Missionaries in the Unreached World...
A Very Small SliceHowever you slice it, most researchers agree that just a handful
of all missionaries are serving in Unreached People Groups.
90% of all missionaries serving in well evangelized world
“Those passionate about the unreached are simply asking
Christians to bring resources to bear on the unreached. In spite
of years of talk, over 90% of the world’s cross-cultural missionaries
are still focused on areas that are largely evangelized; less
than one percent are focused on places that call themselves non-
Christian or anti-Christian. Some significant portion of these
mission resources should be brought to those who have nothing.”
Source: Justin Long, “’Unreached’ is Not a Fad” in Momentum,
September/October, 2005, p.7 (INTERNET:
10,000 Missionaries amongst Unreached People Groups
“Only an estimated 10,000 of the global foreign mission
force* are working within the 10,000 unreached groups, while
41 times that number of foreign Missionaries continue to work
within people groups already reached. What an imbalance!
Even if you include the foreign missionaries working with
Christians within the entire major cultural blocs, reached and
unreached...it is still a glaring fact that most foreign missionaries
work within peoples which are predominantly Christian.
*The global foreign mission force includes all kinds of Christians
(Protestants, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, etc).”
Source: Ralph Winter and Bruce Koch, “Looking at the Task
Graphically” in Mission Frontiers, June, 2000.
“In 2000, 26% of 6.0 billion people were unevangelized = 1.6 billion [and only] 10,000 cross-cultural missionaries work among them.”
Source: Justin Long,“Where Are We Going” in Momentum,
July/August 2006, p.7 (INTERNET:
420,000 Missionaries of all kinds in the world today
“World Christian Trends estimates there are 420,000 missionaries
worldwide (including Orthodox, Marginals and Roman
Catholics).”
Source: Justin Long, “What Will it Take” in Momentum,
September/October, 2006, p. 27 (INTERNET:
97,732 Missionaries sent to other lands
104,196 Missionaries serving in homelands
201,928 All missionaries (Protestant, Independent, and Anglican)
“The global totals show 201,928 missionaries sent and received.
Of these 104,196 are serving within their own country
and 58,357 within a near culture. There are 97,732 missionaries
serving in a country other than their own.”
Source: Patrick Johnstone, Operation World (Waynesboro,
Georgia: Paternoster USA, 2001). In appendix 4 “The World’s
Missionary Force.”
429,000 Missionaries of all kinds
12,870 Missionaries working amongst Unreached peoples
“429,000 Missionaries from all branches of Christendom
(Only between 2 and 3% of those missionaries work among
unreached peoples.) 140,000 Protestant Missionaries”
Source: Mobilization Division USCWM, “Approximate
2002 AD Global Missions Statistics” (INTERNET:
- David Sherbrooke | How New Missionaries Choose Their Country of Service: Do We Need Change? | Momentum-mag.org
- Whether you agree or disagree, this is a fascinating 15 page article worth reading for anyone who is a Christian with a missions radar (which SHOULD be all of us).
