1. Missions Priorities
Where are the people who have not heard about Jesus?
Where should we prioritize taking the Gospel?

2. Prioritization of the Great Commission (Overview)
There is a great need to prioritize the Great Commission. Greater emphasis needs to be placed on bringing the awesome truth of Jesus to the least reached.
80% of missionaries are among evangelized (nominal) Christian people groups and a very large portion of Christian resources are in the U.S.
There are many people who have heard little or nothing about Jesus and have almost nobody praying for them (by name) or who can tell them about Jesus.
We need to prioritize these unreached people so we can obey our Master and complete the task He's given us all to do.
We can pray more for those who have not heard the truth about Jesus and we can reallocate the resources at our disposal in order to more significantly impact the world for eternity.

3. Past Fruitful / Successful Missions
Christian missions have been successful in many places like sub-Saharan Africa
Just like a successful investment portfolio requires reallocation to strategically distribute resources (especially when do well in some areas and not in others), effective Great Commission outreach requires reallocation of resources.

4. Completing the Great Commission
Jesus told us to make disciples of all ethne / ethnos (people groups)
In order to do this, we Christian disciples must be engaged with all ethne
At present, there are many peoples with little or no Gospel witness
In order to fulfill Jesus’ last command, we must make it a high priority
This requires that we send people and resources where they are currently sparse but in very great need

5. Where are the majority of gospel / Christian resources?

6. If resources were distributed equally, they would be distributed according to:
Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.
Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, (WCT)

7. Actually:
Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.
Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.

8. Afghanistan 0.000072 x proportional share
0.017
0.0018
0.0083
1.3
0.049
Afghanistan x proportional share
< 1.0 (Has less than country’s fair share per person)
= 1.0 (Has country’s fair share per person)
> 1.0 (Has more than country’s fair share per person)
Data Source: World Christian Trends, Barrett & Johnson
Ratios of Countries’ Portions of the World’s Christian (Personal or Church) Income on a per Person Basis
Lowest Ratio (less than country’s portion)
Highest Ratio (more than country’s portion)

9. Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson
Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.
Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.

10. $130,000
$1,551,000
$15,800
$9,800
$171,800
$40,800
Afghanistan $30,400
Mozambique $1,400
Data Source: World Christian Trends, Barrett & Johnson
Cost Effectiveness of World Missions Based on the Cost to Lead to the Baptism of a New Convert
Most Effective
Least Effective

11. David Barrett on Good Missions Stewardship
“Dollar for dollar and hour for hour, the harvest coming from the 10/40 Window nations outstrips that from the rest of the world 100 to 1,” Barrett says. “That is, if the same money and time spent to win one person to the Lord in the West were put to use in the 10/40 Window nations, the effort would yield a harvest of 100 souls added to the kingdom of God. It is 100 times more cost effective, therefore, to reach those in the 10/40 Window. But for a sizable number of ethnolinguistic groups, cost-effectiveness reaches 1000 times more than in Western countries.”
World Christian Encyclopedia

12. Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson
Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.
Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.

13. Afghanistan 0.0035 x proportional share
0.034
6.0 x proportional
share
0.0097
0.090
0.022
0.33
0.29
0.97
Afghanistan x proportional share
< 1.0 (Has less than country’s fair share per person)
= 1.0 (Has country’s fair share per person)
> 1.0 (Has more than country’s fair share per person)
Data Source: World Christian Trends, Barrett & Johnson
Ratios of Countries’ Portions of the World’s Christian Workers on a per Person Basis
Lowest Ratio (less than country’s portion)
Highest Ratio (more than country’s portion)

14. Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson
Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.
Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.

15. Afghanistan 0.0035 x proportional share
0.054
5.0 x proportional
share
0.0078
0.0070
0.056
0.21
0.33
0.52
Afghanistan x proportional share
Note: Most of the red or orange nations are islands
< 1.0 (Has less than country’s fair share per person)
= 1.0 (Has country’s fair share per person)
> 1.0 (Has more than country’s fair share per person)
Data Source: World Christian Trends, Barrett & Johnson
Ratios of Countries’ Portions of the World’s Christian Periodicals on a per Person Basis
Fewest
Most

16. Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson
Source: Barrett, David, and Todd Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 – AD Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001.

