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

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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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FINANCIAL DEPENDENCY

INACCESSIBLE

LIMITED MISSION FORCE

DISTANT AND FOREIGN MISSION FIELD

THE WORLD IS THE MISSION FIELD

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A Country Positioned to Send

Large Numbers and Large Threats

Catholic missionaries entered the scene shortly after the Spanish conquest, resulting in the rapid growth of the Catholic church which set foundations that would be an integral part of Mexican culture for years to come. The evangelical church began to grow significantly in the 1960s from the roughly 800,000 evangelical believers of the day to the 9.1 million today, an increase of more than 10-fold! Today there are roughly 90 million evangelicals spread out across Central and South America.&nbsp;
The 9.1 million evangelicals within the country are facing a growing threat of violence within Mexican boarders. The infamous and violent drug cartels have at times lashed out against evangelical believers who have sought to minister to the cartels and those that they influence. This puts a hindrance and safety threat on Mexican evangelicals that seek to minister or mobilize within the country.

Set Apart with Bridges to the Unreached

There are numerous countries on our list with many cultural similarities to Mexico, all with a large number of unreached peoples. Mexico has, by far, the closest cultural connection to Iraq, as it is seperated by only minimal differences in most areas. [[3]]
According to Hofstede's ranking of cultural values, Mexico scores about average when it comes to cultural distances between itself and other cultures. Its closest cultural neighbor is Iraq, followed by Syria, Kuwait, and the UAE. It needs to be noted that Syria, Kuwait, and the UAE are all missing multiple data points so we cannot confidently conclude that these are definitive score, but we can say that there are important cultural similarities between Mexico and these countries that should not go ignored. There are cultural connections between Mexico and these North African and Middle Eastern countries that many other countries do not possess. [[4]] What a beautiful opportunity that the Lord has given to Mexico! Pray that the heart of the Mexican church would feel drawn to capitalize on the cultural similarities they have in common with many unreached peoples.

Little Access to the Unreached

According to the Joshua Project, Mexico is in the region with the least access to unreached people, both in-country and in the surrounding region. There are approximately 143,000 unreached people within Mexico, primarily made up of tribal groups, and around 772,000 unreached people regionally. These numbers speak to the importance of the Mexican church growing a strong desire to go to the unreached, both in and outside of their borders. There is certainly still work to be done in the region and we pray that our brothers and sisters in Mexico continue to grow in their desire to reach the many UPGs within their reach.

Moderate Hostility Rates

According to Pew Research, Mexico experiences moderate rates of of government and social hostilities towards Christians. A main source of persecution has come from the government, as it does not consistently protect the rights of Christians throughout the country. This is due to varying levels of corruption within the government at different times over the last several decades. One of the sources of hostility towards Evangelicals has come from the drug cartels that have threatened and killed believers who have tried to convert those under the influence of the cartel. Churches and church leaders are often seen as an opponent to the cartel as many churches have outreach programs that seek to rehabilitate drug abusers and fight against the evils of drug trafficking. This has led to increasing levels of violence and discrimination against the Evangelical community. &nbsp;Mexico has a history of violence from various revolutions and protests; at the height of the most recent violence, in 2012, the city of Juarez estimated that there was a murder every half hour [[5]].&nbsp;
In recent years Mexico has made an appearance on the World Watch List for the most persecuted countries in the world (37th). Many converts face judgement from their own communities as they are seen as abandoning their culture by converting to Christianity [[1]].

Best Business Environment in all of Latin America

Mexico ranks in the top 40% of countries in the world on the Prosperity index, coming in at 68th on the list. Their strengths include their Business Environment, which is one of the highest out of all the Latin American countries on our list. They also score highly in Market Access and a Strong Economy. The country has seen significant growth in their economic quality over the past year as they surpassed many countries and jumped up to 40th globally. These three key factors bode well for Mexico because it speaks to the time taken over the last few decades to lay down the infrastructure needed to burst forth on the global stage.&nbsp;
Some of the major drawbacks to Mexico are its lack of Safety and Security. The drug cartel makes up a majority of this problem as they are spreading violence and fear throughout all parts of the country. Mexico also scores lowest in the region in Social Capital. This refers to the strength of personal relationships, social network support, and social norms and civic participation in the country. The low score shows that it could prove more difficult for missionaries to build up support networks within the country. The lack of strength of these networks could cause support raising to take much longer and could lead to higher attrition rates amongst supporters.

