Strategic Partners to Fulfill the Great Commission in the Muslim world
Challenges
The least evangelized part of the world — the 10/40 Window, spanning North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia — is home to 86% of unreached ethnic groups, some 1.1 billion people, of whom less than 2% are Christians. Of the world’s 1.9 billion Muslims, the vast majority live within this corridor, in communities where no indigenous church exists and no missionary is permitted to operate.
According to the Open Doors World Watch List (2024), Islamic oppression is the primary driver of Christian persecution in 30 of the 50 most dangerous countries for believers — and yet, paradoxically, a historic spiritual awakening is underway.
From Iran — where an estimated 1 to 3 million Muslims have converted to evangelical Christianity, making it arguably the world’s fastest-growing church — to Sudan, Algeria, Bangladesh, and Iraq, Muslims are turning to Christ in numbers that missiologists describe as unprecedented in recorded history.
Solutions
We believe that Latin American missionaries are a strategic part of — and can be powerful allies in — fulfilling the Great Commission in the world.
According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, more than 10,000 cross-cultural missionaries who speak Spanish or Portuguese are currently serving in over 100 countries, representing a 300% increase since the year 2000 and placing Latin America third globally in missionary output, behind only North America and Europe.
Of these, approximately 20% are Latinos serving specifically in the 10/40 Window — North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia — where scholars and missiologists have noted their particular cultural effectiveness in Islamic contexts. As Desiring God noted in its 2024 State of Global Missions report, Latino missionaries have “proven to be highly effective in the Islamic world,” carrying a cultural and historical bridge that North American missionaries often cannot.
Needs
Latin American churches are waking up to the need to fulfill the Great Commission worldwide. Missionaries are being trained and sent to impact the nations for Christ. However, these churches lack the financial means to fully support their missionaries.
The BLACKBOX Mission Statistics database (November 2024) calculates that evangelical Christians globally earn a combined $5.98 trillion annually, yet only 1.7% of all missions giving goes toward work among unreached peoples.
Each Latino missionary family serving in the 10/40 Window requires personal support, field equipment, transportation expenses, and operational funds — including language training, cultural orientation, and emergency coverage.
We need funders and friends who will partner with our strategic alliance leaders to make this possible.