The Urgency

Every Muslim needs to know the love of God, the power of God, and the truth of the Gospel

AI-generated illustration of an immense crowd seen from above in a mosque courtyard; no identifiable faces

Muslims have died today without knowing Jesus

2B+

Muslims globally and growing rapidly

38,000

Die every day without the Gospel

1:450K

Only 1 missionary for every 450,000 Muslims

86%

Of Muslims don't personally know a Christian

The Barrier

Why people don't reach Muslims

Most people are concerned or frightened by the growth of Islam and terrorism, but the church is called to have love and compassion for Muslims. Our primary response should not be fearful or political, but based on deep love and compassion to share the love of Jesus with every Muslim.

Most people do not reach Muslims because of fear. That fear takes three primary forms:

Fear of suffering. There is a strong fear of violence and suffering when most people consider engaging Muslims.

Fear of the questions. Muslims are typically trained and prepared to ask very aggressive questions. Most believers do not feel confident enough to answer them.

Fear of the unknown. Most believers do not feel like they understand Islam enough to challenge it directly and are afraid to engage.

Though the issue seems to be Islam, what these fears really expose is that many of us are not truly discipled. True disciples love Jesus wholeheartedly. Because they love Him above all, they do not fear what any person can do to them — they refuse to fear Muslims. Instead, they are a faithful witness of the gospel in all the world.

Islam itself is not the actual reason why we do not reach Muslims — lack of discipleship is. The ultimate solution to mobilizing the church to reach Muslims is to disciple people to follow Jesus.

The Imperative

Why the Church must be trained

Muslims represent the greatest challenge to the Christian church today, yet few are equipped to engage Muslims with the gospel. While the church has been reluctant, Muslims themselves have been quite active in their own form of evangelism known as "dawah."

One source says 200,000 students in Pakistan alone, ages 8 to 30, graduate from ultra-conservative Islamic religious schools every year with 8 years of training, 8 hours a day, and the ability to easily challenge most believers on the authenticity of the Bible. Each month, Saudi Arabia alone spends more on spreading Islam than the International Mission Board (IMB) spends in a year.

Because Islam both aggressively confronts Christianity and holds doctrines that directly challenge the most essential tenets of the Christian faith, it is imperative that the entire church is trained to be a faithful witness of the gospel to Muslims. Every believer must have a basic understanding of how to confront and evangelize Muslims because of Jesus' deep love for them.

i2 has the vision, resources, and ability to make a significant impact in equipping more Christians to effectively evangelize Muslims. We are uniquely positioned to become the change agent for the global body of Christ to fulfill her call to the Great Commission among Muslims.

The greatest problem in the world is not radical Islam — it is nominal Christianity. The answer to global Islam is a discipled and trained Church that loves Jesus!

— Joshua Lingel, President of i2 Ministries

The Challenge

Why Muslims?

Muslims represent the largest unreached peoples on the planet. There are now over 2 billion Muslims worldwide and growing rapidly. Over 38,000 die without the gospel every day. Not only does Islam enslave over a billion who have never heard the gospel, more and more traditionally Christian nations are seeing a sharp increase in the number of Muslims living around them. Mosques are now becoming common even in European and American cities.

Islam is the biggest challenge for the church today — both on the mission field and in your local neighborhood. It is also the fastest growing challenge. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States. In 1907, there were 230 million Muslims in the world. Today there are over 2 billion. Islam has grown at more than double the global population rate.

While Islam is the biggest challenge, only one percent of all Christian missionaries go to do direct ministry among Muslims. That's one missionary for every 450,000 Muslims — equivalent to having about five churches and 150 pastors for all of North America.

By The Numbers

The comprehensive picture

The most important statistics every Christian should know about the Muslim world — sourced from Pew Research, Joshua Project, Gordon-Conwell, and leading missions databases.

The Muslim World

The Scale

Islam is the fastest-growing major religion on earth.

2B+

Muslims alive today — 1 in every 4 people on earth

347M

Muslims added 2010–2020 (vs. 122M for Christianity)

Median age of Muslims globally (vs. 33 worldwide)

2.8B

Muslims projected by 2050 — 30% of humanity

Regional Distribution

Islam spans every continent and is surging in the Global South.

