The 10/40 Window

Perhaps the greatest challenge to missions today is that of the 10/40 window. The term, coined by missionary strategist Luis Bush in 1990, refers to the area between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator. This region contains North Africa and much of Asia; two-thirds of the world’s population lives in the area.

In recent years Christians have had increased interest in this region; it is by far the spiritually darkest place in the world. Out of all the people groups in this region, over 67% have never heard the Gospel. This amounts to over 2.5 billion individuals; that not just a number, but real people with souls, their own hopes and dreams. Remember, these people have never heard of Christ in the first place. They don’t have the chance to choose Christianity even if they wanted to.

Yet the biggest spiritual and physical needs find their home in this part of the globe. For example, an astounding eighty-plus percent of the world’s poorest of the poor live here. Of the top twenty-five countries with the lowest Christian percentage, all except four are in the 10/40 window.

The region is also the heart of the major religions outside of Christianity. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Atheism all are centered in the 10/40 window. If ever there were spiritual strongholds, this is them. Read carefully these facts.

Hinduism: Of the top ten Hindu nations, eight are in the 10/40 window, totally a population of almost a billion.

Buddhism: The story is much the same as that of Hinduism: of the top ten, only one is not located in the 10/40, amounting to about 300 million souls.

Islam: Out of the 25 countries with the most Muslims, only two are outside of this region. A total of over a billion Muslims live within this window.

Atheism: The country with the highest atheistic population in the world, China, is also in the 10/40. It is by far the country with the most non-religious with almost 600 million atheists in its borders.

Foreign missions have need of tremendous resources in this area. Yet in amazingly, only five percent of missions giving goes to the countries in the 10/40 window. Though obviously there are enormous needs in other nations outside of this area, five percent is clearly out of balance.

Certainly one of the greatest reasons this part of the globe is so unpenetrated by the Gospel is simply because people that hear about its struggles agree that something must be done (perhaps even give a small one-time gift), and then go on with their normal lives. They don’t let the desperate conditions of these countries sink in and change them from the heart out.

The reason I have written this is not so that you can just see a bunch of facts about the problems across Asia and North Africa; rather, my hope and prayer is that these truths will cause your heart to break and be filled with compassion. That you would not stand by as thousands each day are swallowed by death without even hearing the life giving message of Christ. Please join our youth group in helping direct as many resources as possible to the 10/40 window. There is urgent need Bibles, Gospel tracts, and, most of all, people who are willing to go as missionaries. Pray that God would raise up laborers to go to the harvest. There are many mission organizations that you can support who work primarily in this region; but above all, I beg you, don’t stand by and do nothing.

Having seen all this you can choose to look the other way, but you can never say again, ‘I didn’t know.’-William Wilberforce

-Reagan Schrock, GOA blog manager