# Is the 10/40 Missions Window still reliable?



## RamistThomist (Mar 23, 2015)

I am reading a lot of church growth/evangelism/spiritual warfare books written from the early 1990s and they mention this window. Is it still accurate 25 years later?


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## Pergamum (Mar 23, 2015)

It was always just a tool used to visualize one of the largest concentrations of the unreached. It is still valid insofar as it is an easy way to show people where many of the needs are. It was never a perfect tool for several reasons, mainly that it seems to ignore Catholics and Eastern Orthodox as unreached, and it ignores large pockets of the unreached which lay outside of this "window" - for instance, the island of Sumatra in Indonesia is the world's largest unreached island and yet lies totally outside of the 10/40 Window.


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## dtaylor3 (Mar 23, 2015)

Some people live and die by the 10/40. I heard on the radio the other day a pastor claiming that should be a Christian's sole focus. Scary.


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## Pergamum (Mar 23, 2015)

David,

Yes. I once heard of a missions candidate who was preparing to go to a needy area. Yet, his church's missions committee adopted a focus towards the 10/40 Window and decided that they would ONLY support missions into the 10/40 Window....and thus refused to support this missionary candidate (a long-time member of their church who was heading towards a needy region with the Gospel). The candidate grew very discouraged and I think perhaps quite his church and joined another.


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## aadebayo (Mar 23, 2015)

Pergamum said:


> It was always just a tool used to visualize one of the largest concentrations of the unreached. It is still valid insofar as it is an easy way to show people where many of the needs are. It was never a perfect tool for several reasons, mainly that it seems to ignore Catholics and Eastern Orthodox as unreached, and it ignores large pockets of the unreached which lay outside of this "window" - for instance, the island of Sumatra in Indonesia is the world's largest unreached island and yet lies totally outside of the 10/40 Window.



This is true. It is still very valid. However, many European nations like the UK are fast becoming unreached. I once watched a programme on one of the "Christian" TV channels asking respondents what Easter stands for. Tragically, not one single respondent could give a correct answer. I preach in the open air very regularly and I have spoken with many people, both indegenous and ethnic minorities who have no knowledge of the bible.


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## Covenant Joel (Mar 24, 2015)

Of course, using it in a way as to exclude islands like Sumatra as Pergamum has mentioned kind of misses the point. But as an easy way to visualize where the most unreached and unengaged people groups are in the world, it's still useful.

In reference to some of the above comments, I don't believe that the church's efforts should be _solely_ focused on unreached and unengaged people groups (UUPGs) as are found in the 10/40 window. But I do think there should be a _priority_ in the church's efforts. In particular, I long to see the Reformed world begin to take the initiative to go to the hardest and most unreached places. There was a time when Reformed Presbyterians did so (Zwemer, Martyn and others). I hope it will happen again. 

This is not to devalue work in other places. But I do strongly believe there should be a priority on UUPGs.


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## Pilgrim (Mar 24, 2015)

Covenant Joel said:


> Of course, using it in a way as to exclude islands like Sumatra as Pergamum has mentioned kind of misses the point. But as an easy way to visualize where the most unreached and unengaged people groups are in the world, it's still useful.
> 
> In reference to some of the above comments, I don't believe that the church's efforts should be _solely_ focused on unreached and unengaged people groups (UUPGs) as are found in the 10/40 window. But I do think there should be a _priority_ in the church's efforts. In particular, I long to see the Reformed world begin to take the initiative to go to the hardest and most unreached places. There was a time when Reformed Presbyterians did so (Zwemer, Martyn and others). I hope it will happen again.
> 
> This is not to devalue work in other places. But I do strongly believe there should be a priority on UUPGs.



That is the kind of vision that seems to have captivated a good many young Southern Baptists, among others. It is a big reason why some strongly Calvinistic men have remained in the denomination despite various difficulties. Right or wrong, they see it as the best avenue to reach UUPGs and so on.


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## aadebayo (Mar 25, 2015)

Covenant Joel said:


> Of course, using it in a way as to exclude islands like Sumatra as Pergamum has mentioned kind of misses the point. But as an easy way to visualize where the most unreached and unengaged people groups are in the world, it's still useful.
> 
> In reference to some of the above comments, I don't believe that the church's efforts should be _solely_ focused on unreached and unengaged people groups (UUPGs) as are found in the 10/40 window. But I do think there should be a _priority_ in the church's efforts. In particular, I long to see the Reformed world begin to take the initiative to go to the hardest and most unreached places. There was a time when Reformed Presbyterians did so (Zwemer, Martyn and others). I hope it will happen again.
> 
> This is not to devalue work in other places. But I do strongly believe there should be a priority on UUPGs.



This will be very good. This is because majority of the "reached" parts of the developing world have been reached with a different gospel as defined by Paul in Galatians.


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