The Seventh-day Adventist Church continues to grow each year. In 2017 alone, about 1.4 million people became Adventists by baptism or by profession of faith. This means that throughout 2017, on average, a person joined the church every 23 seconds!
The global population to member ratio is also improving. By the end of 2015, there was 1 Adventist per every 384 people in the world. But by the end of 2016, there was 1 Adventist per every 371 people in the world. The church’s presence is evident in much of North and South America, the southern half of Africa, and the South Pacific, where there are 500 people or fewer for every Adventist.
However, much work still remains to be done elsewhere in the world, particularly in the 10/40 Window, where the vast majority of the world’s people live and where many of the largest cities are. In much of Asia, there are as many as 15,000 people per 1 Adventist. The ratio grows worse in the Middle East and northern Africa, where there are as many as 79.5 million people per 1 Adventist. This means that although most of the world’s population lives in the 10/40 Window, the reverse is true for Adventists. In fact, the ratio of Adventists to population is 11 times better outside the 10/40 Window than it is inside.
We celebrate the successes the church has had in sharing the Advent hope in Christ with the world! Thank you for all your support towards this end. But we also see the great work that remains before us. Please continue to support the ministry of Global Mission and Urban Centers of Influence with your donations and prayers so that everyone may hear the gospel.
Source: 2018 Annual Statistical Report (Silver Spring, Maryland: Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, 2018).