What Are Some 10/40 Window Facts?
The 10/40 window facts and numbers show a deep need for missions in this area. As many as 8,882 different people groups live in the window. Up to 6,147 of those groups are seen as uncontacted [1]. The Shaikh, for example, began with Arab settlers in South Asia. Today they have many smaller groups, with over 134 million people in all.
The Shaikh are almost all Muslim, with little gospel progress [2]. Another group is the Burmese. They came from the hills of Tibet in western China. Later they moved to Myanmar (formerly Burma). Today they total over 31 million people. Only 0.35 percent are seen as Christian, and nearly 95 percent follow Buddhism [3].
The Shaikh of Bangladesh and the Burmese of Myanmar are only two cases. Many people groups in the 10/40 window still need the Gospel. About 97 percent of the world’s unaccessed people live in the 10/40 window. The darkest place in the window may be Asia. Over 80,000 people die each day in Asia without knowing Christ. Even so, less than 0.05 percent of the Western Church’s support goes to work in this area [4].
That is why GFA World has long put focus on reaching Asian countries, and now Africa as well. GFA founder K.P. Yohannan (Metropolitan Yohan) has seen Christ at work in this area. He was born in South Asia in 1950. At sixteen, he began his missions work. He shared the Gospel in villages north of where he grew up.
After years in missions and as a pastor, Yohannan founded GFA in July 1979. He started a plan to support national missionaries. He urged sponsors to set aside a dollar a day to sponsor a national missionary. That program still runs today. So do other efforts, like the Child Sponsorship Program. It has helped thousands of children escape a long cycle of poverty [5]. GFA World also does disaster relief. This work gives aid and support to stricken communities [6].
GFA’s efforts within the 10/40 latitudes are making a needed impact on many of these countries and groups. You can bring hope by sponsoring a national missionary or a child. Our ministries rely on prayer and gifts. It takes about a dollar a day to make a big difference in someone’s life.
Learn more about the 10/40 window[1] “What Is the 10/40 Window?” Joshua Project. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/10_40_window.
[2] “Bengali Muslim Shaikh in Bangladesh.” Joshua Project. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/18084/BG.
[3] “Burmese in Myanmar (Burma).” Joshua Project. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/11029/BM.
[4] “About National Missionaries.” GFA World. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://www.gfa.org/about/the-missionaries/.
[5] “About KP Yohannan.” GFA World. Accessed June 15, 2023. https://www.gfa.org/about/kpyohannan/.
[6] “Disaster Relief Work.” GFA World (Gospel for Asia). Accessed July 31, 2023. https://www.gfa.org/compassion-services/disaster-flood-relief/.