{"id":14394,"date":"2026-01-21T17:23:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T01:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=14394"},"modified":"2026-01-22T08:30:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T16:30:53","slug":"from-the-editors-trends-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=14394","title":{"rendered":"From the Editors: Trends &amp; Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Greetings!<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This time of year, we see an uptick in annual reports of various kinds, many of them providing info and insights you can use to update your own messages, presentations, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Looking for data on religion? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At this writing, Gordon-Conwell\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gordonconwell.edu\/center-for-global-christianity\/resources\/status-of-global-christianity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Status of Global Christianity<\/a> page still shows last year\u2019s report, but a new one should be released soon. Meanwhile, check out two interesting pieces that came out last year from the Pew Research Center. As you read, ask yourself: What are the implications?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2025\/12\/08\/many-religions-heavily-concentrated-in-one-or-two-countries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Many religions are heavily concentrated in a few countries<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2025\/11\/13\/if-the-u-s-had-100-people-charting-americans-religious-affiliations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">If the U.S. had 100 people: Charting Americans\u2019 religious affiliations<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>We also have new data on religious persecution. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Open Doors has released its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opendoors.org\/en-US\/persecution\/countries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2026 World Watch list<\/a>, an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. See story and video below. <br><br>And see also the recently released <a href=\"https:\/\/globalchristianrelief.org\/resources\/red-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2026 Red List<\/a>, which also reports on the most dangerous places to be a Christian according to five categories of concern (Global Christian Relief).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Plus some interesting links&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For when life feels precarious, Marti came across news about an interesting new proof-of-life app developed in China. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgr.com\/2074610\/are-you-dead-top-paid-iphone-app-china\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cAre You Dead?\u201d has become the #1 paid iPhone app in China<\/a> (BGR).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you were born somewhere else, how would your life be different? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.givingwhatwecan.org\/birth-lottery\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Check out a great data visualization comparing income, education, life expectancy, and more<\/a>&nbsp;(Giving What We Can, via Flowing Data). Spin the globe and scroll down the window for a one-minute, three-question quiz to test your knowledge of global inequality. I (Pat) failed big time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On a more positive note, you might want to check out <a href=\"https:\/\/whatworldeats.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What the World Eats<\/a> to discover and compare global cuisines with data-driven culinary infographics. Fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hope this gives you something to chew on.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Pat and Marti<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Greetings! This time of year, we see an uptick in annual reports of various kinds, many of them providing info and insights you can use to update your own messages, presentations, and more. Looking for data on religion? At this writing, Gordon-Conwell\u2019s Status of Global Christianity page still shows last year\u2019s report, but a new &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=14394\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">From the Editors: Trends &amp; Tools<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-briefs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14394"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14405,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14394\/revisions\/14405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}