Migration & Diaspora: God’s Movement to Reach More People

by Brantley Scott

A little over ten years ago I was introduced to English as a Second Language (ESL) for the first time. A student at the local seminary who was fluent in Spanish had started an ESL class at a small Hispanic Baptist church in one of the suburbs of New Orleans and needed some help with her growing class. 

A little over ten years ago I was introduced to English as a Second Language (ESL) for the first time. A student at the local seminary who was fluent in Spanish had started an ESL class at a small Hispanic Baptist church in one of the suburbs of New Orleans and needed some help with her growing class. 

With the city in a building stage following Hurricane Katrina, the Hispanic population had risen sharply. I quickly learned that these men and women were likely not there legally, but faced with providing for their starving families in their home countries, they came to New Orleans to find jobs, help their impoverished families, and become part of the community in which they now found themselves.  

Far from home, I found these seekers to be looking for not just how to read the classified or how to order a Po-boy (come to New Orleans to see why these are better than a sub), but they were also open to spiritual dialogue. Not only that, but they wanted to know how to share this information with their families back home. Without even realizing it, I was doing a type of international missions without even leaving my city.

Always on the Move

Humans were designed for a home, but were destined to be on the move. Since the beginning of time, humanity has been leaving one home and looking for another. Adam and Eve, Joseph and his brothers, Moses, Jesus and his early earthly family, and the early apostles such as Paul were always on the move, both voluntarily and involuntarily. 

Even in Genesis 2 we see the picture of man leaving one home (father/mother/home) to go to another home (wife/new home). All movement happens under the will and sovereignty of God. He has created all peoples, nations, and cultures, and according to Acts 17:26-29, he has preordained the existence, time, place, and movement of all peoples and nations. Both the diaspora of the Bible and the diaspora of today were created by God, that they might seek him and know him.

According to the United Nations Migration report of 2013, there were over 232 million people (about three percent of the world’s population) living in a country not of their birth, and that has significantly increased in the past few years. Although world governments have been thrust into the limelight of how to deal with this issue, it is today’s Church that must take the initiative in how to wisely and biblically be a neighbor to the foreigners in our land.

Diasporic missiology, although not new in practice, is a relatively new paradigm in missiology. The explosion of migration patterns and the shrinking of the world in terms of travel, economics, and technology have put more dispersed people groups in relative closeness to the Church in the West (Wan 2010, 46-60). This phenomenon is opening up new avenues for advance of the kingdom through the proclamation of the gospel to new peoples who are in new places.

To begin, those who are in movement from their place of origin to their host country are in a state of transition. This transitory period of leaving the comfort and security of one’s home country and entering a new country with new rules and a new culture leaves people more receptive to the gospel and Christian hospitality. 

On a pragmatic level, a diaspora missions strategy can take advantage of those countries that are effectively closed to traditional missions strategies by opening their doors from the inside. Many of today’s ‘closed’ countries are those that have high migration rates to ‘evangelized’ countries. In essence, instead of the Church having to go to them, God is sending them to the Church.  

Biblical Roots 

Diaspora and missiology can both trace their roots to biblical history. Diaspora is a major theme that runs throughout both the Old Testament and New Testament. Generally translated as “removed”, “scattered”, “outcast”, “exiled”, and “preserved”, the diaspora has always been part of God’s plan. The biblical record is full of people always on the move, and God, who is always on the move to redeem them in order to bring himself glory. It should be noted that God is not reacting to people’s movements, but rather God caused their movements for his purposes (Acts 17:26-29). 

In Genesis, we see Adam and Eve leaving their homeland, the Garden of Eden, for a new home as a result of their sin. Required to live in a new home, with new realities, we see God at work redeeming his people. By leaving the garden, Adam and Eve would not be able to live continuously in their sin, but would be free to seek their salvation from the Lord (Payne 2012, 69).  

Likewise, many migrants and refugees are now moving from a place where their eyes were incapable of seeing the gospel to lands where they must rely on the kindness of Christ’s ambassadors.

The forefathers of Israel were also lifelong migrants. The Lord called Abraham from the land of Ur to Haran and ultimately to Canaan, and from this migration, all nations would be blessed. However, once in Canaan, Abraham continued to be on the move—to Egypt, parting with Lot, and surveying the Promised Land. It is to Abraham that the Lord prophesied, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there…”

Isaac’s son Jacob was also on the move throughout his lifetime. Although God reiterated his promise to Abraham to Jacob through a dream that his offspring would spread to all directions and that all nations would be blessed through him, Jacob would not end his life in the land of his father. 

