Why The 10/40 Window?

A Cross Being Forcibly Removed From A Church In Shanghai

Most of the people groups still unreached by the Gospel live in places stretching across the maps of Northern Africa and Asia.

Christian missions strategist, Luis Bush started calling this rectangular area or band: “The 10/40 Window.” The people who live in these countries are not more important to God than people in other parts of the world when it comes to the need to be saved by God’s Grace. The issue is not need – as all men need the Gospel. The issue is opportunity to hear the Gospel.

Lost people in America, for instance, are just as much in need of salvation as people in Myanmar. The reason we are focusing on the 10/40 Window is that we want to give all people an opportunity to have access to the Good News of Jesus Christ and His salvation. We focus on countries that have limited access to the message of salvation. Consider these statistics:

• World evangelism statistics: Of the world’s 50 least evangelized countries, 37 are within the 10/40 Window. Yet those 37 countries comprise 97% of the total population of the 50 least evangelized countries!

• Center of population: Two-thirds of the world’s population — more than 4.4 billion people — live in the 10/40 Window.

• Unreached and un-evangelized: 90% of the people living in the 10/40 Window are un-evangelized. Many have never heard the Gospel message even once. There are either no Christians or not enough of a Christian movement in many cultures of the 10/40 Window to carry out vibrant near-neighbor evangelism.

• Poverty: Eighty-five percent of those living in the 10/40 Window are the poorest of the world’s poor.

• World religions: Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are centered within the 10/40 Window.

• Least evangelized cities: The top 50 least evangelized megacities are all in the 10/40 Window. Half of the world’s least evangelized cities are in this window.

COUNTRIES IN THE 10/40 WINDOW

Afghanistan
Algeria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Benin
Bhutan
Burkina Faso
Cambodia
Chad
China
Cyprus
Djibouti
Egypt
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gambia
Gibraltar
Greece
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
India
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Japan
Jordan
North Korea
South Korea
Kuwait
Laos
Lebanon
Libya
Macau
Mali
Malta
Mauritania
Morocco
Myanmar (Burma)
Nepal
Niger
Oman
Pakistan
Philippines
Portugal
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Sudan
Syria
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates
Vietnam
Western Sahara
Yemen