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If
not here, where? If not now, when? If not us, who?
Are You
Kidding Me?! Scary Stats and Facts.
This is a
compilation of the scariest, most embarassing, most shocking
statistics and information about the Church and it's affairs.
Somebody is going to have to stand before Jesus one day and explain
their role in this. We don't want it to be US - or you.
We don't quote anything haphazzardly without having good
documentation and sources. If you have stats that you think we
need to hear, find the source material and email us.
Check back.
Sadly,
we're adding more all the time!
(Mostly from World
Christian Trends, William Carey Library, David Barrett & Todd
Johnson. The summary and analysis of the annual Christian mega-census.)
US Christians
control TRILLIONS in assets while at any given time 200,000,000
Christians starve.
78 countries each
have Great Commission (evangelical) Christians whose cumulative
personal incomes exceed US$1 billion a year. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Financial Fraud
in the Church
Annual church
embezzlements by top custodians exceed the entire cost of all foreign
missions worldwide. Emboldened by lax procedures, trusted
church treasurers are embezzling from the Church $5,500,000 PER
DAY. That’s $16,000,000,000 per YEAR! That’s Billion
- with a “B”! (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1) {For reference:
TOTAL Christian spending on foreign missions - $15 Billion. God
forgive us!} (WCT, page 8, Table 1-4)
Criminal penalties
against clergy in sexual abuse cases now exceed $1 billion, causing a
number of churches, dioceses, and even denominations to be forced
into bankruptcy. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Each year 600,000
full-time ordained workers (clergy,ministers,missionaries) reach
retiring age; 150,000 then discover that their employers provide no
old-age pensions. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Wasteful
Spending by the Church
Most Christian
bodies insist on full accountability to the last cent in finance {But
not very well. See above.}, but ignore or even decry statistics about
Christian workers and ministries. (WCT, page 3)
Less than 1% of
Christian revenue is spent on evangelism to the most unreached. (WCT,
page 81)
40% of the
church’s entire global foreign mission resources are being
deployed to just 10 oversaturated countries already possessing strong
citizen-run home ministries. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
All costs of
ministry divided by number of baptisms per year. Cost per baptism in
India - $9803 per person. Cost per baptism in the United States -
$1,550,000 per person. (WCT, page 520-529)
Every year the
churches hold a megacensus costing $1.1 billion, sending out 10
million questionnaires in 3,000 languages, which covers 180 major
religious subjects. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Christians spend
more on the annual audits of their churches and agencies ($810
million) than on all their workers in the non-Christian world. (WCT,
page 3, Table 1-1)
The total cost of
Christian outreach averages $330,000 for each and every newly
baptized person. (USA $1,551,000, India $9,800, Mozambique $1,400,
etc.) (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1 and pages 520-529)
Non-Christian
countries have been found to have 227 million Bibles in place in
their midst, more than needed to serve all Christians, but poorly
distributed. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
91% of all
Christian outreach/evangelism does not target non-Christians but
targets other Christians in World C {>95 Evangelized, >60%
Christian} countries, cities, peoples, populations, or situations.
(WCT, page 81)
Each year,180
million Bibles and New Testaments are wasted - lost, destroyed, or
disintegrated - due to
incompetence,
hostility, bad planning, or inadequate manufacture. (WCT, page 3,
Table 1-1)
Books primarily
about Jesus in today’s libraries number 175,000 different titles
in 500 languages, increasing by 4 newly published every day. As in
all scientific research, 70% of all new Christian books and published
articles will never be quoted in print by their peers, ever. (WCT,
page 3, Table 1-1)
Persecution of
the Church
More than 70% of
all Christians now live in countries where they are experiencing
persecution. In some cases EXTREME persecution. (WCT, page 32)
14 million
converted Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims have opted to remain within
those religions in order to witness for Christ as active believers in
Jesus as Lord. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Growth of the Church
From 3 million in
AD 1500, evangelicals have grown to 648 million worldwide, 54% being
Non-Whites. (WCT, pg 3)
The country with
the fastest Christian expansion ever is China, now at 10,000 new
converts every day. (WCT, pg 3)
Missions and
the Church
Some 250 of the
300 largest international Christian organizations regularly mislead
the Christian public by publishing demonstrably incorrect or
falsified progress statistics. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Christian
triumphalism - not as pride in huge numbers, but as publicized
self-congratulation - is rampant in most churches, agencies, and
ministries. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
All costs of
ministry divided by number of baptisms per year. Cost per baptism in
India - $9803 per person. Cost per baptism in the United States -
$1,550,000 per person. (WCT, pages 520-529)
It costs
Christians 700 times more money to baptize converts in rich World C
countries (Switzerland) than in poor World A countries (Nepal). (WCT,
pages 520-529)
Percent of
Christian resources in countries that are already more than 60%
Christian - 91%. Percent spent in countries where less than half the
people have EVER heard of Jesus - 0.03%. (WCT, page 81)
It is estimated
that Christians worldwide spend around $8 BILLION dollars PER YEAR
going to the more than 500 conferences to TALK about missions.
