The growth of the Navigator work beyond Singapore
Posted on January 17, 2008 | Filed Under News
by Jim Chew, Asia Missions Director
We are called to advance the gospel of Jesus and his kingdom into the nations. Singapore is very strategic and has a lot of potential as we think about living out what we are called to do. Within a radius of 5,000 kilometres from Singapore or about seven hours by plane we have more than half the population of the world
Facts:
• The Asia region has 23 countries, 3.5 billion people, with 750 unreached people groups
• 20 countries are located in the 10/40 window (the latitude between 10 and 40 degrees north of the Equator where we have the majority of the world’s unreached with the greatest mission challenges)
• Asia has 867 million Hindus, 670 million Muslims, 770 million Buddhists, Shintoists, Confucianists
• Every year, Asia’s population increases by 43 million
Asia holds large contrasting situations from the high-tech sophistication of our island nation on one hand to the rural villages. The economic gap between the rich and the poor is still widening as it is globally (1.1 billion people earn less than SG$1.50 a day). This challenges us to holistic ministries with missionaries qualified professionally to contribute to the material and social conditions around them, as well as spiritual needs of people. Jesus came to proclaim good news to the poor and to the broken in our world.
The Navigators in Asia have a work today in 18 Asian countries with 900 staff, almost 800 of whom are Asians from 14 nationalities (largest are Koreans, Indonesians, Filipinos, and Singaporeans).
Our motivation is to see the gospel penetrate the mainstreams of Asia’s 3.5 billion people. East Asia and India are Asia’s most populated countries – both having more than 1 billion people. Our work in India especially among Hindus has been growing and so has our work in East Asia.
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