Drawing from the World Christian Encyclopedia, second edition (2001), this article presents new factual and statistical information by answering seven questions basic to world mission. Many important new discoveries and surprises are highlighted. The global status of religion, Christianity, and evangelization is described, and changes between 1900 and 2000 are considered, as well as significant trends in the decade of the 1990s. The article ends by advocating stronger missionary attention to the least-evangelized world and by defending the place of numeracy and statistical research in mission.
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