That’s more than HALF the total spent DOING missions.
Everywhere on
Earth can now be targeted with at least 3 of the 45 varieties of
effective evangelism. (WCT, page 3)
818 unevangelized
ethnolinguistic peoples have never been targeted by any Christian
agencies ever. (WCT, p. 3)
Over 20 centuries
Christians have announced 1,500 global plans to evangelize the world;
most failed; 250 plans focused on AD 2000 fell massively short of
stated goals. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Mainland
China’s Christians have thousands of trained workers poised to
begin evangelizing the world de novo (all over again) soon after AD
2000. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Regular listeners
to Christian programs over secular or religious radio/TV stations
rose from 22% of the world in 1980 to 30% in 2000. (WCT, page 3,
Table 1-1)
Out of 648 million
Great Commission Christians, 70% have never been told about the
world’s 1.6 billion unevangelized individuals. (WCT, page 3,
Table 1-1)
The 3 least
cost-effective countries over 1 million in population for Christian
outreach are: Japan, Switzerland, Denmark. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1
and pages 520-529)
The 3 most
cost-effective countries over 1 million in population for Christian
outreach are: Mozambique, Ethiopia, Tanzania. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1
and pages 520-529)
Per hour of
ministry, the 5 megapeoples most responsive to Christianity, Christ,
and the gospel are: Khandeshi, Awadhi, Magadhi, Bai, Berar Marathi.
(WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Per hour of
ministry, the 5 megapeoples least responsive to Christianity, Christ,
and the gospel are: Swedish,Russian, Lithuanian, Polish, Georgian .
(WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Denominations
of the Church
Currently there
are over 33,000 Christian denominations in the United States.
(37,000+ as of 2005!) (WCT, p. 33)
A huge new
Christian nonconfessional megabloc, the
Independents/Postdenominationalists, is growing rapidly and numbers
19% of all Christians. These 386 million Independents in 220
countries have no interest in and no use for historic
denominationalist Christianity. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
From only one
million in AD 1900, Pentecostals/ Charismatics/ Neocharismatics have
mushroomed to 524 million affiliated (with unaffiliated believers,
602 million). (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Martyrdom
Over the last 20
centuries, and in all 238 countries, more than 70 million Christians
have been martyred – killed, executed, murdered - for Christ.
(WCT, page 3 and page 32)
More Christians
have been martyred in the last 100 years than all years since AD 30
combined. (WCT p. 32)
Global
Population Issues
Despite BILLIONS
of dollars spent by dozens of denominations toward over a hundred
major programs to fulfill the Great Commission by the year 2000, we
didn’t even keep up with population growth, much less reach the
2 billion unreached. (WCT, p. 3) Evidently no apologies are
forthcoming for the giant waste of assets and broken promises.
124 million new
souls begin life on Earth each year, but Christianity’s 4,000
foreign mission agencies baptize only 4 million new persons a year.
(WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Since AD
1900,Christian urbanites have exploded from 100 million in 500 cities
to 1,160 million in 5,000 cities. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Unreached Peoples
Out of 648 million
Great Commission Christians, 70% have never been told about
world’s 1.6 billion unevangelized individuals. (WCT, page 3,
Table 1-1)
There are
thousands of language groups who do not have a SINGLE page of the
Bible in their language.
