80% of the world’s evangelical Christians live in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Over the last 50 years, God’s church has grown exponentially in these areas.

These regions have tremendous mission sending potential to help bring the gospel to unreached peoples, but they currently send only 20% of the world’s cross-cultural missionaries!

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Total Number of Evangelicals

Cultural Bridges to UPGs

Regional Access to UPGs

Religious Freedom

Prosperity

Current Sending Abroad

Mobilization Potential

Custom Mobilization Potential

Number of Evangelicals

Cultural Bridges

Strategic Access

Religious Freedoms

Current Sending

This infographic provides a visual score for seven data points ranked on a 0 to 100 scale. Faded icons show scores for other countries on the mobilization index. See below for actual scores and country-specific insights.

ADDITION

FINANCIAL DEPENDENCY

INACCESSIBLE

LIMITED MISSION FORCE

DISTANT AND FOREIGN MISSION FIELD

THE WORLD IS THE MISSION FIELD

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22% Evangelical

Angola is home to approximately 7,265,394 evangelicals, making up 22% of the total population. [[2]] With a growth rate of 4.4% annually, the Angolan evangelical church is growing at a rate almost twice as fast as the global average. [[3]]
The origins of the Angolan evangelical church date back to 1950, when missionaries from the United States arrived and began church planting. Later joined by Portuguese missionaries, different denominations began to appear, and the evangelical church rapidly grew after 1974, when Angola gained its independence.&nbsp;
Evangelicalism is the second oldest Protestant denomination in the country. Ask that the Lord would raise up Angolan evangelicals that are burdened for the hearts of the unreached and take His good news to their neighbors.

Culturally Bridges to Millions of Unreached Muslims

According to the Geert Hofstede Cultural Value Index, Angola has a median cultural distance score of 19.5. This puts it at moderate in cultural similarities to the 30 UPG nations on our list. Angola's closest cultural neighbors are Nigeria (8.5) and Senegal (10). Angola does not have any other cultural neighbors that score within 10 median points of cultural similarity from them; however, their two closest cultural neighbors are predominantly Muslim, meaning that Angolan evangelicals are well bridged to reach nearby Muslim countries.
Angolan society operates collectivistic, meaning that the value of the whole, the "we" mindset, is more important than the value of the individual or the "I" mindset. [[5]] This is a characteristic shared by many UPG countries on our list, especially in Islamic cultures. Praise God for such a bridge to the unreached Muslim world! The Angolan evangelical church is culturally bridged to more than 93 million Muslims living in Nigeria and Senegal alone!

Great Regional Access to Millions of Unreached in the Arab World

Angolan evangelicals have access to approximately 308,000 UPGs in-country and more than 76 million UPGs regionally! This ranks the nation at Moderate for strategic access to the unreached.&nbsp; There are still hundreds of thousands of unreached people within their borders, which make up a significant portion of the population. This is a great opportunity for Angolan evangelicals to learn how to love and have meaningful relationships with unreached peoples without even having to leave their hometown!&nbsp;
Angola's location in Southern Africa gives it a great regional advantage in reaching the Muslim-dominated Western half of the continent. With some intra-continent travel, Angolan evangelicals can have meaningful relationships with the millions of Muslims just a few countries away.&nbsp;
Ask that the Father would show the Angolan evangelical church their strategic position in His divine plan to reach all of Muslim-dominated West Africa and every tribe, tongue, and nation beyond that.

Religious Freedom, Yet Social Hostilities Toward Islam

According to Pew Research, Angola is ranked moderately in terms of religious freedoms, with a score of 3.3. [[6]] The Angolan constitution defines the state as secular, prohibits all religious discrimination, and provides freedom of worship and conscience. It is required for religious groups to seek government recognition by meeting legally established criteria. There are currently 81 recognized groups and more than 1,100 unrecognized religious groups in the country. [[7]]
The nation guarantees religious freedom, and Christians experience extremely little to no governmental or societal persecution.&nbsp; But the same cannot be said regarding Islam. Angola is one of the only countries in the world that does not recognize Islam as a religion.[[7]] In early 2006, the Angolan government closed 3 mosques for their holding of services that were claimed disruptive of the public order. However, local Muslim leaders worked with the government to reach an agreement, and within a few years, all mosques were reopened. [[8]] While there are not many reports of physical abuse or violence that are religiously charged, the small Islamic population in Angola faces social hostilities and societal outcasting that many other religions do not.&nbsp;
Pray that the Lord would ease tensions between religious groups and give our Angolan brothers and sisters the wisdom and faith to share the love of Christ in tangible ways among the Muslim population, even amid any persecution or social strife.

