For centuries, the Asian continent has been a fertile ground for migration and diasporic movements. Asians move within, across, and beyond the continent; they are no strangers to border-crossing and scattering geographically. Some movements are voluntary, while others are forced; some are planned, others are random. These dispersions create new socio-economic spaces that challenge traditional religious, cultural, historical, and political landscapes. Like other migrants across the globe, Asians carry with them traditional worldviews and changing world pictures; they assimilate new lifeways, learn local languages, or adopt strange and foreign customs and mores. Like their migratory ancestors, contemporary Asians travel to distant lands, even beyond continental shores and boundaries. But they also learn to welcome people from other lands—slowly but steadily embracing ethnolinguistic diversity and establishing
meaningful socio-political connections. For over two millennia, the Asian church has engaged people on the move. Amid movements—either individual or collective—are contextual realities and missional opportunities.

Contextual Realities

Asia is home to 4.8 billion of the world’s population, featuring diverse cultural heritage, religious traditions, socio- economic systems, and political ideologies.1 Over 40% of the world’s international migrants come from Asia (115 million), of which 46 million lived “extra-regionally” back in 2020.2 We can identify seven major ‘realities’ that account for the “push-pull factors” behind domestic, national, regional, and international migration across and beyond the continent.
The first will be “economic realities” that accentuate both diversity and disparity across the continent. The robust economies of East Asia and the Gulf Region expectedly draw thousands of migrants from neighboring Southeast and South Asian countries in search of “better” job opportunities. Although many migrants are highly paid, most of them work in what have been euphemistically called 3-D jobs: Difficult, Dangerous, and Dirty. Working conditions could be harsh and hazardous to health, but “economic migrants” are willing to make huge sacrifices to give their families a “better future”. In 2022, the top five Asian countries receiving and/or sending dollar remittances (“diaspora bonds”) were India, the Philippines, China, Pakistan, and Egypt, respectively with $258.47 billion.3 Migrants’ remittances not only support families financially but also contribute to their national economy. However, when the economy of affluent societies goes into recession, both local and migrant laborers struggle to keep their jobs, threatening the stability of society. Consider the 2007–08 global economic crisis that resulted in the loss of employment for thousands of migrant workers in economically prosperous Asian nations.
Second, “sociological realities” featuring low birth rates could threaten the stability of society, including but not limited to the economy, labor market, and family systems. Government officials have already pressed the panic button for the low fertility in South Korea (1.12), Taiwan (1.11), Hong Kong (1.24), Singapore (1.17), and Japan (1.4).4 China has greater than 1.4 billion, but the birth rate dropped 50% from 2016 to 2024.5 Low fertility rates alter the social makeup of countries with more boys and fewer girls, a clarion call for the nations’ policy makers. For example, in South Korea, many schools for early childhood education are closing due to the lack of children. Ironically, cross–border marriages in East Asia are becoming a viable option for many men because of the lack of marriageable women in their homeland. As “bride migration” increases, the international matchmaking industry is thriving across East Asian countries.6
Third, “aspirational realities” trigger migration flows as more Asians seek “greener pastures” to fulfill their life’s ambitions or dreams. To them, the future is “brighter” on the other side—far and beyond national boundaries. More women tend to migrate than men across the continent.7 Single women migrate to achieve more independence and pursue careers that are otherwise impossible to realize in their homeland because of traditional restrictions. Men move to boost their careers, too. Asians would cross national borders to pursue a variety of paths in music, business, arts, engineering, culture, or science and technology. Engineers from India, Indonesia, or the Philippines flock to South Korea to work at Samsung Corporation. It is not uncommon to meet Filipino women holding master’s degrees and working as nannies in Qatar, or a Filipino martial artist teaching at a naval base in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Regarding international students’ mobility, China tops the list with more than one million in 2021 alone.8 Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, China, and India are some of the ‘magnet nations’ that attract students from within the continent. Thousands more from India and other Asian countries flock to the Philippines to study medicine, especially in hub cities like Manila, Cebu, or Davao City.
Fourth, “political realities” send some citizens to flee their homeland due to persecution and lack of security. Political refugees and asylum seekers are on the rise across the Asian continent. They seek refugee status in countries that guarantee their safety and protection as far as Europe, North America, Africa, and South America. For years, differing political ideologies have driven many Asians to move to a ‘safer’ society where their dissenting voices find a platform. Most recently, the Rohingya people from Myanmar were displaced and dislocated because of political fallout.9
Fifth, “religious realities” offer a backdrop to migration because of persecutions among citizens whose religious traditions differ from the majority population. In some regions of the continent, the rise of the persecution index of religious communities is alarming, most notably among Christian communities.10 Religious persecutions push people to other countries to seek safety and a guarantee of religious freedom. Political and religious persecutions displace citizens internationally and turn them into refugees and asylum-seekers, as in the case of Syria (6.5 million), Afghanistan (5.7 million), and Myanmar (almost 800,000), among others.11 Many migrants, including children, die while fleeing and crossing treacherous mountains and high seas.
Sixth, “natural realities” in terms of environmental disasters like floods, tsunamis, drought, famine, and hurricanes dislocate many people across the continent. In Asia, natural calamities dislodge more people than wars and conflicts (Pakistan, 8 million; Philippines, 5.5 million; China, 3.5 million).12 The intensity of pain and enormous suffering of victims of ecological catastrophes are expectedly unbearable. Displaced people move to areas deemed to be suitable to rebuild a sustainable source of food supply and basic needs. The most recent Covid-19 pandemic caused the death of millions and “disturbed” the pattern of migration and dispersion across the continent. Although Covid-19 disrupted the mobility of Asians, it also resulted in “reverse migration” where many migrants were forced to return to their homeland.
Seventh, “modern slavery” realities (e.g., forced labor like debt bondage, human trafficking, and forced marriage) relate to migration. Around 50 million people are victims of modern slavery, and Asia and the Pacific account for 15.1 million of the global count.13 Accordingly, a majority of those trafficked for forced labor globally are men, while women and girls make up one-third of the victims. Similarly, in the Middle East and East Asia, between 40 and 50% of trafficked victims are females.14 Equally disturbing is that more girls than boys are victims of forced labor.