98.7% of people
have access to scripture in 6,700 languages leaving 78 million in
6,800 languages with no access at all. (WCT, p. 44)
The majority of
the unreached people groups are in countries that are restricted
access. Western missionaries may not even be able to get to them.
(WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Despite
Christ’s command to evangelize, 67% of all humans from AD 30 to
the present day have never even heard of his name. (WCT, page 3,
Table 1-1)
648 million
Christians today (called Great Commission Christians) are active in
Christ’s world mission; 1,352 million Christians ignore this
mission. (WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Organized
Christianity has total contact with 3,590 religions but no contact at
all with 353 other religions and their over 500 million adherents.
(WCT, page 3, Table 1-1)
Micro-Lending Stats
We can help a
Brother or Sister start a business in India with a loan of as little
as $25. www.FarmsInternational.com
Had Enough Yet?
It gets worse! We’re stuffing the Fattest and starving the Hungriest!
KEY: World A are
the 38 countries that are primarily unevangelized. <50% unreached
(1.6 Billion souls). Mostly Asia and Noth Africa - often called the
10/40 Window.
World B are
the 59 countries evangelized by not converted. >50% reached but
<60% Christian (2.9 billion souls)
World C are
the 141 countries primarily or predominantly Christian already.
>95% Evangelized and >60% Christian (2 billion souls) These are
mostly the “West” - North, Central and South America,
Europe, Southern Africa, and Australia.
Broadcasting
(radio/TV) per year Total spend
$5.8 Billion
World A - $6
Million (0.01%)
World B - $226
Million (3.9%)
World C - $5,568
Million (96.0%)
Foreign
Missions Money per year Total spend $15 Billion
World A - $250
million (1.7%)
World B - $1,750
million (11.7%)
World C - $13,000
million (86.6%)
Finance
(church/agency) per year Total spend
$270 Billion
World A - $188
Million (0.01%)
World B - $1,370
Million (5.1%)
World C - $256,100
Million (94.8%)
Scripture
distribution per year Total 4,600
million pieces
World A - 20
million (0.4%)
World B - 680
million (14.5%)
World C - 3,900
million (84.8%)
(Plus 11 other
scales that all look about the same. Tracts, Scripture languages,
Literature, Periodicals, Computers, Full-time workers, Computer
users, Foreign Missionaries, Home Missionaries, Lay leadership. WCT,
page 55.)
_________________________________________
From Page 80 -
“Where should foreign missionaries work?”
.
As Currently Deployed
If Depoloyed
where UNEVANGELIZED are located
World A Countries
18,000
177,000
World B Countries
68,000
242,000
World C Countries
335,000
1,000
Total
420,000
420,000
____________________________________________
Page 520 -
“A comparative listing of 6-instrument Great Commission
Instrument Panels for the globe’s 77 largest countries, each
with over 10 million population.
