With more than 300 million international migrants in the world today, one in 30 of us is a migrant. Such a mass dispersion of people is unprecedented.

In addition, the Christian faith is exploding in many parts of the world. We are living in the era of world Christianity.

A time of unique opportunity

Today, we are witnessing the dispersion of peoples – Christians and people of other faiths – back and forth among the nations of the world. They migrate with their religions.

• Many migrants are Christians, but many others are people of other faiths.
• As potential missionaries, Christian migrants carry with them the missional gift of rich stories about God’s work among their peoples.
• Migrants of other faiths bring with them the gift of their humanity, allowing us to understand better how to engage other faiths in mission in the 21st century.
• They also have the possibility of engaging Christian communities and hearing the gospel wherever they migrate. Some will take the gospel back to their homelands.

Given this opportunity, it is very necessary for Christian congregations, parachurch organisations and mission agencies to think afresh about witnessing for Christ in the age of migration.

We ought to find innovative ways to reflect on the powerful connection between mission and migration.

The Centre for Global Witness and Human Migration

We created this new centre to:

• be a space for deep reflection
  We will draw together scholars and practitioners from Africa, Asia, Latin America, as well as from the West, to reflect on the implications for our global witness in the era of global migration.
• articulate a theology of mission and inter-religious engagement
  We see global migration as a powerful movement of missionary Christians around the world and we can learn from non-Christian migrants about faithful missional engagement with other religions.
• map out key current migration patterns
  We will facilitate a nuanced conversation about the implications of these patterns on our Christian faith and sense of mission, particularly in Europe and North America.
• develop theological tools and resources
  We will help Christians engage with migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the United States, the UK, Europe, and beyond.
• carry out missiological research
  We will do high-quality research and reflection on diaspora ministry for migrant Christians around the world.
• be a community of learning and practice
  We will seek to be a gathering space and a home for diaspora church leaders in the UK and beyond.

Who needs this centre?

• Christian communities whose neighbourhoods have changed through migration
  They realise that their ministry skills and offerings are often geared to a population that has moved on, and they have to relearn what service to their new neighbours looks like.
• Congregations that are located in high-migration areas
  They are often uniquely gifted to share the gospel with migrants as they pass through and need resources to help them position themselves well and understand their ministry.
• Migrant Christians and congregations
  They are seeking to find their place in the Christian landscape of their new homes and to bear witness for Christ in their new neighbourhoods. In addition, they are often concerned about the faith of their children, second-generation migrants who live in multiple cultures.
• Mission agencies
  They realise that mission in the context of world Christianity must involve all followers of Christ from any part of the world to any other part. They are often struggling with the structural changes needed to reshape for service alongside Christians from other cultures and different parts of the world.
• Mission training organisations and theological institutions
  They need to explore the subject of mission and migration, one of the defining contexts of our time.

Explore Acts 11

Acts 11 newsletter:

SIGN UP