I subscribe to the International Bulletin of Missionary Research. In Vol.32, No.1, released in Jan. of this year we find a synopsis of todays statistics on global Christianity. Below I list some of the highlights of Table B.

50 new facts and figures about trends and issues concerning empirical global Christianity.

VERY GOOD SITUATIONS
4. 10 million Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims have opted to remain within those religions to witness for Christ as believers in Jesus as Lord.

6. Everywhere on Earth can now easily be targeted with at least 3 of the 45 recognized varieties of effective evangelism.

8. The country with the fastest Christian expansion ever is China, now at 16,500 new converts (including births) every day.

GOOD SITUATIONS
15. Per hour of ministry, the 4 megapeoples most responsive to Christianity, Christ, and the Gospel are Jinyu Chinese, Pathan, Bihari, Maithili.

FORTUITOUS SITUATIONS
18. At a steady rate over the last 20 centuries, in all 239 countries, 71 million Christians have been martyred-killed, executed, murdered-for Christ.

20. Mainland China’s Christians have thousands of trained workers poised to begin evangelizing the world. (Have you ever been to a city and not found a Chinese restaurant?)

PARTLY GOOD SITUATIONS
22. Every person in the world belongs to, on average, 10 distinct and separate (and often conflicting) religious categories.

SOMEWHAT BAD SITUATIONS
23. Christian communicators largely ignore the huge potential of the globe’s 1,100 lingua francas, each with over 100,000 non-native speakers.

UNFORTUNATE SITUATIONS
25. The 5 most dangerous of all Christian vocations (over 3% murder rates) are bishops, evangelists, catechists, colporteurs, foreign missionaries.

BAD SITUATIONS
30. 40% of the church’s global foreign mission resources are being deployed to just 10 oversaturated countries with strong citizen-run home ministries.

32. Per hour of ministry, the 4 megapeoples least responsive to Christianity, Christ, and the Gospel are Levantine Arab, French, Czech, Russian.

33. 136 million new souls begin life on Earth each year, but Christianity’s 4,550 foreign mission agencies baptize only 5 million new persons a year.

34. Organized Christianity has total contact with 4,315 religions but no contact at all with 377 other religions and their over 34 million adherents.

35. Christians spend more on the annual audits of their churches and agencies ($970 million) than on all their workers in the non-Christian world.

37. Christian triumphalism-not as pride in huge numbers, but as publicized self-congratulation-is rampant in most churches, agencies, ministries.

38. Some 250 of the 300 largest international Christian organizations mislead the public by publishing incorrect or falsified progress statistics.

VERY BAD SITUATIONS
39. Despite Christ’s command to evangelize, 66% of all humans from AD 30 to the present day have never even heard of his name.

40. Out of 690 million Great Commission Christians, 70% have never been told about World A’s 1.9 billion unevangelized individuals.

42. Over 20 centuries Christians have announced 1,870 global plans to evangelize the world; 250 plans focused on AD 2000 fell short of goals.

44. Measures of personal evangelization by Christians indicate that 86% of all Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims do not personally know a Christian.

Prayer Power

Father, we pray today that you send forth laborers into your harvest. Turn our hearts to You and your Word that we may see the world as you see it, sense your mission and flow with you in your harvest. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“The love of Christ compels us because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” 2Cor.5:14-15