Sending populations for long-term evangelical missionaries
Data and map adapted from Operation World DVD-ROM 2010, www.operationworld.org, World Factbook 2018, and cartography by GMI, www.gmi.org. Used by permission.
450,000 missionaries (rough 2020 est.)
Approximately 450,000 evangelical missionaries serve long term (more than two years) in cross-cultural contexts. The map above shows the evangelical communities that send and maintain these missionaries. The five countries sending out the largest number of missionaries are:
- China – 164,000 missionaries (36% of all missionaries sent) – sending rate: 1 missionary per 630 evangelicals
- India – 118,000 missionaries (26% of all missionaries sent) – sending rate: 1 missionary per 320 evangelicals
- USA – 98,000 missionaries (22% of all missionaries sent) – sending rate: 1 missionary per 980 evangelicals
- South Korea – 21,000 missionaries (5% of all missionaries sent) – sending rate: 1 missionary per 400 evangelicals
- Nigeria – 9,000 missionaries (2% of all missionaries sent) – sending rate: 1 missionary per 7,350 evangelicals
These five countries are responsible for slightly more than 90% of all evangelical long-term cross-cultural missionaries sent.
While examining the map, please note the low missionary sending activity of Latin America and the southern portion of Africa. With their high evangelical populations, these continents are seedbeds that can produce many more missionaries.
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