Source: Mission Frontiers, July 2023
If we continue sending missionaries and resources to a country with a large population of Christians, it could reinforce the perception that they are (and always will be?) a needy mission field, when in fact, it is way past due for them to transform into a radical new missions force.
The 13 English-speaking countries in Africa have more than 130 million evangelicals. But research shows they are sending less than 5,000 cross-cultural workers. That’s only one missionary for every 26,000 evangelicals, showing a significant mobilization gap.
Instead of sending more missionaries into these Christian countries, what if we instead launched mobilization teams throughout that region, with a seemingly modest goal of raising up just one cross-cultural worker for every 1,000 evangelicals? Astonishingly, that would increase their missionary sending from 5,000 to 130,000 cross-cultural goers—the greatest missionary force in all of history!
Read the full story and see the Via Mobilization Index. The July/August edition of Mission Frontiers is focused on mobilization.