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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"The Orphan Nation" Made Sons and Daughter

A Young and Small Evangelical Population

Malawi is home to approximately 754,785 evangelicals, making up almost 20% of the total population. [[2]] With a growth rate of 2.9% annually, the Malawian evangelical church is growing at a rate right on track with the global average of an annual 2.6%. [[3]]&nbsp;
 Christianity slowly began to become a pillar of Malawian society since European colonists arrived to southeast Africa in the mid 19th century. The first missionaries to visit Malawi were the White Fathers in the late 1800s. Catholicism soon took root, continued to prosper for years and has since grown to be Malawi's largest denomination with over 2 million members. [[4]] After gaining political independence from The United Kingdom in 1970, Malawi leaned heavily into religion, lead by their first president, Hastings Banda, an outspoken Christian. Since then, religion has had great influence in the political sphere in Malawi. [[5]]&nbsp;
Ask that the Lord would raise up Malawian evangelicals that are burdened for the hearts of the unreached and take His good news to their neighbors.

Strong Bridges Despite Missing Data

According to the Geert Hofstede Cultural Value Index, Malawi has a median cultural distance score of 12.1, giving the country significant cultural similarities to the 30 UPG nations on our list;[[6]] however, Malawi is missing two of the six data points on Hofstede's index. Because of this, we can make estimated guesses regarding how Malawi relates to UPG cultures.&nbsp;
Malawi's closest cultural neighbors are Jordan, Nepal, and Egypt. The nation also has 13 more countries within 10 points of cultural distance away. All of the nation's 15 closest cultural neighbors are either located in the Middle East or have significant Muslim populations. For example, Malawian society is highly collectivistic and prioritizes the group over the individual. Most UPG countries on our list, especially Islamic cultures, are collectivist cultures. Praise God for such a bridge to the unreached Muslim world!

A Predominantly Christian Nation with In-Country & Regional UPG Access

Malawian evangelicals have access to approximately 2,100,000 unreached people in-country and more than 76 million regionally! [[3]] This ranks the nation at Moderate for strategic access to the unreached.&nbsp;
Because the nation is predominantly Christian, there is not a significant population of unreached people within their borders. Praise God for a country with so many believers! On the other hand, Malawian evangelicals still have regional access to over 76 million unreached in southeast Africa. Many of these UPGs are Muslim, which the Malawian church shares a close, culturally connected relationship. This regional access is an excellent opportunity for Malawian evangelicals to have meaningful relationships with unreached peoples without traveling significant distances. &nbsp;
Pray that the church would take the good news with every tribe, tongue, and nation. Ask that the Father show the Malawian evangelical church their strategic position in His divine plan to reach the Muslim world.

High Religious Freedom and Minor Social Hostilities

According to Pew Research, Malawi is ranked high in religious freedoms with a score of 1.7. [[7]] The Malawian constitution prohibits all religious discrimination, providing freedom of belief and worship. [[8]] Praise God that the Malawian church can worship freely and not fear persecution.
Though the nation is religiously free and Christians experience little to no governmental persecution, the nation does experience some social hostility, especially as religion relates to the school systems. Cases of religious discrimination have been reported over the last few years. Most stemmed from school dress code incidents, where children were asked to dress in a manner that went against their religion, such as the use of hijab by school girls. [[8]] &nbsp; Praise God for the Malawian church's opportunity to practice, worship, and raise up disciples without significant fear of persecution. Pray for the mobilization of Malawian believers to witness to their Muslim neighbors with love and compassion despite some social hostilities.

Low Prosperity Poses Sending Barriers

With a ranking of 132 out of 167, Malawi scores low in overall prosperity on the Legatum Prosperity Index, especially when compared to the other countries on the Mobilization Index. Additionally, the nation scores moderate compared to the other countries in the Sub-Saharan African region. Two of the country's highest-scoring categories are Government and Natural Environment. Their lowest scores are Social Capital and Living Conditions. [[9]]
The overall prosperity of Malawi has been declining over the past decade, dropping nine positions in the last five years. Their low prosperity could pose a barrier to mission mobilization efforts in the future when looking to send Malawian missionaries to the unreached.&nbsp; &nbsp; The high percentage of overall poverty, low economic quality and weak living conditions are all significant factors to consider as we prayerfully consider how to mobilize the Malawian church strategically. Ask that the Lord would not allow these conditions to be discouraging for the church but instead would allow them to rely on the providence of the Lord, whose plan for missions is not hindered by worldly barriers.

