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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.

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Incredible Opportunity to Welcome the Refugee

Strong and Rich History, But Decreasing Numbers of Evangelicals

Operation World estimates that out of the nearly 64.25% of the German population who profess Christianity (52,721,478), only 2.1% of the population are evangelicals, but in comparison to the rest of Europe, Germany is home to 9.5% of the total evangelicals in the region. Also, the evangelical church in Germany has experienced very slow growth in the past few years at less than one percent annually.&nbsp;
The German church has a deep and rich history of Christianity that began with Charlemagne, who first united most of Europe under Catholic rule in the ninth century. This shifted in 1517 when Martin Luther published his Ninety-Five Theses, leading to the birth of the Protestantism Reformation as well as conflict between the Catholic and Protestant churches that would last for centuries. This schism, along with numerous contributing factors, led to the decline of the German church. In 1900, Germany had the 3rd highest number of evangelicals; in 1960 the 7th highest and by 2000 Germany had dropped out the top 20. The church has continued in its decline, as today more than one third of Germans consider themselves non-religious.

Large Cultural Distance, But Connections All over the World

With an average Median Cultural distance of 28, Germany has one of the highest average distances from UPG [[3]] nations, meaning that it is not culturally close to most UPG nations. Germany&rsquo;s closest cultural neighbors are Morocco, Israel, Japan, and Indonesia, while it has the greatest degree of separation from Egypt, Sri Lanka, and Nigeria.&nbsp;
When looking at this data, we see that Germany has cultural connections to places all over the world, indicating that the German church could be on the verge of sending and raising up more laborers in all corners the world! It is important to note that the closest degrees of separation are still fairly far apart, so German mobilization ministries will need to invest time in training their missionaries and mobilizers in cross cultural ministry. Pray that God would raise up the German church to fill the farthest corners of the earth with the good news!

The Nations Come to Germany

With an unreached population of 3,355,000 in-country and 19,463,000 regionally, Germany has significant access to UPGs from some of the people groups most closed off to Christianity. In fact, Germany&rsquo;s foreign migrant population of 12 million is the highest population of foreign migrants of any European country [[1]], and their refugee population is second only to those in the Middle East [[6]]. Yearly, Germany receives asylum seekers and refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Eritrea, Albania, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Russia [[7]]. In 2016 alone, Germany received 720,000 applications for asylum [[1]]. Specifically, with the second largest population of Kazakh migrants, who are nearly completely unreached, the nations are truly at the German church's doorstep. Praise God for giving such a beautiful opportunity to the German church! Pray that they would receive the unreached in the same way that we are welcomed into the family of Christ.&nbsp;

Religious Freedom Guaranteed in the Constitution

Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Article 4 of the German Constitution, which states: &ldquo;the freedom of religion, conscience, and the freedom of confessing one&rsquo;s religious or philosophical beliefs are inviolable. Uninfringed religious practice is guaranteed.&rdquo; Thankfully, Germany is an open country with the freedom to practice whatever one believes, but there has been a growing tension among religious groups within Germany. Anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic protests, movements and political comments have occurred regularly within the past ten years. Much of the recent discrimination has come from the Muslim community towards those who have converted from Islam to Christianity [[8]].

Germany Has Access to a Wealth of Resources

With a ranking of 9 out of 167 on the Legatum Prosperity Index, Germany has one of the highest rankings of the countries on the Mobilization Index. [[9]] Despite concerns over the refugee crisis, Germany&rsquo;s economy has remained one of the most dynamic, ranking fifth globably. Though the governance of Germany is extremely powerful, it faces many challenges as the country continues to see an influx of asylum seekers and refugees. With its vast financial resources, Germany has the opportunity, unlike many other countries, to use its resources to reach the nations. Germany ranks just outside of the top 20 in Safety &amp; Security and Education, those being its lowest scored categories. In the last several years the overall safety and security of the country has dropped 9 spots on the Legatum Index, mostly due to rising tensions between the German people and the refugees entering the country. Regardless, it still holds an overall high Safety &amp; Security ranking and great potential to use its prosperity for missions.

