10 40 Window

The 10 40 window is a loosely defined region in the eastern hemisphere. It reaches from ten degrees north to forty degrees north in latitude, and from the western coast of Western Sahara and Mauritania to the east coast of Japan. The region is defined as a large rectangle, but is more effectively defined as any country that falls more than halfway into the area. Sometimes the area is considered to include Indonesia and other countries in the southeast Asian archipelago, but not always. Although Kazakhstan and Mongolia are too far north to be geographically included in the window, they are occasionally included because of demographic similarities with the rest of the region.

Sixty percent of the world's population live in the 10 40 window, which comprises one-third of the world's land area. The region is particularly significant to Christian missionary activities because there is a large majority of people who have no access to the message of Christianity and who are in poverty. This combination makes hearing the Christian message unlikely. In addition, the majority of Christian missionaries do not go to the 10 40 window.

The lack of missionaries to the 10 40 window is due to a number of factors. Many of the countries in the region, such as China, do not allow people to enter the country for the express purpose of missionary work. Those who wish to do so must find some other official reason for being there, such as teaching English, studying the local language, tourism, or providing medical services. Another reason for the dearth of missionary activity in the window is the danger to Americans. For example, Yemen falls directly in the center of the region and would be a prime field for evangelization,  but the possibility of an American being kidnapped or killed by terrorists is fairly high. The US department of state warns against travel to countries of unrest.

These factors that make missionary work in the 10 40 region should not be a reason to stay out. The Great Commission does not have a caveat that mission work will always be easy or safe. Christians have the responsibility to take the gospel to the entire world.