What is the 10/40 Window of Missions?
AThe 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[3][4] 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.
