Question: Was the early church a missionary church? Matthew 28:19-20 leads me to believe it was:

> 
> Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
>  the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
> 
> 
> Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
>  and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
> 
> 
> 

Can we take this to mean that if Jesus Christ's church is on the earth today that it should still be involved in missionary work (ie. teaching all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe the commandments)?

If so, which churches today are the most missionary-minded (in terms of the number of missionaries they send)?

Answer: 
**Mormons** 

80 000+ missionaries in serving in more than 400 missions throughout the world.
[REF](http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/topic/missionary-program)

**Jehovah's Witnesses**

Total hours spent in the field ministry during their past service year (September 2012 - August 2013) 1,841,180,235 
[REF](http://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/2014-yearbook/preaching-teaching-worldwide/)

**Christian**

Total number of foreign missionaries 419,000
[REF](http://www.statisticbrain.com/baptist-missionary-statistics/)

**Catholic**

The number of lay missionaries in the world is 335,502 units, [REF](http://www.fides.org/en/news/32421-VATICAN_WORLD_MISSION_DAY_CATHOLIC_CHURCH_STATISTICS_2012#.UutaAvmSwfg)

---

I would find it extremely hard to find actual usable statistical data on this. 

Just a side stat which i find relevant only because Jesus basically spend his time healing people

**MSF Doctors without Borders**

MSF provides medical care to approximately 8 million people through more than 400 projects in nearly 70 countries worldwide. 

Although they do not baptize people, they most certainly follow a very selfless dedication to the upliftment of humans without prejudice or pride. Which i kinda think jesus was ultimately teaching
[REF](http://www.globalgiving.org/donate/13463/doctors-without-borders/info/)
**Denominational Missions**

The Pentecostal Assemblies of God (2800 cross cultural workers) and the Baptist International Missions Board (5200 cross cultural workers) are among the larger denominational missions movements. In denominational missions work missionaries generally function more as project managers, overseeing broader missions teams and budgets, and therefore smaller numbers reflect larger scale works.

**Interdenominational Missions**

Parachurch, interdenominational (primarily evangelical), missions organizations also represent significant percentage of Christian missions.

Larger parachurch missions organizations include Youth With A Mission (20,000 staff) and Campus Crusade For Christ (25,000 staff).

**Note about JW and LDS Missions**

The statistics offered here about the LDS and JW groups are a bit misleading because they are including work that is not cross cultural or pioneering in nature, which is the historical definition of missions. They are including all of their evangelistic and charitable work. Most churches wouldn't consider those activities as missions work, rather a function of the local church. This is an issue of poor semantics.

It also needs to be noted that JW and LDS missions efforts are centralized with a controlled hierarchical structure, while denominational and interdenominational missions are decentralized into, literally, tens of thousands of locally or independently governed missions organizations representing an estimated 400,000 missionaries.

---

Sources: 

* [The Surprising Countries Most Missionaries Are Sent From and Go To - ChrisitianityToday.com](http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2013/july/missionaries-countries-sent-received-csgc-gordon-conwell.html?paging=off)
* [General Statistics - The Traveling Team](http://www.thetravelingteam.org/stats)