Low Property Poses a Barrier to Mobilization & Sending

With a ranking of 156 out of 167, Angola scores extremely low in overall prosperity on the Legatum Prosperity Index, especially when compared to the other countries on the Mobilization Index, as well as the other countries in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa. The country holds the twelfth lowest rank on both the entire Prosperity index and in its region. Two of the country's highest scoring categories are Safety and Security and Natural Environment. Their lowest scores are Investment, Environment, and Education. [[9]]
The overall prosperity of the nation has been consistent over the past decade, not changing more than one position in the last ten years. This extremely low prosperity poses a significant barrier to mission mobilization efforts as well as for Angolans trying to launch from the country to the unreached.&nbsp; &nbsp; The high percentage of people living in poverty, the low investment environment, and weak living conditions and education are all significant factors to consider as we prayerfully mobilize the Angolan church. Ask that the Lord would not allow these conditions to be discouraging for the Angolan church but instead would allow them to rely on the providence of the Lord, whose plan for missions is not hindered by worldly barriers.

Low Sending to the Unreached Leaves Great Room for Mobilization

The Angolan evangelical church is currently sending 70 missionaries in-country and 25 abroad to the unreached. A prayer goal of the Mobilization Index is to see 0.1% of a country's evangelicals mobilized to the unreached. With 25 sent abroad, the country currently sends about .000003% of its evangelical population to UPGs. If this prayer goal were to happen, the world would see an increase of more than 7,000 evangelicals sent out to the unreached. Pray that the Lord of the harvest would raise up workers to go out into the ready harvest!
Much of a lack of sending can be tied to a nation's low economic prosperity. Even if the hearts of the church are turned to the unreached, the lack of funds, safety, and stability in the nation can pose huge barriers to launching missionaries. Pray that the church would look to the providence of God alone, trusting that He provides the means to send those who are willing to go in His timing.

Mobilization Potential for the Angolan Church

If 0.1%, or 1 in 1,000, Angolan evangelicals were mobilized, the nation could send out more than 7,200 more missionaries to the unreached! There is an incredible opportunity for their evangelicals to take the gospel to UPGs in their own country, as well as the millions in their region and all other countries throughout Southern Africa.
With financial burdens and high percentages of poverty, Angola's generosity score ranks low at 24%. [[10]] A sense of selfless generosity could be extremely beneficial in increasing the number of missionaries and mobilizers sent to the unreached, but it is difficult to attain in a nation stricken by poverty.&nbsp;
An important factor in mobilization is a country's youth population. 47% of Angola's population is under the age of 15. [[2]] This is a great opportunity for discipleship of the younger generation within the local churches, as this younger generation could grow to lead a world mission-sending movement! The nation would greatly benefit from children and family mobilization because there is great potential to mobilize these young believers to reach the millions of UPGs within their region. Pray that the Lord would raise up leaders and mobilizers for and out of the younger generation of their church!
When we consider Angola's religious freedom, their access to the unreached, their prosperity, and their sending, we rank their mobilization potential at moderate.

Obstacles and Opportunities Title

Obstacles:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>The Angolan church's sending ability can be drastically hindered by a low economic prosperity. Evangelicals might have the desire to go to the unreached, but could be hindered from a lack of biblical giving and effective support raising.</li>
<li>A great challenge and barrier to future mobilization is the extreme poverty, and lack of education and safety in the country. These are both big challenges for the church in sending missionaries and establishing bases of support.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Opportunities:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Thanks to its religiously free nation, the church has opportunity to raise support, practice kingdom giving, and increase its sending and reach the 0.1% prayer goal!</li>
<li>Angola has a significant population of youths, making up almost half of the total population! The church has great potential to mobilize and raise up the next generation of Christians, through mentorship and sharing God's clear heart for the nations laid out in scripture.</li>
</ul>

Prayer and Praises Title

Prayer:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Ask the Lord that Angolan evangelicals would be burdened to take the gospel to the millions of unreached in their region and would send out 0.1% of their numbers!</li>
<li>Pray that their church would capitalize on their cultural similarities to the Arab world, much of which lies just a few countries away in West Africa.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Praises:
<ul>
<li>Praise God for the ways in which Angola, though it has a small Islamic population, is bridged to the unreached Muslims in neighboring countries. What a gift that the church can use to effectively share the gospel!</li>
<li>Praise God for the great number of young people in Angola. The evangelical church has a great opportunity to disciple and raise up go-ers who have a heart for every tribe, tongue, and nation that has yet to hear the glory of the gospel.</li>
</ul>

PEW religious restriction numbers Myanmar

Angola Religious Restrictions Constitutional

Official Country Name:The Republic of the Angola

Population:31,825,000

Region:East and Southern Africa

Government:Unitary, Presidential Constitutional Republic

Official Languages:Portuguese

Religious Demographics:Christian ±94%, Evangelical ±22%, Muslim ±1%, Ethnoreligious ±6%

Angola