0.1% of Mexico Mobilized Could Alter the Global Church

Reports of current sending within Mexico show nearly 450 missionaries in-country and 600 missionaries serving out of country [[6]]. This is only 0.01% of the Evangelical population in Mexico. A prayer goal of the Mobilization Index is to see this figure increase 10 fold, meaning we are praying for 9,000 missionaries sent from Mexico to serve cross-culturally. Imagine the impact that the Mexican church could have on unreached people groups around the world! If just 0.1% of Mexico were mobilized, that would surpass the missions sending efforts and expectations of almost every country over the past several decades.

A High Potential, Regardless of Obstacles

Despite these obstacles, Mexico still has a high potential to be a considerable force within the frontier missions sending movement. They have the 13th highest population of evangelical believers of any country in the world but have some of the least regional access to unreached people. There are also negative factors to take into consideration; Mexico has an elevated level of persecution and violence, a lower rating of giving within the country [[7]], and a relatively small sending base. &nbsp;
Even with a few negative aspects, there is still an immense amount of potential that lies within such a large group of evangelicals. The use of mobilization strategies within organizations and churches will help to spark the desire and passion for the nations needed to launch a new movement out into the world. Mexico is one of the many nations that are a part of COMIBAM, an international organization that acts as a meeting place of national missionary movements and works to formulate strategies and relationships with the global missionary community[[8]]. The Mexican church is raising up missionaries and leaders to go to the unreached. Imagine the stories that will come back from some of the most unreached places as the Mexican church continues to recognize their full potential to send out more and more cross-cultural workers!

Obstacles:
<ul>
<li>There is a fairly high rate of persecution from the Mexican cartel, met with low levels of protection from the government. The combination of corruption and violence may act as a deterrent for those seeking to serve in a cross-cultural role.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Like other Latin American countries on the Mobilization Index, Mexican believers have low regional access to the unreached. This means that travel out of the region will likely be necessary for a Mexican believer to have significant interactions among the unreached.</li>
</ul>
Opportunities:
<ul>
<li>Mexico has one of the highest populations of evangelicals in their region, behind only Brazil. The potential for an explosion of cross-cultural sending is huge.</li>
<li>Mexico also has a fairly close cultural connection with many Middle Eastern countries that have high numbers of unreached people. Imagine the mission field being flooded with missionaries from Mexico going to Middle Eastern countries to share the gospel!</li>
</ul>

Pray for:
<ul>
<li>- Pray for a change in heart among the Mexican people, as well as a change in policy within their government. Restrictions and persecution are prevalent and are limiting the growth and impact of the Evangelical church in Mexico.</li>
<li>Biblical, strong leadership to emerge amongst the church that has the desire to see the Mexican church trained and sent to reach the nations.</li>
<li>Increased knowledge and training in regards to the importance and biblical basis for support raising so that many may be sent out.</li>
<li>The growth of mobilization ministries to help focus and guide the church.</li>
</ul>
Praises:
<ul>
<li>The massive growth that we have seen amongst the Evangelical church over the last several decades!</li>
<li>The increase in economic and infrastructural growth within the country, laying the foundation for what could be a huge missions movement within the church.</li>
<li>For close cultural connections within so many unreached people groups.</li>
</ul>

Official Country Name:United Mexican States

Population:127,576,000

Region:Latin America

Government:Federal Republic

Official Languages:Spanish, ~68 indigenous languages

Religious Demographics:8.3% Evangelical, 94% Christian, 3% Non-religious, 2% Traditional

Mexico