Globalmission st marks_2013full

GLOBAL MISSION:
WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON?

Dr Ted Lankester
InterHealth
Community Health Global Network
Christian Medical Fellowship
St Marks Church
January 2013

an InterHealth project

How many Christians are there
in the world?
 Christianity is the world’s largest religion
 Islam is catching up
 2.18 billion Christians: that’s about 1/3 rd of
the world’s population
 How many are committed? How many
really love God? We just don’t know
Pew forum on Religion and Public life 2010


Which denominations do they
belong to?
 Catholic: 1 billion: about half of
the world's Christian population.
 Protestants 800 million

 Orthodox 260 million

 Anglicans 85 million worldwide, 13.4 million in the
UK of whom 1.7 million are regular church goers

Pew forum on Religion and Public Life 2011, BBC, Anglican
Communion


Which countries have the most
Christians?
 US: 246,780,000 (79.5% of the Population)

 Brazil: 175,770,000 (90.2% of the Population)

 Mexico: 107,780,000 (95% of the Population)

Faith survey 2012
Pew Forum on Religion and Public
lifehttp://features.pewforum.org/global-christianity/population-
number.php?sort=totalChristianPopulation

How many churches are there
in the world?
 Christian congregations? 3.7 million.
 New congregations added each year? 50,000
 Number of churches closing? Unknown
 Where is the growth? Mainly in South America,
Africa, Asia and especially China
Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological
Seminary in Massachusetts
http://www.gordonconwell.edu/resources/Center-for-the-Study-of-Global-
Christianity.cfm/


How many Christians are there
in China today?
 China government figures: 25 million
made up of 18 million Protestants and 6
million Catholics.

 Best independent estimates: 60-70 million
(more than the population of the UK)
BBC News Magazine Sept 2011


And tomorrow?
Quote from Asia Times

Now: 10,000 Chinese become Christians
each day
2050: at this rate of growth, 200 million
Chinese may comprise the world's largest
concentration of Christians, sending the
largest missionary force in history
Asia Times 2007


There are already more
Chinese at church on a
Sunday than in the whole
of Europe
BBC 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14838749


What is mission?
 Preaching the good news and making
disciples “go into all the world and preach the good
news “ Mark 16:15
 Doing acts of kindness- The Nazareth Manifesto
Luke 4: by which we are judged Matthew Ch 25
 Helping to transform the world and the
structures of society Your Kingdom come your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven


The acts of kindness:
aka The Nazareth Manifesto or the
inaugural speech of Jesus
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to:
-- Preach good news to the poor
-- Bind up the broken-hearted
-- Proclaim freedom
-- Recovery of sight
-- Release from darkness
Is 61:1, Luke 4:18


Where does mission happen?
 It starts in Jerusalem, then Judea, then
Samaria and then the ends of the earth
 It starts on our doorsteps, moves out to No
1 and Tunbridge Wells
 Then Kent and England
 Then the rest of the world


How many missionaries are
there?
 In the non-Christian world: 1.31 million full-
time Christian workers.

 In the Christian world: 306,000 foreign
missionaries to other countries, and 4.19
million within their own countries
Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell
Theological Seminary in Massachusetts


“Medical missionaries deliver
faith and health in Africa”

“Little noticed is that missionaries never left.
In fact they are more widespread and
diverse than ever. Now Catholics,
Lutherans, Evangelicals and Pentecostals
all vie for territory and converts. They are
joined by Islamic groups playing catch up”
S Loewenberg Lancet 2009;373:795-6


Which countries send the most
missionaries?
Of 400,000 global missionaries that were
sent to foreign countries in 2010:
The United States sent 127,000
Brazil sent 34,000
South Korea sent 20,000, to 169 countries,
doubling in 10 years
Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological
Seminary in Massachusetts


Korean World Mission Conference
Celebrates Milestone of 20,000 Korean
Missionaries Worldwide, 2013


HOW ABOUT THE UK?
 We don’t really know
 It’s probably about 6000 long term
missionaries
 There are many more short termers
 Many are working in secular organisations
 The UK, from being the lead nation is now
very far down the list.


So is Christianity good for the
world- and for us?
 40%-70% of health care in sub-Saharan Africa is
provided by faith- based organisations, mainly Christian
Appreciating Assets: Mapping, Understanding, Translating and Engaging Religious
Health Assets in Zambia and Lesotho.
WHO 2007

 82% of Sub-Saharan Africans trust religious institutions
the most
Report: Keeping Faith in Development www.woolfinstitute.cam.ac.uk/assets /

 7 years (14 for African Americans) the average increase
in life expectancy of US regular church goers Hummer RA et
al. Religious involvement and U.S. adult mortality. Demography. 1999 May; 36(2):
273-85.


The role of faith-based organisations in
maternal and new-born health in Africa
 Faith based organisations play an important role in
providing maternal and new-born health services in
African countries but their contribution is insufficiently
recognized
 Services were similar to those provided by governments
but quality of care and satisfaction were greater
 The role of FBOs needs stronger recognition and
stronger partnerships to help reach MDGs 4 and 5

M Widmer et al UNDP/UNFPA/WHOWorldBank Special programme of
research 2011International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics;
2011;114:218-222


Now think about this:
 God says to our church: go into all the
world and make disciples
 God says the same to every other church
-3.7.million of them
 It includes a small church in the slums of
Nairobi or Kampala or Puddletown
 Is it really likely the number of
missionaries will decrease?


So is it any longer west to rest?


What about St Marks?

 We’ve made a good start
 We support 16 organisations involved in
mission
 Several members of our church have
been missionaries or are now involved
 We need more here in TW and the world


WHAT ABOUT
YOU?


Globalmission st marks_2013full

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