Sending Hindered By Low Prosperity

The Malawian evangelical church is currently sending 220 missionaries in-country and 70 abroad to the unreached!&nbsp; A prayer goal of the Mobilization Index is to see 0.1% of a country's evangelicals mobilized to the unreached. With 70 sent abroad, the country currently sends about .00009% of their evangelical population to the unreached. If this prayer goal were to happen, the world would see an increase of roughly 700 evangelicals sent out to the unreached. Pray that the Lord of the harvest would raise up Malawian workers to go out into the ready field!
Often times, 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. Ask also that the church would use their cultural similarities to the Arab world and their proximity to unreached nations as a bridge to share the good news of the gospel!

Significant Mobilization Potential for the Malawian Church!

Malawi is blessed with opportunities to take the gospel to more than 2 million unreached in-country and over 76 million in the surrounding region of southeast Africa. If 0.1%, or 1 in 1,000, of Malawian evangelicals were mobilized, the nation could send out over 3,000 new missionaries to the unreached!
There are still many challenges to overcome. With low economic scores and high percentages of Malawian people living in poverty, the country's generosity score ranks moderate at 29%. [[10]] Low prosperity often leads to challenges in funding mission movements within a country's populace. Pray that the Lord would provide the financial means to support a wave of goers!&nbsp;
An important factor in mobilization is a country's youth population. 43% of Malawi's population is under the age of 15. [[2]] This large population of children is an excellent opportunity for missional discipleship of the younger generation within the local churches, as this generation could grow to lead a world mission sending movement! Young adults are one of the most mobile age demographics. Youth and young adults are socially more available to go to the unreached and Malawi is blessed with millions of them! As nearly half of the country is under 15 years old, the nation would greatly benefit from children and family mobilization. There is significant potential to mobilize these young believers to reach the millions of unreached within their region. Pray that the Lord would raise up leaders and mobilizers for and out of the younger generation of their church!
When considering Malawi's high religious freedom, regional access to the unreached, overall sending potential, low prosperity, and large youth population, we rank their mobilization potential at moderate.

Obstacles:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>A low generosity score could drastically hinder the Malawian church's sending ability. Evangelicals might desire to go to the unreached but could be hampered by a lack of a solid support base and practical training due to the nation's overall low economic prosperity. &nbsp;</li>
<li>A significant challenge in launching missionaries from Malawi is their lack of access to unreached nearby. Where Christians in some countries can minister to the unreached from their hometown, Malawians will most likely have to travel across their border to have meaningful relationships with unreached peoples.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Opportunities:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>With one of the highest religious freedom scores on the Index, the Malawian church has the opportunity to mobilize and send workers without fear of persecution!&nbsp;</li>
<li>Though missing a few data points, Malawi has close cultural bridges with 15 different unreached nations, all of which have significant Muslim populations. With these cultural similarities, evangelicals have a great opportunity to more effectively serve and communicate the goodness of the gospel to nations that do not know the name of Jesus.</li>
</ul>

Prayer:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Ask the Lord that Malawian evangelicals would continue to grow in their passion to take the gospel to the millions of unreached in their region.</li>
<li>Pray that the Malawian church would have insight in recognizing and acting upon their cultural similarities to the Muslim world, much of which lies just on the other side of the continent in West Africa.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Praises:
<ul>
<li>Praise God for the religious freedom He has granted to the Malawian church! Many churches in other nations must hide underground and practice their faith for fear of persecution, but our brothers and sisters in Malawi can worship openly and raise up missionaries to go to the unreached.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Praise God that Malawi is a nation with a solid Christian foundation and has excellent potential to make big impact for the kingdom!</li>
</ul>

PEW religious restriction numbers Myanmar

Official Country Name:The Republic of Malawi

Population:18,629,000

Region:East and Southern Africa

Government:Presidential Representative Democratic Republic

Official Languages:English

Religious Demographics:Christian ±76%, Evangelical ±19%, Muslim ±15%, Ethnoreligious ±8%

Malawi