A simplified history of Missions

Fulfilling Christ's Great Commission 1. 0-400 AD Winning the Romans: Evangelizing the empire of the Caesars 2. 400-800 AD Evangelization of the Barbarians [ read more ] 3. 800-1200 AD Evangelization of the Vikings [ read more ] 4. 1200-1600 AD Evangelization of the Saracens / Muslims 5. 1600-2000 AD Evangelization of the Ends of the Earth [ read more ] Researcher David Barrett has also divided that same period into five eras. Approaching it from a statistical point of view, his epochs of mission history are a little different: 1. 30-500 AD The Apostolic Era (Luke and Paul) 2. 500-1750 AD The Ecclesiastical Era (Cosmas Indicopleustes and Francis Xavier) [ read more ] 3. 1750-1900 AD The Church Growth era o William Carey, the "father of modern missions" [ more info ] o Henry Venn -- "self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating churches" 4. 1900-1990 AD The Global Mission era (John R. Mott and Kenneth Grubb) 5. 1990- present The Global Discipling era from "Five Statistical Eras of Global Mission" by David Barrett, published in Missiology, January 1984