According to www.joshuaproject.net, "The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. The 10/40 Window is often called "The Resistant Belt" and includes the majority of the world's Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. An estimated 4.08 billion individuals residing in approximately 7,029 distinct people groups are in the 10/40 Window. The 10/40 Window is home to some of the largest unreached people groups in the world ..."
For a number of years now the strategic focus of some mission organizations and churches has been directed at this particular 10/40 Window. Many good things have resulted because of this and will result from this.
But I wonder whether such a focus may take our eyes and hearts off of another important window. We have our own "10/40 Window" in our own back yards, in our own towns, and in our own cities. I'm not thinking here of the people from the 10/40 Window described above who now live nearby. Instead, I'm thinking about the 10 to 40 year-olds that live right around us.
Arguably, 10-40 year-olds are the largest un-churched and de-churched population group in the United States. They are also (depending on your definition) the largest un-christian or not-yet-christian population group in our country.
Most churches do a pretty good job at ministering to younger children and to older adults, but far too often the 10-40 year-olds fall through the cracks. Effective ministry to tweens and teens, Gen-Y'ers (Millenials/Bridgers), and Gen-X'ers (Busters) -- whether or not they are in the church, whether or not they consider themselves Christians -- is often lacking or weak.
What if churches began to also focus on this "generational" 10/40 Window? I'm not suggesting that churches do this at the exclusion or expense of their efforts for the "geographic" 10/40 Window. But what if we were just as passionate about shining the light of Christ through the generational window as the geographic window?
