Studies Show: Short-term Mission Trips Can Change Your Heart

Did you know that The Barna Group...

...pioneered the discipline of faith-related statistics?
...has studied the effects of short-term mission trips?

Did you know that OM...

...pioneered the short-term mission movement?
...would love for you to read the Barna study?
...can customize a short-term mission trip for your small group?

You can be a statistic!

Be one of the few who have shared God's love in another culture. Go, and keep taking friends with you until the next Barna study shows that you are in the majority.

Approximate 2002 AD Global Mission Statistics

(IN PROCESS 07-17-'02)

(1) World Population: 6.204 BILLION PEOPLE

33% of earth's people include Christians of all kinds.
40% of earth's people are reached (or evangelized) non-Christians.
27% of earth's people are unreached (i.e.unevangelized) non-Christians.

(2) Population of Major Religions Plus Subgroups of Special Interest to Christians

2.05 BILLION - Christians of all kinds
1.24 BILLION - Muslims
932 million - Nonreligious and Atheists
837 million - Hindus
368 million - Buddhists
234 million - Tribals
340 million - Chinese Folk Religionists
259 million - 0ther Religions
104 million - New Religionists

(3) World Population Growth, 1.22%, Compared with Muslims & Christian Subgroups

Muslims 2.11%, All "Christians" 1.27%, Roman Catholics 1.24%, Evangelicals 1.72%, Protestants 1.36%, "Gt.Com. Christians" 1.44%, Pentecostals and Charismatics 1.87%.

(4) Missionaries

429,000 Missionaries from all branches of Christendom
(Only between 2 and 3% of those missionaries work among unreached peoples.)
140,000 Protestant Missionaries
64,000 Protestant Missionaries From USA

(5) Distribution of Protestant Missionary Funds for Support of Both Foreign Missionaries and the Home Staff who Support the Field Missionaries in the Major Religious Blocks

74% Among Nominal Christians
8% Among Tribal Peoples
6% Among Muslims
4% Among Non-Religious/Atheists
3% Among Buddihists
2% Among Hindus
2% Among Chinese Folk Religions
1% Among Jewish Peoples

(6) Annual Global Church Finance in US Dollars

15,500 Billion - Total Annual Income
300 Billion - Giving to Christian Causes (1.8% of total income)
17 Billion - To Foreign Missions (5.7% of Giving to all Christian causes)
18 Billion - Eccliastical Crime

Target Groups Where Foreign Mission Funds are Spent
~87% goes for work among those already Christian, World C.
~12% for work among already Evangelized but Non-Christian, World B.
~1% for work among still Unevangelized and Unreached people groups, World C.
(or less than 1 penny of every $1,000 earned.)

(7) Of the World's 24,000 Unimax (#)People Groups 10,000 are Still Unreached

3700 Muslim 2700 Hindu 2000 Tribal 1000 Buddhist
400 Other 150 Chinese Folk Religions 50 Non-Religious/Atheist
(1600 have each more than 10,000 persons; 8,400 fewer than 10,000 persons each.)
(A large number of these Unreached Groups live in so called closed countries.)

(8) Average Ministry Cost in U.S. Dollars for Each Convert's Baptism

Mozambique - $1400 (least)
Ethiopia - $2700 (2nd)
Nepal - $3700 (5th)
Cambodia - $4300 (8th)
Average cost for World A - $32,000
for World B ............. $48,000
for World C ............. $490,000
Africa ................... $14,000
Asia ..................... $61,000
Lat. Amer ............... $145,000
Oceania .................. $634,000
Europe ................... $993,000
USA ...................... $1.5 Million!

# A Unimax People is a largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers to understanding or acceptance.

Main Sources:

World Christian Encyclopedia, 2001 and World Evangelization Resource Center, 2002.

—Prepared by Mobilization Division, U.S. Center for World Mission, Pasadena, CA.—

13 statistics on child slavery

"Lord, you know the hopes of humble people. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort their hearts by helping them. You will be with the orphans and all who are oppressed, so that mere earthly man will terrify them no longer." Psalm 10:17-18


13 statistics on child slavery (compiled by Action International Ministries)

1. 3000 enslaved Albanian children are used for begging, cleaning windows and cars without wages in Italy and Greece

2. an estimated 496,000 children are in slavery in Bangladesh

3. over 10-20 million people are subjected to debt bondage largely in India, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru and the Philippines

4. of 20 bonded laborers in Pakistan, 7.5 million are children

5. of 35 million soccer balls stitched in Pakistan, children produce 1/4. most of them are bonded servants

6. nearly 500,000 minors work in virtual slavery conditions in Senegal

7. UNICEF estimates that nearly 30,000 children in Haiti (85% girls) serve as unpaid, domestic labor among the affluent

8. nearly 10,000 children aged 6-14 are enslaved in Sri Lankan brothels

9. as many as 300,000 children in India work as bonded labor, just in the carpet industry alone

10. 15 million children around the world are bonded laborers, the majority of whom are Indian Dalits, whose bondage is passed down from generation to generation

11. 90% of 100,000 women in prostitution in Mombai are indentured slaves

12. many Indian boys, some as young as 4 years old, are riders in camel races in West Asia and the Gulf States. girls and women end up either as domestic or sex workers.

13. it takes up to 15 years for girls in India held in prostitution to purchase their freedom

be the change!

pray!
As Christians, we are always saying "God answers prayer." Do we really believe it? Gather with a group of friends once a week to pray for children and adults around the world caught in slavery, prostitution and traffiking. God can change the world through our prayers!

speak up!
Anti-slavery international is the world's oldest international human rights organization working exclusively against slavery at local, national and international levels. For updates and information on how you can help, go to www.antislavery.org.

You can also sign a petition calling for an end to modern day slavery and learn about other action options at:
www.theamazingchange.com
www.stopthetraffik.org