According to Wikipedia:
The 10/40 Window is a term coined by Christian missionary strategist and Partners International CEO Luis Bush in 1990 to refer to those regions of the eastern hemisphere, plus the European and African part of the western hemisphere, located between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator, a general area that was purported to have the highest level of socioeconomic challenges and least access to the Christian message and Christian resources on the planet.
Recently someone told me about the prevalence of the belief in demons and ghosts in countries pertaining to this troublesome region. I did a quick search and indeed was able to find several anecdotal reports suggesting that this appears to be the case. Two examples below:
1) Defining Missions – A Tibetan Testimony (Illustrating the 10/40 Window):
[...] By the string of Hollywood movies in recent decades focusing on Tibetan culture one would get the impression that they have much wisdom and light to offer the West in terms of spirituality. This is a satanically inspired fabrication, and couldn’t be further from the truth. Tibet is a dark place filled with demon possession, witchcraft, poverty, brutality and fearful superstition. Over every mountain pass you will find prayer flags waving in the wind. With each gust of wind it is believed that one more prayer has ascended to the demonic forces of fear that control their lives. And with every prayer it is hoped, more than believed, that somehow the brutal spirits ruling their land will be, to some small degree, appeased with this fruitless tradition.
2) 4 Reasons to Evangelize the 10/40 Window Before Anywhere Else:
In the 10/40 Window, most people live in deep fear of evil spirits (a few atheistic nations excepted). They offer daily sacrifices to appease their ancestors, avoiding retribution, and seeking blessing. Statues of demons and spirits adorn almost every street. Reports of ghost encounters abound. Many cultures regularly seek out witch doctors, psychics, spiritists, blessings, spells, and potions, and fear curses and omens.
The 10/40 Window’s demonic fears aren’t baseless. Inhabitants of the 10/40 Window fear evil spirits because they’ve lived under evil’s vicious taunt. Demonic forces work out in the open there, spreading torment, confusion, rage, and addiction. Our partners regularly tell us stories of the most shocking demonic attacks.
I’ll only give one example.
A 19-year old Burmese man lived under severe demonization since age 15. Demonic illness, madness, and rage constantly plagued him and often drove him running into the jungle. He soon became so violent that his teachers had to remove him from school, and his own parents locked him in his room and chained him to his bed. They sought every cure possible, but neither medicine nor monks nor mysticism could turn the tide. Soon, the parents met our partner, Pastor J, and asked him to pray for their son.
What happened next should blow us away. Our partner prayed for the young man in the name of Jesus, and the tormenting spirit left immediately. In a matter of seconds, Jesus had delivered the young man from insanity which four years of Asia’s best cures could not heal! Can you imagine the joy and relief His family experienced? He soon received Christ, and today he would rather die than reject Jesus. Who could blame him?
Our partners tell us similar testimonies regularly. Jesus is setting the 10/40 Window free, person by person, soul by soul. He longs to liberate every unreached captive, for He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV). What keeps this great deliverance from the pages of history? “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few” (Luke 10:2 NKJV).
Question: Can someone more knowledgeable on the topic confirm whether this is true? Does demonic activity abound in many of the countries belonging to the 10/40 Window and how often do Christian missionaries encounter demonic activity while on duty in these countries?