10/40 Window

The 10/40 Window is a term coined by Christian missionary strategist Luis Bush in 1990 to refer to those regions of the eastern hemisphere, plus the European and African part of the western hemisphere, located between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator, a general area that in 1990 was purported to have the highest level of socioeconomic challenges and least access to the Christian message and Christian resources on the planet.

Though popularized by Luis Bush, the term 10/40 window was in use by missiologists at the U.S. Center for World Missions as early as 1981, a term that was used by Doctor Ralph Winter, and subsequently, John Dawson of Youth With A Mission and Reconciliation Ministries, and many other YWAMers long before 1990. The rest of the article may be correct for it was talked about at Lausanne II.

The 10/40 Window concept highlights these three elements: an area of the world with great poverty and low quality of life, combined with lack of access to Christian resources. The Window forms a band encompassing Saharan and Northern Africa, as well as almost all of Asia (West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia and much of Southeast Asia). Roughly two-thirds of the world population lives in the 10/40 Window. The 10/40 Window is populated by people who are predominantly Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, animist, Jewish or atheist. Many governments in the 10/40 Window are formally or informally opposed to Christian work of any kind within their borders.

The 10/40 Window

Origin

This region of the world was previously known to Christians as the "resistant belt," as noted by Luis Bush at the 1989 Lausanne II Conference in Manila. In 1990, Luis' research led to a meeting with the developer of the first PC-based GIS software. They analyzed the region (see below) using a box between 10 and 40 degrees north latitude and called it the 10/40 Box. A few weeks later, Luis' wife Doris recommended renaming it the 10/40 Window, stating that this region ought to be seen as a "window of opportunity." The analysis and concept was a generalization that focuses on a region, not a sharp boundary defining what is a priority, and what is not. For this reason, many missiologists prefer to use the phrase "10/40 Window Region."

Before being called the "resistant belt," the Islamic portions of this region, as well as selected unreached Buddhist and Hindu areas, were referred to as the "unoccupied fields" by Samuel Zwemer, in his book by that same title, published in 1911.

Controversy

Some have objected to such a broad-brush term which seems to imply a unifying characteristic of the window when in fact no large area of the planet is completely homogenous in cultural attributes.

The 1990 research data states:

• that part of the world was home to the largest populations living in deep poverty and lowest quality of life;
• that part of the world did have least access to Christian resources. Note the emphasis on access not percent Christian. The West has ubiquitous access to such resources; this area of the world did and does not.

This research deals in overall population characteristics. The 10/40 Window is a term that helps people visualize the general area of the analysis, where the above characteristics are generally true, but with exceptions proving it is only a generalization. Some examples of the exceptions:

• The Window article refers to the "poorest of the poor" living in that region (based on late-1980's per-capita GNP under US$500). Of the three billion people living in such poverty-stricken nations, 82% lived in the 10/40 Window. Yet such a result contrasts with 10/40 Window nations such as South Korea and Japan. Japan boasts the world's third largest economy, while South Korea the eleventh. Such nations were strong throughout the late 20th century.
• Geographically, the Window includes the Philippines and Portugal, which are both nations with a Roman Catholic Christian majority, also Greece where almost 98% of the population belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church, plus South Korea, which is home to the largest single congregation church in the world and is also the second largest missionary sending nation in the world. The window does not encompass Indonesia or Sri Lanka, nations with very little access to Christian resources.

Gaining widespread use

Over the years, the 10/40 Window has evolved from a specialist term used by Christian missiologists to assumed vocabulary for Christians in the West. It is an emerging term in the secular press and can be found in press style glossaries. Non-western writers and organizations also refer to the 10/40 Window. In addition, those opposed to the idea of evangelism make use of the term.

Analysis

The original 1990 GIS 10/40 Window analysis produced several insights, among them showing that the nations of the 10/40 Window represent (as of the research date):

• 82% of the poorest of the world's poor (per capita GNP less than US$500 per year),
• 84% of those with lowest quality of life (life expectancy, infant mortality, and literacy),
• the hub of the world's major non-Christian religions (Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.,)
• close to 100% of those who are both most-poor and have least-access to Christian resources (two-dimensional analysis)
• The least Christian resource investment and least sharing of the Christian message

The GIS analysis utilized country-level data from the Operation World almanac, the World Christian Encyclopedia, and the World Factbook.

Non-Christians in the 10/40 Window by religion

The first edition GIS analysis maps highlighted the three major religious blocks in the 10/40 Window, specifically the majority Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist nations. Population estimates at the time for the year 2000 (from Operation World) were given as:

• 28 Muslim Countries, 1.1 Billion population est (2000)
• 2 Hindu Countries, 1.1 Billion population est (2000)
• 8 Buddhist Countries, 237 Million population est (2000)

Later updates have been based more on census data and other estimates rather than forward-looking population estimates. The cited reference provides the following estimate of "unreached" non-Christian populations in the 10/40 Window:

• 865 million Muslims
• 550 million Hindus
• 275 million Buddhists
• 140 million in 2550 tribal groups (mainly animist)
• 17 million Jews

Nations in the 10/40 Window

The 10/40 Window originally encompassed the following countries. An expanded list including some important nearby nations is offered by the Joshua Project:

• Afghanistan
• Algeria
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Benin
• Bhutan
• Burkina Faso
• Cambodia
• Chad
• China
• Cyprus
• Djibouti
• Egypt
• Eritrea
• Gambia
• Greece
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• India
• Iran
• Iraq
• Israel (including Palestinian Occupied Territory)
• Japan
• Jordan
• Korea, North

• Kuwait
• Laos
• Lebanon
• Libya
• Mali
• Malta
• Mauritania
• Morocco
• Myanmar
• Nepal
• Niger
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Portugal
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
• Sudan (should now include South Sudan due to Sudan splitting into two nations)
• Syria
• Taiwan
• Tajikistan
• Thailand
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Turkmenistan
• United Arab Emirates
• Vietnam
• Western Sahara
• Yemen

These are all "Old World" nations (mostly in the eastern hemisphere) with at least 50 percent of their land mass falling within 10 to 40 degrees latitude. See the list of nations in the original study.

See also

• Child evangelism movement
• The UN Human Development Index which followed from the Quality of Life Index used in the 10/40 Window research (note Quality of Life & The 10/40 Window referenced below).

External links

• Updated statistics, including some relating to 10/40 Window
• 10/40 Window Maps Updated data from the original GIS analysis