Isaac’s first sons sold his younger son, Joseph, into slavery, and Joseph would eventually end up in Egypt. Ultimately, Isaac’s entire family would migrate to Egypt. However, the Bible is clear that this migration was not due to unforeseen circumstances, or circumstances beyond control, but that God was orchestrating everyone’s movements for his purposes and plans.

Due to their continued sin and rebellion, the nations of Israel and Judah would fall, and most of their inhabitants would be exiled. During this time of not only living in a foreign land, but knowing their homeland was destroyed or occupied, the Lord still revealed he alone was sovereign over the earth. Through his prophet Isaiah, God reminded his people that he would use their exile for their benefit and his glory and that he would gather those who had been scattered.

Throughout the Old Testament, we see people of God’s choosing always on the move. They are exiled as a result of their own volition (Abraham), their own sinful doings (sin, rebellion, etc.), forced to migrate due to external circumstances (famines), and banished to foreign lands due to the sins of others (Joseph). However, in every circumstance, the providential hand of God can be seen working toward the redemption of his created people.

Migration and diaspora continue to be a strong theme in the New Testament as well. The Gospels begin with God ‘migrating’ to earth to fulfill his prophecy and to redeem his people. Shortly after Jesus’ birth, the Gospels record Jesus and his family fleeing Israel for Egypt to avoid persecution and death from the current government and then returning several years later.

Acts 2 begins with the day of Pentecost, when people of many different nations have migrated to the city of Jerusalem. It is here, in this city full of migrants, that the Holy Spirit spoke to each one in a manner they understood, and thus many were converted.

Following this event, the early followers of Christ faced strong opposition and persecution following the martyrdom of Stephen. The resulting scattering of Christians led to the spread of the gospel into much of the Roman world and the start of several churches in cities like Antioch, from which Paul would later use as a home base.

Although Paul’s missionary journeys may seem to fall in line with the traditional missions model, a closer look reveals the impact of the diaspora in Paul’s strategy and practice. Romans1:16 reveals that Paul’s mission was first to the Jew then to the Gentile, while the Book of Acts notes that there are Jews living in diaspora in Salamis, Pisidian Antioch, Thessalonica, Berea, Corinth, and Ephesus. Paul was intentional in seeking out a people group living in diaspora.

Movement as a Strategy of Missions

Throughout the Bible there is a theology of movement. God and humanity are seen as constantly on the move from one home to another. From exile out of the Garden of Eden, to exile out of Judea and Israel, to being scattered throughout the Roman Empire, the use of reaching people on the move has been a constant strategy in missions.

In 2009, the Lausanne Diaspora Educators Consultation, in conjunction with the Lausanne Diaspora Strategy Consultation, put forth a declaration concerning diaspora missiology. In the declaration, it was affirmed that (1) God is indeed working among the peoples of the earth, gathering and scattering them as he sees fit, (2) the Church, each one in its own culture, is the vehicle God is using to make his name known to the nations, and (3) diaspora missiology has emerged as a critical and strategic plan for reaching people who live outside their country of birth. 

It is important to note, however, that diaspora missions is not a replacement for traditional missions, but rather a complimentary strategy to the current model (Wan 2007, 3). Most missions agencies today are focused on people groups located in their indigenous homelands. This strategy has many positives such as rich tradition of knowledge to pull from and indigenous people groups that are much more stable than diaspora groups. Diaspora missions, however, provides a nuanced approach to the current and foreseeable trend of moving people groups. It also allows for a strategic approach to many difficult-to-access peoples and cultures while at the same time approaching them during times of transition, when they may be most open to the gospel (Payne 2012, 151). 

Benefits of Having a Diaspora Missions Strategy

Diaspora missions strategy is as diverse as the people around the world. Instead of planting brick and mortar churches in cities and neighborhoods around the world, diaspora missions looks at planting transient churches wherever these moving people groups may be located—on ships, in refugee camps, in international student dormitories, etc. 

Diaspora missions utilize resources and people already in place to reach peoples who have come to them. In essence, international missions becomes available without the need of passports and visas, job platforms, heavy fundraising, and avoid political headaches that often occur in traditional missions (Scattered to Gather 2012, 10). 

The typically understood paradigm of diaspora missions is the concept of the local church (usually in the West or host countries of migration) receiving, ministering to, and evangelizing the diaspora in the local setting. In all major cities, a plethora of world cultures can be found with relative ease. Churches seeking to engage world people groups can forfeit the hassle of acquiring visas and passports, airfare, and international logistics for the efficiency of walking down the street to engage international people groups. 

