During the last thirty-five years, Baptists have experienced significant growth in Asia . In 1965 they numbered one million. Today they include four million in over 25,000 congregations, extending across the continent from Yemen in the southwest to the Far East of the Russian Republic in the northeast. On the other hand, congregations are in every Asian country except in nine Moslem nations, six of which are in the Arabian peninsula, and Laos.
Significant numbers are in the Philippines and Korea.
The first Baptist foreign mission field was India . In 1793 the newly formed Baptist Missionary Society of England sent William Carey and John Thomas, who opened a field in Bengal. He was noted for his evangelism, training of workers, establishment of schools, and efforts in social reform. Numerous other Baptist missions, particularly from the U.S.A., also came to India. Today there are 1,850,000 Baptists in India but divided into about forty different conventions and associations.