Reliable History, Reliable Current Sending

Germany is currently sending 2,500 missionaries in-country and 3,000 missionaries abroad, which amounts to about 0.3% of their evangelical population. According to Operation World, German evangelicals have proportionately been reliable missionary senders throughout history [[10]]. There have even been past efforts by the German church to reach UPGs [[3]], such as people groups in Sudan [[11]]. With Germans having such a high prosperity, the opportunity for Germany to be a sending force is considerably high.&nbsp;
The next steps in German missions could be to challenge the church to focus mobilization efforts on the unreached, to begin training up other Europeans to join them in the Great Commission and to build their ministry of welcoming the hundreds of thousands of refugees flooding into the region.

Unmatched Potential to Reach UPGs Formerly Shut Off to the Gospel

Germany has a rich and vibrant Christian history and one of the world&rsquo;s most powerful economies. The German church has an astounding opportunity to bless the nations within its own borders and to the ends of the earth. There has been a noticeable increase in followers of Islam, mostly due to the influx of Muslim refugees into the country. [[4]] Though the evangelical church is growing very slowly, we can clearly see that evangelism, outreach, and missions are being rediscovered in Germany.
Germany has an unmatched opportunity to reach nations that were once completely shut off to the advance of the gospel. UPGs from nations such as Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Albania, Pakistan, Nigeria, and more seek asylum in Germany every year. Germany continues to graciously open its doors to welcome many of these refugees, growing their potential mission field every day! The Lord has brought the nations to Germany, daily increasing the need for the German evangelical church to welcome unreached internationals. Although the total number of evangelicals represented in Germany is low and the German church grows rather slowly, the impact the church can have by welcoming the nations within their borders and to the ends of the earth is truly unparalleled.

Obstacles:
<ul>
<li>There is growing political tension regarding how Germany should handle the flood of refugees entering the country.</li>
<li>Germany has very few cultural similarities with UPG nations, which may make it difficult for the church to adapt to the growing need for outreach and evangelism towards the refugee populations.</li>
<li>Growing secular and Islamic influence within Germany is contributing to the decline of the church.</li>
</ul>
Opportunities:
<ul>
<li>Germany has more refugees than any other country outside of the Middle East, giving them a chance to minister to millions of people from some of the most unreached places on earth.</li>
<li>With its strong and growing economy, Germany has the ability to support and foster growth within missions both in-country and cross-culturally.</li>
<li>The German constitution guarantees religious freedom, meaning that the German church has the freedom and ability to share the love of Christ with any and all who are willing to listen.</li>
</ul>

Pray:
<ul>
<li>For the German evangelical church to lead the charge in welcoming refugees from other countries and providing safe places for refugees to settle.</li>
<li>For sound biblical doctrine and teaching to spread throughout Germany.</li>
<li>&nbsp;For the growth of the evangelical church within Germany.</li>
</ul>
Praises:
<ul>
<li>Praise God for the religious freedom within this country!</li>
<li>Praise God that Germany has become a refuge for those fleeing horrors and atrocities from all over the world.</li>
<li>Praise God that the German church is already sending out 1 in 1,000! Pray for the German church to double or even triple that number over the next decade.</li>
</ul>

World Bank - Asylum Seekers in the European Union (pg. 30)

Unreached people groups are ethnic groups that have little to no access to the gospel including to believers, churches, or Christian resources. People in unreached populations have no way of hearing the gospel barring someone crossing cultures and languages to share with them. A working definition for unreached people groups is peoples who have an evangelical population of 2% or less

Official Country Name:Federal Republic of Germany

Population:83,517,000

Region:Western Europe

Government:Representative Democracy, Constitutional Republic

Official Languages:German, Standard

Religious Demographics:Christian ± 64.25% (Evangelical 2.1%), Non-Religious ± 30.51%, Muslim ± 4.40%

Germany