Are there missionaries today

The two definitions of unengaged people groups are:. According to the Joshua Project , there are 7, unreached people groups. According to the Joshua Project , there are 3,,, unreached peoples around the world. This is about If we need one missionary for every 50, people in an unreached people group, we would need 66, more overseas missionaries.

According to PeopleGroups. This is one reason why it is also known as "The Resistant Belt. Additionally, there are many animists, Jews, and atheists who live there.

An estimated 3. Closed countries are locations where missionaries cannot get a visa. Typically, church activities are also restricted or regulated. There is often higher levels of persecution in these countries too.

While missionaries are restricted to going to these countries, many Christians use other creative means to get to the field. It is good to be aware of persecution and to pray for our brothers and sisters in these countries Heb.

We do not have a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control 2 Tim. They became the largest group of religious followers, beating ethnic religionists with During this time, many ethnic religionists became Christians, not Muslims. Despite its origins in Western Asia, Christianity has spread faster in other parts of the globe.

By percent, Asia today is the least-Christian area in the world. That said, Christianity has grown significantly in the twentieth century. In , 4. By , 8. Researchers expect Christianity to grow faster than any other religion from , averaging 2.

Compare this to a growth rate of 0. Christianity has been the sixth-largest religious group in Asia since The five leading religions in Asia are:. Significant changes happened from to in European Christianity. This is a significant drop from By Christians made up Historians believe this came from the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe.

Protestants experienced the greatest overall decline. They made up The population is expected to drop to 8. In , Researchers expect this number to drop to In Brazil, Protestants and Independent Christians combined represented Mission work has been part of the Christian tradition from its origins. Jesus ensured it would be when he told his disciples to pack their things and go , the Rev.

Most churches participate in several types of mission work each year, coordinating local service projects, short-term volunteer trips and longer-term missionary assignments at the same time. For example, in non-pandemic years, First Baptist Kettering typically organizes a trip to a church it planted in Peru, offers financial support to long-term missionaries in Africa and tries to respond to as many other calls for help as possible, the Rev. Churches and missionaries had to rapidly respond to stay-at-home orders, heightened health risks and new travel rules, said David W.

Others had been home on visits and got stuck in the U. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recalled thousands of missionaries serving around the world in the spring of and gave many people new assignments closer to home. It also temporarily closed missionary training centers, instructing new missionaries to complete their training online.

The pandemic was especially disruptive to shorter term mission work, Scott said. Well-established missionaries were often able to remain in place and spearhead new pandemic-related projects, but many others, including most youth group leaders, had to totally abandon their original plans. However, new concerns about medical resources and lingering restrictions on travel will affect missions for years to come, religion experts said.

Before the pandemic, the world of mission work was growing more and more diverse. As churches in the U. Now, the pandemic threatens to derail that trend and rob people from some nations of opportunities to both become missionaries and be visited by them, Zurlo added. But Mexico, for example, is really struggling with vaccine distribution.

Are Americans going to go to Mexico to serve unvaccinated people? Mission work has always required a high tolerance for risk, since missionaries often go to regions with unstable political leadership or few health resources or both.

But the pandemic made those risks more visible to people, and it could potentially impact future interest in serving overseas, Stetzer said. However, mission experts believe the pandemic will also lead to some positive developments in both the short and long term.

Most notably, moving forward, churches and individual missionaries will be more willing to use technology to enhance how they do their work.

We need to go back when things are tough. Economic goods alone do not exhaust the human desire for consolation. That truth has challenged Christian missionaries to serve in humanitarian work, in education, health care, peacemaking, and reconciliation. While mission work may have evolved in some countries and denominational groups, several organizations still offer trips to countries where proselytizing can be ethically dubious , applying religious pressure to vulnerable groups.

Some organizations directly target refugees for conversion. Join Jesus Christ. Some were trying to attract them [by offering] visas or money to change their religion.

In some places, accusing people of performing missionary work is a way to target Christian communities. In India, for instance, Hindu right-wing activists have accused Christians of being missionaries or attempting conversions , using this as a pretext to attack Christians.

And missionaries themselves face danger in some countries. Last year, for instance, two Chinese somethings reportedly working as missionaries in Pakistan were kidnapped and killed in an attack claimed by ISIS.

In other cases, missionaries confront political and cultural barriers. She and her group shifted their focus to working with local church members instead. In the end, people choose the work over other options because they feel it gets at something fundamental. Skip to content Site Navigation The Atlantic. Popular Latest. The Atlantic Crossword. Sign In Subscribe.