A couple of days ago I shared with you the latest U. S. data on the peoples who migrated to the largest metro areas of this country. In this post, I want us to take a step back and get a wider view of what is presently taking place among the peoples on the move. About 3% of the world’s peoples are living outside of their countries of birth. That is about 214 million people. And while these peoples are physically present in other lands, for many, their hearts remain in their countries of birth. Many of them still remain in contact with family and friends “back home.” Many of them send remittances back to support loved ones and for community development projects. Many of them periodically return to visit. And with the advancement of telecommunications, contact with those left behind is frequent.
52% of the world’s international migrant population can be found in ten countries. Take a look at this table from the Migration Policy Institute.
So, let’s do a little math to guide our missiological musing.
If we take the populations of the U. S., Germany, Canada, France, United Kingdom, and Spain, our total is 80,288,000 people, or about 38% of the world’s international migrant population. That is a great number of people. To help put things into perspective–this number is well over the total population found in France, Canada, Spain, or the United Kingdom. It is a number about a million shy of the total population of Germany.
Why single out these six countries? Because the restrictions placed upon churches for gospel advancement are very limited. Opposition is low at both the local and national levels. Persecution is low. Access to the peoples is high. The opportunity is great for showing the love of Christ while helping one’s neighbor.
In addition to finding numerous UPGs in these countries with transnational social networks, we also have numerous Majority World believers as well. 200 years of Western missions have now resulted in numerous Kingdom citizens migrating to these nations, with many being sent from their churches to share the gospel in the West. Here is an opportunity for churches to partner with and offer training to brothers and sisters from other lands.
Of course, I’m only sharing here the story for a few Western countries. The story of international migrants grows even larger whenever we take another step back to view the rest of the world….But that is another post for another time.
What are the other Kingdom possibilities you see whenever you look at the table above? How should we respond to such wonderful opportunities to serve the strangers next door to us?
these are important times for the church in north america. the spread of the gospel to all nations can be advanced by the american church waking up to the incredible opportunities in providing a witness to our immigrant/refugee neighbors. my family and i are preparing to move to atlanta in a couple of months for just this reason. we will be living as neighbors among over 750 people groups (some of them “unreached”), to advance the gospel to all nations. thank you for your work. please keep up this line of research/reporting until all have heard!