Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
Jan 28: Asia, The Church in Asia
Asia
World
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Geography
Area: 31,829,200 sq kmApproximately 23.5% of the world’s surface area. Russia east of the Ural Mountains is geographically part of Asia, but here all of the Russian Federation is included with Europe. Included here are the Trans-Caucasus states (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) as well as the West Asian/Middle Eastern countries. Includes amazing geographic and ecological diversity – tropical rain forest, desert, alluvial plains, hills and the world’s highest
Population: 4,166,741,314 Annual Growth: 1.10%
Urbanites: 43%
Peoples
Peoples: 4,860 (0% unreached)Languages: 2,322
Religion
Largest Religion: Muslim| Religion | Pop % | Ann Gr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christians | 368,075,984 | 8.83 | 2.3 |
| Evangelicals | 146,854,085 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| Muslim | 1,100,825,428 | 26.42 |
Answer to Prayer
Lands previously cut off from overt Christian ministry are now home to dynamic, growing churches and unprecedented numbers of believers. This started with China in earlier decades, then moved to the former Soviet countries in Central Asia, the Caucasus Republics and Mongolia in the 1990s, and most recently in a number of Southeast Asian countries. Even in the heart of the Muslim world, thriving ministry to Christian populations (and other expatriate, non-Muslim peoples) is happening. Only in Saudi Arabia and Maldives are there no public-meeting Christian congregations; even in these countries (and many others), there are numbers of believers meeting together privately or in secret.For an additional 8 Answers to Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
More Information
The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Asia.The Church in Asia
Asia
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Challenge for Prayer
Central Asia.a) Indigenous evangelical Christians have multiplied to number tens of thousands in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and even Turkey, but in all of these places they face pressures from many sides – the government, Islamist groups, the Orthodox hierarchy and family members/society at large. The perception of evangelicalism as being foreign is one reason for such trouble; the hard line taken by many governments against religious extremism has unintended consequences for Christian groups. Pray for the rooting of the Christian faith in Central Asian cultural forms, for continued growth, for the positive witness of believers and for the further development of mature indigenous leadership. Pray also for Russian, Ukrainian, German, Korean and other expatriate believers who still comprise a majority of evangelicals in these lands.
b) Pressures on Christians are more severe in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and especially Turkmenistan. Foreign workers have been expelled from these countries, congregations scattered and church leaders imprisoned. Pray that the remnant might stand strong and even grow amid these tribulations. In Afghanistan, despite the defeat of the Taliban as a military force, indigenous believers face great risks and must be very cautious in meeting together.
c) Multi-national partnerships of expatriate believers exist for each of these nations. They have raised up intercession, mobilized mission, fostered cooperation and encouraged local believers. Pray that their continued carrying of these burdens might bring forth greater harvest in these needy regions.
For an additional 4 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
