Missions have been an integral part of our lives ever since we took the Perspective Course at our church in 1996. So much so that, along with other friends, the Spirit immediately activated us to serve as host families to International Students arriving at the University of Louisville. When we learned about ESL opportunities with Catholic Charities, we signed up to teach English to refugees. These local-global mission activities were obvious ways to practice love and welcome strangers, to make disciples of the nations in our backyard. To us, it made perfect sense. Little did we know, but it would have the added benefit of preparing us for the next phase of mission, which turned into 23 years of living and serving in Bosnia.
During that time of focused and isolated ministry in Bosnia, the world was changing rapidly. Part of the change was and continues to be, massive global migration like the world has never known before (slowed briefly by the COVID pandemic). This migration of people from everywhere to everywhere, but especially from the Global South to Europe and North America, has had a huge impact on how we think about Christian missions. Migration has been the most significant factor in the spread of Christianity since Jesus told that peculiar band of eleven disciples to go and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19)
During the past twenty years, an important field of study has emerged which seeks to understand this global phenomenon of migration as it relates to the spread of the gospel. This new field of academic study is called “Diaspora Missiology.” Then, in 2010, a group of Lausanne Committee leaders and missiologists put together a booklet titled, “Scattered to Gather: Embracing the Global Trend of Diaspora”. This updated Kindle version is available on Amazon. But I can send you the 2010 version as a PDF.
In a nutshell, it is the study of and practice of mission by diaspora Christians migrating from one place to another voluntarily (education, commerce, employment) or involuntarily due to war, famine, natural disasters, and religious or political persecution. All are immigrants, but only the latter are refugees. But no matter the reason, they are a powerful and effective force for transferring the message of the gospel throughout the world.
Dr. Sam George, director of the Diaspora Institute at the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, recently wrote, “Most diaspora churches are made of Christians coming from places where Christianity is growing phenomenally (Asia, Latin America, and Africa) and are bringing fresh vitality to the Christian faith in the West. The diaspora churches are globalizing the American church, and the more global the American church is, the more globally connected, relevant, and needed we will be.”
The other day, I met with several local pioneers in diaspora missions before they even had a name. They were a treasure trove of insights derived from first-hand experience. Their attempts to be a multicultural church of immigrants and refugees streaming into Louisville proved rich and complex. Ultimately, they discovered, as others have, that first-generation immigrant churches want friendship and support. But they wanted their own Nepalese, Congolese, Burmese, or Haitian congregations. They need a stable place to incubate as they develop their churches in their new homeland.
I recently talked to a Baptist minister who recalled with tears of affection their experience of helping their Nepalese-Bhutanese refugee neighbors fifteen years ago. Many have become like family. Some of them became true spiritual family and planted Nepalese churches in our city.
Lessons are being learned and shared by those courageous enough to embrace what God is doing in bringing the nations to our North American communities. Dr. George concludes by observing, “North American churches must reimagine missions at home with the help of brothers and sisters from around the world who are here. This is vital to the future of Christianity in North America. We must look for and get acquainted with immigrants and learn from them, especially refugees, persecuted Christians.… We must not forget the cardinal rule in migration theories that ‘they are here because we were there.’”