The Unreached
Who are they?
42% of the world's population live within an unreached people group--that is over 3.4 billion people. Most reside in Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist communities, with little or no access to the Gospel. According to Operation World, 86% of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists have never even met a believer. Most are born, live, and die without ever hearing a clear presentation of the Gospel. How can they call on Christ to save them if they have never heard of Him? What will it take to wake us to the reality that every day over 62,000 people die without ever having a chance to hear a presentation of the Gospel? Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists comprise 46% of the world’s population, and each one of them should have the opportunity to hear that the way to eternal life and peace is through Jesus!
How can they call on Christ to save them if they have never heard of Him?
Sources: www.joshuaproject.net, http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
Muslim
Muslims desperately strive to please God through strict prayer rituals, fasting, pilgrimage, and good works. They are a devout, reverent people who desire to submit to God’s will. However, these vain attempts at winning favor leave them without hope. Muslims respect Jesus as a prophet but do not realize that He is our salvation, our hope, and our only way to God.
Hindu
Hindus are diverse in culture, spirituality, and religious practice. There are some 330 million gods worshipped across the Hindu world. They strive to please the god(s) of their village or family by giving offerings (fruit, flowers, money, etc.), doing idol worship, and performing good works to earn karma. Countless Hindus have never even heard the name of Jesus. Geographic, societal, and caste barriers have hindered the Gospel from spreading to most Hindu people groups. Hindus primarily reside in India, where there are more unreached people groups than any other country in the world.
Buddhist
Buddhists recognize that the world is entrenched with suffering, sorrow, and earthly things that provide no lasting happiness. They believe that to escape suffering you must deny material possessions, human passions, and all desire. Many Buddhists adhere to the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who became known as Buddha, “the enlightened one.” Many believe they too can become enlightened through good actions and self-denial. Though Buddhists seek truth with the realization that this world cannot satisfy, they are tragically blind to the truth that Jesus alone satisfies and fulfills our deepest desires.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 24:14
where are they?
The 10/40 Window is home to the majority of the world's unevangelized countries. The "unevangelized" are people who have a minimal knowledge of the gospel, but have no valid opportunity to respond to it. While it constitutes only one-third of earth's total land area, nearly two-thirds of the world's people reside in the 10/40 Window. The original 10/40 Window included only countries with at least 50% of their land mass within 10 and 40 degrees north latitude. The revised 10/40 Window removes several Christianized countries such as South Korea and the Philippines and includes several additional countries, such as Indonesia, that are close to 10 or 40 degrees north latitude and have high concentrations of unreached peoples.
3,020,000,000
Individuals
6,700
Unreached People Groups
TOP 50
Least Evangelized Megacities
An estimated 3.02 billion individuals live in approximately 6,700 unreached people groups (UPGs) in the 10/40 window. The 10/40 window also contains the largest UPGs and an overwhelming majority of the world's least evangelized megacities. The top 50 of these cities, with a population over 1 million, are all within the 10/40 window.
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?”
ROMANS 10:13-14
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