1.3B

Muslims in Asia (62% of all Muslims)

650–680M

Muslims in Africa — the fastest-growing Muslim continent

45–50M

Muslims in Europe (including Russia's ~16M)

Muslims in the United States

4.5M

Muslims in Latin America and the Caribbean

People Groups

Thousands of entire communities have no witness among them.

3,284

Unreached Muslim people groups worldwide

86.6%

Of all Muslim people groups are classified as unreached

2,362

"Frontier" groups — 0.1% or fewer are Christian of any kind

26–27

Of the 50 largest unreached people groups are Muslim

38,825

Additional pioneer workers needed to engage unreached Muslim populations

Gospel Access

The largest bloc of people on earth without access to the gospel.

86%

Of Muslims have never personally known a Christian

~50%

Of all unreached people on earth are Muslim

10%

Of Muslims in Asia personally know a Christian (Asia holds 62% of all Muslims)

35–37%

Of all non-Christians globally are Muslim

~46%

Of all unreached people groups worldwide are Muslim

The Church's Response

The Missionary Gap

The church's greatest blind spot in resource allocation.

1:450K

Only 1 missionary for every 450,000 Muslims

97%

Of all missionaries work among already-reached peoples

~1%

Of global mission funding goes to Muslim outreach

Of Protestant missionaries work specifically among Muslims

Funding

The financial disparity between Islamic propagation and Christian missions.

$2–4B

Saudi Arabia spends annually on da'wah (spreading Islam)

$314M

The IMB's entire annual budget — Saudi spends this in ~1 month

$70–100B

Saudi Arabia's total estimated da'wah spending since the 1970s

$1.32B

Total annual Christian spending on unreached peoples (Saudi outspends this 2–3×)

The Urgency — Daily Reality

Every day the window narrows.

~38,000

Muslims die every day without hearing the gospel

80,000+

Net Muslim population growth every single day

For every 1

Muslim who hears the gospel, hundreds are born who may never hear it

<1%

Of Muslims leave Islam — the highest cultural entrenchment of any major religion

The Proximity Paradox

Muslims are closer than ever — yet still unreached.

58%

Of Muslims now live in cities

5.5M

Local churches exist around the world

80,000+

Net new Muslims every day, many in cities with existing churches

10%

Of Asian Muslims know a Christian (where 62% of all Muslims live)

"If every church reached the Muslims within their region, the majority would have a chance to respond to the Gospel."

The Shifting Map

Africa: The Frontline

The primary geographic battleground for the future of both faiths.

780M

Christians in Africa

650–680M

Muslims in Africa

2.59%

Annual Christian growth rate in Africa — the fastest of any continent

1.2B

Christians projected in Africa by 2050

The Shift to the Global South

The center of gravity of Christianity has moved.

69%

Of all Christians now live in the Global South

78%

Of all Christians will live in the Global South by 2050

82% → 33%

Share of Christians in Europe/North America: 1910 vs. 2020

2018

The year Africa surpassed Latin America as the continent with the most Christians

Scale of Christianity

The global church has the numbers to finish the task.

2.63B

Christians worldwide (31.8% of global population)

1.1B

Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians globally

663M

Pentecostal/Charismatic Christians (up from fewer than 1M in 1900)

Christianity is the fastest-growing religion by conversion rate

God on the Move

Muslims Coming to Christ

God is on the move.

More Muslims are coming to Christ now than at any point in history.

1–3

Voluntary movements to Christ in the first 1,300 years of Islam

8–10

Major movements from 1980–2000

100+

Movements in the world today since 2000 (100+ churches planted or 1,000+ Muslims came to Christ)

10M+

Muslims have come to Christ since 2000

What Converts Report

What draws Muslims to Jesus.

A personal Christian shared the gospel (most common factor)

27%

Cite dreams and visions of Jesus

40%

Report supernatural visions at conversion

John 3:16

The most commonly cited verse leading to conversion

Islamist Trends

The ideological landscape is shifting — and the church must respond.

200,000

Students graduate annually from ultra-conservative Islamic schools in Pakistan alone (ages 8–30, 8 years of training)

Islam

Is the fastest-growing religion in the United States

230M → 2B

Muslims worldwide: 1907 vs. today (nearly 10× in one century)

<1%

Of Muslims leave Islam — indicating deep ideological entrenchment

The biggest problem in the world is not radical Islam — it is nominal Christianity. The answer to global Islam is a discipled and trained Church that loves Jesus.

— Joshua Lingel, President of i2 Ministries

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