I have been putting together some study material for student workers recently and have had to be quite draconian in editing as there is only so much you can expect them to do in 20 hours.
As I looked through potential material I came across the '10/40 window' and realised that I don't see many people using it anymore. If this concept is new to you, it is the area of the eastern hemisphere between 10° and 40° north. It is a funny old thing. It was invented by Luis Bush of the AD2000 and Beyond Movement in the run up to the end of the last century. (I know that sounds like a long time ago, but some of us oldies remember the 90s very well, and to me it seems like only last year.)
The concept was quite handy to help focus people's interest and prayers. I was working 'in the window' myself and was glad to have more people praying for me and the people among whom I was ministering. But, to be frank, I think the concept rapidly took on a life of its own that became unwholesome. To hear some people talk, it was as if communities outside the window were not worth focussing on at all. Some people even linked the idea to the completion of the Great Commission.
It was always a very clunky tool for identifying where there was most gospel need. I remember George Verwer saying, "Somehow Indonesia isn't in the 10/40 window!" The fourth most populous country in the world with so many communities barely touched by the gospel was left out. But of course, it wasn't a mystery at all. It was the result of giving objective significance to imaginary lines on the map.
And once missiologists started identifying the window as having spiritual significance it led to all kinds of weird consequences.
Best buried in my opinion.