17. 268
0.034 2
368
<1 16
<1 13 29
562
Afghanistan 0.02
Data Source: World Christian Trends, Barrett & Johnson
Number of Evangelistic Offers or Opportunities to Become a Disciple per Capita per Year
Fewest
Most

18. Needed in the U.S.
Clearly the U.S. has more than her share of Christian finances, resources, and ministers.
Thus, the U.S. does NOT need more money to obey the Great Commission in this nation
Obedient followers of Jesus with vision (from the Lord) are needed

19. The Great Need for More Emphasis on Reaching the Unevangelized with the Gospel

20. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” Romans 15:20, 21
And they sang a new song: “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
After this 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. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. Revelation 7:9

21. Imbalanced Evangelistic Activity
There IS enough evangelistic activity to reach the whole world:
Enough activity for every one in the world to hear a 1-hour presentation of the Gospel every other day all year long
Over 1,430 billion hours of evangelism generated by Christians every year: personal witness, radio, TV, Internet, literature, etc.
But this evangelistic activity is unevenly targeted: mostly at other Christians
As many as 86% of all Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists do not personally know a Christian.
From: Justin Long, Aug. 2007
Source: World Christian Encyclopedia

22. The Unfinished Task 28% are without access to gospel
39.5% of the world’s individuals are members of ethne with no viable church
While 72% of the world is adequately evangelized, 1,800,228,000 are left.*
*David Barrett, Todd Johnson and Peter F. Crossing, “Status of Global Mission, 2005, in Context of 20th and 21st Centuries,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Jan. 2005, p. 29.
Source: Stan Park, Ethne ’06

23. World Population Foreign Missionaries
Source: Operation World, World Christian Encyclopedia, USCWM, JP, GMI

24. Cross-cultural Missionaries per Million in Major Blocs
Source: Todd M. Johnson & Mission Frontiers Magazine, June 2000;
Stan Park, Ethne ’06

25. Challenges of the Unfinished Task
Imbalance in Missionary Distribution
Over 80% of all cross-cultural foreign missionaries minister among nominal Christian peoples.
For every million unreached Muslims there are less than 3 missionaries
Imbalance in Missions Finances
Answer: Half a penny
Question: For every $1 of Christian giving to all causes how much goes to financing pioneer church planting among unreached peoples?
Source: Joshua Project

26. Christian Giving Average Christian gives 1.8% of their income
5% of Christian giving goes to missions (15 billion)
More is lost to embezzlement (16 billion) than is given to missions
Of mission funds -- between 0.1% and 1.66% is focused on unreached
Source: Stan Park, Ethne ’06

27. Christian Ministers’ Focus
95% of Christian ministers focus on their own people
Of the 5% who become missionaries, 80-90% focus on ethne which are majority Christian
Only 2.5 – 4% of missionaries are focused on the % of the world who are unreached
Source: Stan Park, Ethne ’06

28. Status of Urgency for the Unreached
Majority of Christians still not aware of the challenge of the unreached
Many that are aware feel it is not their responsibility
Many church and mission leaders feel that missions to the unreached has been over-emphasized
Source: Stan Park, Ethne ’06

29. Will We Change?
If current patterns continue, the unreached will still be 23-28% of the world’s population in 2025
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Albert Einstein
Source: Stan Park, Ethne ’06

30. The number of missionaries amongst the unreached remains terribly low.9%
36%
55% 2%
25%
73%
No Access
50,000
Evangelized
Non-Christian
24%
10,000
40%
200,000
36%
100,000
15,000
Christian
25,000
300,000
300,000
22,000
1900
1925
1950
1975
2000
2025
2050
From: Justin Long, Aug. 2007
Source: World Christian Encyclopedia

31. Where Are Missionaries Needed the Most?
Unreached people groups
Least evangelized world or unevangelized world (“World A”)
10/40 Window

32. Christians and the Unevangelized
Source: Operation World, World Christian Encyclopedia, USCWM, JP, GMI

33. Missionary presence
Source: Operation World, World Christian Encyclopedia, USCWM, JP, GMI

34. Percent Unevangelized Per Country
Source: Operation World, World Christian Encyclopedia, USCWM, JP, GMI

35. Unevangelized Population
(in millions)
Majority of the Unevangelized World 1
India
344,000,000 2
China
262,000,000 3
Pakistan
144,000,000 4
Indonesia
68,600,000 5
Iran
48,700,000 6
Thailand
34,100,000 7
Algeria
32,900,000 8
Morocco
30,900,000 9
Bangladesh
30,000,000 10
Afghanistan
26,000,000
Source: Operation World, World Christian Encyclopedia, USCWM, JP, GMI

36. Countries with the Most Unreached Peoples
Country # Peoples # Unreached
Peoples
India
2332
2082
China
499
406
Pakistan
401
386
Bangladesh
370
336
Nepal
315
292
China
Nepal
India
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Source: Operation World, World Christian Encyclopedia, USCWM, JP, GMI

38. Where Are the People Who Have Not Heard About Jesus?
Most Christians can more easily locate countries rather than people groups
Joshua Project* and WCT missions information was used to prioritize the nations using ten criteria
Data for 15,893 people groups and 222 countries were used to evaluate the status of Christianity in the nations
The results have many possible applications about world evangelization efforts
*< >

