Every day, people begin to leave their homes in the morning. They crowd the streets. Cars, trucks, pedestrians, and even bicycles and other modes of transportation begin the journey to somewhere. Do you ever look at the people around you and wonder, “How many of them know Jesus?”

What if we look at the world? This same scene happens in cities, towns, and villages around the world, in country after country. What if we could see all these people and ask ourselves, “How many of these people know Jesus?”

So let’s look at the world today. Just how many of those people do know Jesus?

Today, there are some 7.5 billion people living on this planet. Christians make up one-third of that number, which means that two-thirds or about 4.5 billion people don’t know Jesus as their Savior.

For some time, many Christian denominations have talked about the 10/40 Window as an imaginary rectangle drawn on the world to show the area that is least reached by the gospel. If you imagine a world map, the 10/40 Window goes from 10 to 40 degrees north latitude and stretches from northern Africa to Asia. It includes the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia.

Although it’s a small part of the entire world, it’s densely populated. Nearly 60 percent of the world’s population lives here. Traditionally, this region has been home to some of the world’s poorest people. And it is home to most of the major world religions, including Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, whose followers make up most of the population. There are also many people who do not follow any religion.

There are more than 5,800 unreached people groups in the 10/40 Window. This is roughly 3 billion people.

The 10/40 Window is also home to some of the world’s fastest growing cities. People are flooding into major cities such as Mumbai, Tokyo, Jakarta, Casablanca, and Beirut where they can find work. As they grow, these cities are making improvements to infrastructure, education, and economic development. In other words, not only are these cities growing, they are also improving. Like any city, there are also areas where people struggle to make a living.

When most people think of mission work, they often think of remote villages. People still live in remote villages, but as more people flock to the cities, you could say the villages have become vertical. These vertical villages are also known as high-rise apartments. The number of people in one high-rise building equals as many or more than the number of people in many of those small villages.

And whether they recognize it or not, today’s high-rises are starting to accept their role as villages. Many apartment complexes today have one or two floors, usually near the ground level, that feature shops and restaurants—sort of like a village center. So people who live in these buildings become part of an apartment community and rarely have to leave their “village” except to work.

In countries such as Indonesia, church members are working on starting new church plants in these vertical villages. Some have even started small urban centers of influence to offer a connection point for Adventists and the people in these communities.

Please pray for the people of the 10/40 Window, especially for the vertical villages here, and pray for mission in this most challenging frontier. Thank you for your mission offerings that are helping touch lives in the 10/40 Window.