World Christianity

Posted on July 16, 2019

I’m writing from the University of Cambridge, where I am currently working on a book that I hope will inspire others to join us in mission. I work part of the time at a research center called the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide, which conducts cutting edge research on missions. While our mission never changes, the world in which we carry out our mission has changed.

Here are a few thing that may surprise you: 85 percent of the world’s evangelicals are now people of color (Latin Americans, Asians, and Africans), and fewer than 5 percent of the world’s Christians live in the United States. Christianity is now a global religion; however, 40 percent of the world’s 7 billion people are culturally cut off from gospel witness. That means that more than 3 billion people in the world today have little hope of ever meeting a Christian or hearing the gospel!

I could go on, but here is something else we are learning. The non-Western church is telling us that their greatest need is leadership development. Research indicates that a full 85-90% of pastors in the non-Western world have no access to formal theological training. But these non-Western pastors are not only strategically positioned to reach their own communities, but also to empower missionaries from their countries to go to the unreached. A trained Ethiopian missionary is better positioned to go to Sudan than a young seminarian from Indiana!

That’s why Global Action exists. We exist to train leaders to transform the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. For those of you who are giving, thank you for making a difference. For those of you who want to join us, there is information on our website on how you can become a monthly supporter. We are on a mission to change the world. Join us!

From Cambridge for the world,

F. Lionel Young III, PhD
Executive Vice President