Diaspora missions seeks to utilize the existing connection between host and home countries as a method and a means for spreading the gospel worldwide—converted migrants returning to their home country or reaching out to those of their own culture also on the move. The migrant is now the missionary. According to Doug Saunders, 

Christians living in the diaspora context represent the largest self-supporting contingency of missionary force which has been located within many of the so-called ‘unreached peoples’ and accessible to practically all people-groups of the world today. (Saunders 2010, 38)  

“Missions beyond the diaspora” refers to the evangelization of people groups outside of a particular diaspora people group (i.e., a group of Syrian refugees in the U.S. ministering to a Vietnamese people group). In this paradigm, the diaspora, both individually and as a group, are no longer the receiving agent of evangelism, but the active agent in evangelism to cross-cultural groups (Wan 2011, 131).

It is also important to note that many of these moving people and refugees are in fact the migration of unreached people groups. Those people groups, which today’s Evangelical Church (with all its wealth and technology) have found to be extremely difficult to reach, God has seen fit to reach in unique and powerful ways. 

Conclusion: Migration as a Key Strategy 

It is impossible to overstate the importance that migration is going to have not just on world economies and politics, but on the Evangelical Church as well. The Evangelical Church has struggled to keep up with the trend toward urbanization, and is just now beginning to find its footing in urban settings. 

The mass movement of people on a global scale is moving at a faster pace and goes beyond just urbanization. Almost twenty-five percent of all migrants from the year 2000 to 2010 found themselves in North America. But people are not just moving; God is moving people, and today’s Church needs to be ready.

While additional research and practice is still needed, several leading missiologists have begun to create a framework upon which the Church can begin creating strategies toward an active and profitable diaspora missiology. J.D. Payne, in his book Strangers Next Door: Immigration, Migration and Mission, gives a five-step process for churches and individuals seeking to reach out to migrants that is easily reproducible in any context.

Using sermons from the Apostle Paul in the Book of Acts, Larry Calwell pulls five implications for diasporic missions, all of which stem from an understanding that, like Paul, the Church should embrace the fact they are a bicultural people and to use that biculturalism as a powerful tool in context. Exegeting the audience, being aware of any possible biases, and not being offended or condemn easily are several aspects to keep in mind in diaspora missiology (Calwell 2011, 103).

Finally, in Scattered to Gather: Embracing the Global Trend of Diaspora, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization provides a very detailed plan for implementing a diaspora strategy. These steps include methods for ensuring a right frame of mind before entering in diaspora missions, how to exegete and engage the community in a holistic nature, how to equip and encourage relationships, and how to empower the diaspora in their own Christian walk (2012, 33-37).

People are moving, and if the Church does not want to find itself lagging behind as it has with the urban movement, it needs to embrace and engage the migrant and the refugee. Given the complexities and cost that traditional missions sometimes endure with international outreach, diaspora missions is an answer to a prayer to help take the message of the gospel to the nations. 

God has brought the nations us. They are here—in our cities, our small towns, and our rural communities. Are you ready to love them as yourself? 

References

Caldwell, Larry W. 2011. “Diaspora Missiology in the Book of Acts: Insights from Two Speeches of the Apostle Paul to Help Guide Diaspora Ministry Today.” In Diaspora Missiology: Theory, Methodology, and Practice. Ed. Enoch Wan. Portland, Ore.: Institute of Diaspora Studies, Western Seminary.    

Lausanne Committee for World Evagelism. 2012. Scattered to Gather: Embracing the Global Trend of Diaspora. Manila: LifeChange Publishing.

Payne, J.D. 2012. Strangers Next Door: Immigration, Migration, and Mission. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP.

Saunders, Doug. 2010. Arrival City: The Final Migration and Our Next World. Toronto: Alfred 

A. Knopf.

Wan, Enoch. 2007 “Diaspora Missiology.” Occasional Bulletin  20(2). 

______. 2011. “Diaspora Missiology–A Contemporary Paradigm for the 21^st Century.” In Diaspora Missiology: Theory, Methodology, and Practice. Ed. Enoch Wan. Portland, Ore.: Institute of Diapora Studies, Western Seminary. 

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Brantley Scott lives in New Orleans, LA, with his wife and three girls. He is working on a PhD at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in Great Commission studies and learning new ways engage the lost.

EMQ, Vol. 53, No. 3. Copyright  © 2017 Billy Graham Center for Evangelism.  aAll rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMQ editors.