Missional Opportunities

Human migration and dispersion are as old as biblical history. The scriptural basis for people’s scattering and geographical mobility is the “creation care” mandate (Gen 1:28) that God gave to the first and second sets of human civilization, respectively: Adam and Eve (Gen 1:28) and Noah and his family (Gen 9:1, 7). Adam and Eve received the mandate once and Noah twice after the great flood. Although divine sovereignty is evident over people’s movements, God does not cause all people’s mobility and dispersions in human history.
Migration flows across Asia offer the Church both discernable challenges and missional opportunities. In Diaspora Missiology, the framework for the Church is missions to, through, and beyond the diasporas.15
I have since modified these approaches for more clarity to lessen some perceived missiological jargon that goes with them, although the fundamental concepts remain. As individual Christians and congregations continue to deal with the realities of mobility of people within and beyond Asia, opportunities abound for missions among the migrants, missions with the migrants, and missions by the migrants.
In a word, opportunities to engage Asian migrants with the gospel abound.16
To begin with, the church can be intentional in its “missions among the migrants.” Those who move within and across the Asian region could become recipients of evangelistic and discipleship initiatives. As people move, host Christians and churches can welcome them by creating a friendly “evangelistic environment,” showing genuine interest in their families or listening to their stories. This can vary from small group fellowships, sports, cultural events, and music concerts, to hospitality activities. Part of this would include helping new migrants settle in, helping kids find a suitable school, or assisting parents in a job search. Social activities like birthdays, wedding celebrations, and even death anniversaries can also open doors for gospel exposure. Many people on the move seek for meaning in life or deeper relationship with God.
It is crucial for missional believers and churches to engage the migrants as they embark on their faith journey. Once migrants learn to follow Christ, they can act as agents of evangelism and discipleship. This “missions with the migrants” approach presupposes that new believers can be trained, empowered, and commissioned to engage other ethnolinguistic groups as well as their own. Serving alongside host churches, diaspora Christians reach out to their family, relatives, and friends in their homeland or elsewhere. For example, migrant believers in the Gulf Region demonstrate how “missional collaboration” works, in partnership with other agents of missions. Also, Filipino Christian seafaring migrants employ “missional innovation,” as they organize “church on the oceans” through Bible studies, worship, and fellowships; they concomitantly make “gospel connections” with their unreached relatives back home.17
Furthermore, migrants can be catalysts for evangelism and discipleship cross-culturally, intergenerationally, and interculturally. This “missions by migrants” approach is strategic because of its access to the host society’s language, culture, customs, and food. We see this model at Immanuel Christian Fellowship (ICF) in Nagoya, Japan, under the leadership of Filipino missionary, Cecilio Solito. After organizing six Filipino congregations, ICF planted two Japanese congregations to date. Evidently, Christians in diaspora are a “gift” to their host societies, as they fulfill their apostolic witness while living away from home. The authentic presence of Christian diasporas from Asia, including refugees, is
changing the landscape of missions in creative access nations, including Europe and North America.18 As the evangelical Filipino community has effectively demonstrated, migrants can serve as tentmakers to engage other ethnolinguistic groups and host societies, maximizing their profession as a trajectory for gospel witness.19
Added to this would be the international students and businessmen whose mindset, passion, and lifestyle revolve around Christ’s Great Commission to disciple the nations (Matt 28:19–20).20

Conclusion

Asian migration shares a lot of commonalities with other movements and scattering of people around the world. However, it is important to understand the context and specific factors that cause people to move. The church in Asia faces tremendous challenges with the sheer volume of migration flow, but these can translate into gospel opportunities, too. A sense of urgency characterizes missions among, with, and by the migrants. If the Asian church fails to notice the arrival or presence of migrants in their neighborhood, then they are wasting strategic opportunities to engage them with the gospel. God’s grace precedes the mobility of people. When people move, the good news moves.