Canada (total
population 31,147,000)
Unevangelized - 2.2%
Evangelized but
non-Christian - 18.3%
Christian (of one
sort or another) - 79.5%
(self-described,
includes Catholics)
Evangelization
percent - 97.8%
Evangelistic
offers per person per year - 331
Cost effectiveness
(Cost per baptism) $1,189,000
India (total
population 1,013,662,000)
Unevangelized - 40.7%
Evangelized but
non-Christian - 53.1%
Christian (of one
sort or another) - 6.2%
Evangelization
percent - 59.3%
Offers per person
per year - 13
Cost effectiveness
(Cost per baptism) $9,800
USA (total
population 278,357,00)
Unevangelized - 1.5%
Evangelized but
non-Christian - 13.8%
Christian (of one
sort or another) - 84.7%
Evangelization
percent - 98.5%
Offers per person
per year - 368
Cost effectiveness
(Cost per baptism) $1,551,000
China (total
population 1,262,557,000)
Unevangelized - 35.2%
Evangelized but
non-Christian - 57.7%
Christian (of one
sort or another) - 7.1%
Evangelization
percent - 64.8%
Offers per person
per year - 16
Cost effectiveness
(Cost per baptism) $15,800
Australia
(total population 18,880,000)
Unevangelized - 1.6%
Evangelized but
non-Christian - 19.1%
Christian (of one
sort or another) - 79.3%
Evangelization
percent - 98%
Offers per person
per year - 336
Cost effectiveness
(Cost per baptism) $1,104,000
Indonesia
(total population 212,107,000)
Unevangelized - 37.2%
Evangelized but
non-Christian - 49.7%
Christian (of one
sort or another) - 13.1%
Evangelization
percent - 62.8%
Offers per person
per year - 29
Cost effectiveness
(Cost per baptism) $40,800
Japan (total
population 126,714,000)
Unevangelized - 33.1%
Evangelized but
non-Christian - 63.3%
Christian (of one
sort or another) - 3.6%
Evangelization
percent - 60%
Offers per person
per year - 6
Cost effectiveness
(Cost per baptism) $2,721,000
Afghanistan
(total population 22,720,000)
Unevangelized - 70.4%
Evangelized but
non-Christian - 29.6%
Christian (of one
sort or another) - 0.1%
Evangelization
percent - 29.7%
Offers per person
per year - < 1
Cost effectiveness
(Cost per baptism) $30,400
Germany (total
population 82,220,000)
Unevangelized - 2.4%
Evangelized but
non-Christian - 21.8%
Christian (of one
sort or another) - 75.8%
Evangelization
percent - 97%
Offers per person
per year - 381
Cost effectiveness
(Cost per baptism) $2,119,000
Cambodia (total
population 11,168,000)
Unevangelized - 50.9%
Evangelized but
non-Christian - 48.0%
Christian (of one
sort or another) - 1.1%
Evangelization
percent - 49.1%
Offers per person
per year - 1
Cost effectiveness
(Cost per baptism) $4,300
Mexico (total
population 98,881,000)
Unevangelized - 0.2%
Evangelized but
non-Christian - 3.5%
Christian (of one
sort or another) - 96.3%
Evangelization
percent - 99.8%
Offers per person
per year - 560
Cost effectiveness
(Cost per baptism) $147,100
Bangladesh
(total population 129,155,000)
Unevangelized - 42.8%
Evangelized but
non-Christian - 56.5%
Christian (of one
sort or another) - 0.7%
Evangelization
percent - 57.2%
Offers per person
per year - 1
Cost effectiveness
(Cost per baptism) $7,200
Most of the
stats from “An AD 2001 reality check: 50 new facts and figures
about trends and issues concerning empirical global Christianity
today.” (from Table 1-1 and elsewhere in World Christian Trends,
William Carey Library, David Barrett & Todd Johnson.)
____________________________________________
Diagram from
Page 81
Models of Warfare (Click on
graphic to open in a new window, then enlarge. Or left click and Save As.)
NOTE: 91%
of ALL resources are spent on World C -- which are already "Christianized" 0.3 is spent on
World A. There are 145
Million people that have NEVER been targeted by ANYBODY -- 0.00% of
spending is going there. If we took 0.3%
of the spending out of World C we would DOUBLE the rate of evangelism
in World A.
Can your
church cut 0.3% out of the budget somewhere? They are dying
so that you can have new carpet.
This is no way
to fight a war!!
If you're on a
nuclear submarine, you don't target your missles as hijackers and
mutineers on your OWN BOAT!! The VAST majority of warfare resources
should be spent against hostile empires and marauders and legitimate
targets - you don't station your whole army inside ROME!
This
site is meant to be just
a plain, direct reporting of how miserably, horribly, devastatingly
badly we
- the
Christians in
the West - have
mismanaged the massive gifts which God has entrusted to
us. Maybe we can change
directions if we try something different. Maybe if we started
listening to God really well and obeying radically, no matter what
the cost. Yeah, that might work.
Although
we're perfectly capable of it - we're
not trying to impress you with our fancy web design, marketing savvy
and slick Madison Avenue ad techniques. Truth is Truth.
Your heart knows the difference.