39. Prioritization Weighting
Criteria (Percent Weighting)
Description
Percent Least Reached (24%)
Percent of the country's population living in a least reached people group
Number Evangelism/Discipleship Opportunities (18%)
The (average) number of discipleship offers per person per year in the country
Joshua Project Progress (15%)
Progress of or response to the Gospel
Christian Workers per Million (14%)
Number of Christian workers per million population
Ministry Tools (8%)
Bible translation status, Jesus film, audio recordings, & Christian radio broadcasting
Country Indices (8%)
Location indices (country persecution index, human development index, & percent evangelical)
Population People Least Reached (6%)
Population living in a least reached people group
Number Least Reached People Groups (4%)
Number of least reached people groups in the country
Population (2%)
Population of the country
Cost / Convert (1%)
Average cost to lead to a baptism

40. Great Commission Prioritization of Countries
Note: Most of the purple nations are (small) islands
Great Commission Prioritization of Countries
Lowest Priority
Highest Priority

41. Country Great Commission Status / Prioritization Scores

43. Need of USA vs. Other Countries
Afghanistan
India
China
Indonesia
Priority
123 1 28 58 53
% of World’s Full-Time Christian Workers
27.8%
(6.0 x % pop.)
0.0013%
(1/292 x % pop.)
5.6%
(1/3.0 x % pop.)
1.9%
(1/11 x % pop.)
1.0%
(1/3.5 x % pop.)
% of All Christian Personal or Church Income
34.1%
(7.4 x % pop.) %
(1/19,000 x % pop.)
0.14%
(1/120 x % pop.)
0.36%
(1/58 x % pop.)
0.17%
(1/21 x % pop.)
% of World Population
4.6%
0.38%
16.7%
20.9%
3.5%
*** e (USA) = 368; e (Afghanistan) < 1 ***
*Note: Of the 1,533,000 Christian workers in the U.S., 1.28 million or 83.4% of these Christian workers could perhaps be missionaries in another country in order to achieve global equity

44. Need of USA vs. Other Countries (cont’d)
Afghanistan
India
China
Indonesia
# Discipleship Opportunities per Person per Year
368
Less than 1 13 16 29
% Population Least Reached in the Country
0.3%
99.9%
89.8%
15.1%
66.4%
% Christian
76%
0.03%
2.3%
7.3% 8%
% Evangelical Christian
32.5%
0.0%
1.8%
6.0%
4.0%
Average Cost / Convert
$1,551,000
$30,000
$9,803
$15,828
$40,765
Sources: Barrett and Johnson WCT, Joshua Project

45. Lausanne Covenant
In 1974, it was more difficult to get many Christians, especially from different denominations, to agree upon some things. Yet, something remarkable happened after the Rev. Billy Graham and his evangelistic association helped initiate Lausanne I: The International Congress on World Evangelization in Switzerland. In July of 1974, more than 2,300 evangelical leaders from 150 countries agreed upon the Lausanne Covenant to be more intentional about world evangelization.
The following paragraph is quoted from the Lausanne Covenant of 1974 and would be an excellent centerpiece or core value of any church missions program or personal missions involvement.

46. 9. THE URGENCY OF THE EVANGELISTIC TASK
"More than 2,700 million people, which is more than two-thirds of all humanity, have yet to be evangelised. We are ashamed that so many have been neglected; it is a standing rebuke to us and to the whole Church. There is now, however, in many parts of the world an unprecedented receptivity to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are convinced that this is the time for churches and para-church agencies to pray earnestly for the salvation of the unreached and to launch new efforts to achieve world evangelization. A reduction of foreign missionaries and money in an evangelised country may sometimes be necessary to facilitate the national church's growth in self-reliance and to release resources for unevangelised areas. Missionaries should flow ever more freely from and to all six continents in a spirit of humble service. The goal should be, by all available means and at the earliest possible time, that every person will have the opportunity to hear, understand, and to receive the good news. We cannot hope to attain this goal without sacrifice. All of us are shocked by the poverty of millions and disturbed by the injustices which cause it. Those of us who live in affluent circumstances accept our duty to develop a simple life-style in order to contribute more generously to both relief and evangelism." (Emphasis added.)
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47. What Can We Do?
#1 – More prayer is needed for people in highly prioritized nations who have little or no opportunity to hear the truth about Jesus and very few Christians to pray for them
New missionaries can be sent to least reached peoples
Gospel tools can be used or translated to help reach high priority people
Greater emphasis could be placed on international student ministry

48. Practical Ways to Make a Difference
Churches and individuals can evaluate the missionaries / organizations they support and consider focusing more on high priority countries
Churches could add more new missionaries &/or establish goals to increase the percentage of their support in high priority nations
10/40 Window Bible school scholarships, radio, Bible translation, or scripture / gospel literature support could be earmarked for high priority countries (like with Gospel for Asia, the Bible League, or Every Home for Christ)
Get involved with international student ministry

49. Conclusion
There is a great need to prioritize reaching people who have little or no access to the Gospel
Countries with many least reached peoples can be targeted with more focused prayer and new missionaries or gospel resources.