultural foreign missionaries minister among
nominal Christian peoples.
For every 1 million unreached Muslims there are less than 3 missionaries
Imbalance in Missions Finances
Question: For every $1 of Christian giving to all
causes how much goes to financing pioneer
church planting among unreached peoples?
Answer: Half a penny
That There Might Be Worshippers
“After these things I looked, and behold, a great
multitude, which no one could count, from every nation
and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before
the throne and before the Lamb” Rev 7:9
Joshua Project
PO Box 64080
Colorado Springs, CO 80962 USA
719-886-4000
www.joshuaproject.net
info@joshuaproject.net