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DID YOU KNOW?
Our
nation is a mosaic of Americans
representing 500 ethnic groups who
communicate in 636 languages and dialects.
The U.S. is a nation of many nations:
- More Swedes here than in Sweden
- More Irish here than in Ireland
- More Jews here than in Israel
Los
Angeles is now the second largest Iranian
city in the world. It has the largest
Korean population outside of Seoul, the
largest Filipino population outside
Manila, the largest Japanese population
outside of Japan, and the largest Asian
population in the United States.
New
York City is home to more Jews than
Jerusalem, more Italians than Rome, and
more Puerto Ricans than San Juan. Chicago
has more Poles than San Francisco has
people.
Minorities
comprise a majority in 25 U.S. cities.
- In California, 239 languages are spoken;
- in New York, 184;
- in Washington, 181;
- in Texas, 169.
- 42 million Americans speak little or no English.
The
U.S. now has 24 million foreign-born
residents, which is one of every 11
people.
International
Students:
More
than 400,000 international students from
181 countries study at American
universities.
40,000
of communist China's future government and
business leaders (atheists) study at U.S.
universities.
30% of
international students are Muslim, many
from countries violently opposed to
Christianity.
Muslims:
The
fastest growing religion in America Is
Islam, with 25,000 converts each year with
the majority coming from Catholic,
Protestant, and Jewish backgrounds.
The
number of Muslims entering the U.S. has
doubled in the past two decades and now
constitute 14% of immigrants. They are
expected to become the second largest
religious group in the U.S. in less than
30 years.
Muslims
will outnumber Presbyterians in the U.S.
by the year 2000; they will outnumber
American Jews by 2005.
Buddhists:
The
total number of Buddhists in North America
is between 3 and 5 million. Buddhist
chaplains are recognized in the U.S. armed
forces.
There
are more Buddhists in the U.S. than
Episcopalians.
Hindus:
In the
U.S. there are more than 40 Hindu temples
and more than 500 Hindu religious
organizations.
More
than 500,000 Hindus live in the United
States, and most have arrived in the last
two decades.
Native
Americans:
The
Navajo nation is geographically larger
than 52 world countries in total square
miles. It is larger than nine American
states and Washington DC.
44% of
the Indian population is under 20 years
old.
The
average Native American life expectancy is
about 48 years old. Suicide and
alcohol-related deaths occur at rates six
times the national average. 80% of Native
Americans will die of unnatural causes.
45%
live below the poverty level. The poverty
rate is 2.5 times higher than for all U.S.
families.
On
reservations, the unemployment rate ranges
from 45% to a high of 81%. About 35% have
less than an elementary education. About 1
in 5 American Indian households on
reservations lack complete plumbing
facilities in their homes.
Two
tribes, the Zunis and Hopis with 6000
each, are considered two of the most
unreached tribal groups
in the
world. After more than 200 years of
missionary work among the native
Americans, approximately
6% are
considered evangelized. In other words,
they are 94% unevangelized.
IN
SUMMERY
The US
is now the second largest receptor nation
of foreign missionaries in the world, and
we have the third largest population of
unsaved people. Every week in America,
over 70 churches close their doors.
North
America officially has the title of the
third largest mission field in the world.
When
the worlds largest Christian church is in
Korea and the worlds largest Buddhist
temple is in Los Angeles, we must
reconsider some of our missionary
priorities.
(This
material came from Dee Eastman and
American Horizon magazine.)
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