The migration of people is as old as humanity. When I was growing up in Africa, my people told their stories in relation to the ethnic groups around us. From childhood, we were told the stories of where our people came from and what ethnic groups our relatives were. This movement of people is called diaspora in Christian literature. It was originally associated with the dispersion of the Jewish people.1 However, the concept is deeply woven into the fabric of the biblical narrative. The biblical patriarchs were diasporas themselves. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were on the move. The whole nation of Israel was on the move. In fact, the Ten Commandments were given to a people on the move. In instituting the celebration of the first fruits and tithes, Moses told the children of Israel, “Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous … the Lord brought us out of Egypt … and now I bring the first fruits of the soil that you, LORD, have given me’” (Deut 26:5–10). Note the references to movement in the passage. This celebration is filled with the language of movement of the Israelites and their ancestors. The New Testament also uses the language of movement from Jesus’s coming into the world to his commission to the disciples to go to the nations. The theology of the Bible takes on a new and deep meaning when we look at it from a migration and diaspora perspective.2

People move voluntarily in search of a better life. In the past, it was for better farmland but today it is for education, better-paying jobs, marriage, etc. They also move involuntarily due to natural or human disasters like drought, wars, religious or ethnic persecution, climate change, etc. The United Nations estimates that there are currently about 281 million international migrants in the world. This is 3.6% of the global population, double the number from 2022. This number is expected to continue to rise as “increasing numbers of people are being displaced, within and out of their country of origin, because of conflict, violence, political or economic instability as well as climate change and other disasters.”3 Another often neglected factor is the Great European Migration that led millions of people to leave Europe from the sixteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century. This colonization influenced multitudes through the creation of new nations in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania. However, since the middle of the twentieth century, a Great Reverse Migration has been going on as peoples from the regions and continents the Western nations went to are now coming to the West.4
How should the Western and global church respond to the opportunities and challenges presented by this massive relocation of peoples to host countries and neighborhoods? This is not an easy issue to address, especially if it is your country and neighborhood experiencing population surge. Some Christian communities fear the immigrants and consider them enemies. The Old Testament and New Testament are replete with passages instructing God’s people how to respond to migrants and foreigners in our land. Global Christians are to find ways to welcome the migrants as the Scripture directs us. “You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deut 10:19). “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Lev 19:34). (See also Rom 12:13; Heb 13:1–3.) This is especially true of African migrants because they are probably the most unwelcome migrants in the West, even by churches. There will be pain and cost in obeying the Scripture. However, God will always attend to his people who endeavor to obey, granting them wisdom and grace.

These migrants are a reminder that the mission field is now “next door.” Allen Yeh shows us in his book Polycentric Missiology that in the twenty-first century, missions is indeed from everyone to everywhere.
In commemorating the centenary of the Edinburgh 1910 conference, the conveners of five major Christian conferences between 2010 and 2012 hosted them on five different continents, suggesting that these venues were centers of Christianity.5 They were recognizing the globalization of Christianity. There is not only a decentralization but also a return to a de-professionalization of missions. Every Christian is a missionary because God has brought the mission fields near. Each church should equip itself and its members to be missionaries to these migrants. Some of these migrants have never heard the gospel, so they are indeed mission fields. There are stories of many migrants coming to Christ in their host nations and returning to their ancestral homelands with the gospel. These immigrants are financially generous, remitting funds to their homelands. In fact, their remittances rose from $128 billion in 2000 to $831 billion in 2022. And $647 billion was sent to low– and middle-income countries.6 If they can send money, we can expect them to share the gospel, which is more precious than money.
African migration has continued to increase over the years. Though African international migration might be the most visible in the media, there are only 21 million international migrants. This is less than 10% of global international migrants. Africa had 10 of the 20 countries with the largest populations of internally displaced persons by conflict and violence at the end of 2022.7 African countries host the majority of the internally displaced people.8 Though the number of international African migrants is small, the church in the West needs to pay attention to them. A majority of African international migrants identify as Christians.9 John Mbiti said that Africans are notoriously religious.10 With vigor and tenacity, they adhered to their traditional religions, and when they converted to Christianity, they maintained that same vigor and tenacity, making Africa the most Christian continent. They carry their religion with them wherever they go. What does this mean for the global Body of Christ?
African diaspora Christians can enrich Western Christian worship, theology, and missions. Walls says, “The Great Reverse Migration gives Christians in Europe and North America an opportunity to realize again the New Testament model of the Church.”11 Worshipping with African believers will give Western and global Christians a foretaste of the worship of the great multitude in Revelation 7:9–10. This type of unity is a powerful witness of Christ to the watching world.

African Christianity in North Africa contributed to Christian orthodoxy.12 African migrants or diaspora Christians have lived in multireligious and multiethnic contexts, and some have experienced persecution. For them, reality is not bifurcated and there is no secular/sacred distinction. They seek divine intervention in all of their pursuits. Thus, they have invaluable knowledge to share with the Church in their host countries.
The African Christian migrants are an untapped mission force for global Christianity. African Christians are de- professionalizing missions and promoting the missionhood of all believers. There is a growing body of literature describing the face of African Christianity in diaspora. African immigrants have impacted Christian demography in the West. African Christians see themselves as missionaries even if they are not officially sent by their church. Some of the largest and most vibrant congregations in Europe are planted and led by African diasporas. Jehu Hanciles in Beyond Christendom13 and Afe Adogame in The African Christian Diaspora14 discuss the face of African Christianity in the West. In The Word Made Global, Mark Gornik describes the movement of God through several African Christians in New York establishing churches, engaging in ministries to their local neighbors, and returning to Africa to do missions and humanitarian work.15 Moses Biney describes the work of Ghanaian diaspora Christians in the US and Canada.16 However, most of these discussions are about the ministry of Africans in diaspora to other Africans. The influence of these African migrants is immense. The percentage of people attending church in London is higher than in the rest of England. Harvey Kwiyani, in describing the influence of the African Christian diaspora in the UK, says that “London Christianity is a black religion” due to an increase of the African presence in London “when mainline White-British Christians continue their exodus from the church.”17 The global Body of Christ can benefit from this by collaborating with these African churches to reach Africans and other migrants in diaspora. They can also collaborate to reach native non-Christians in the host countries.
The Church in the West, in welcoming African migrants and indeed all migrant Christians, needs to consider diversifying its leadership. Many churches celebrate their multiethnicity, but their leadership is monocultural. Christian ministries and some mission organizations have multiethnic leaders. Joseph Handley in his Polycentric Mission Leadership18 offers helpful insights on how this could be done. This is a necessary step in our global, multiethnic, and polycentric world. Churches can engage in so many other activities to welcome migrants, such as members opening their homes to their migrant neighbors during holidays, teaching English to new migrants, and providing legal, health, and educational support to help them adjust in their new home. Another major aspect of ministry to immigrant/diaspora families is the second generation. They need special care and attention to remain in the Church.
One fact that is abundantly clear from the story of migration of people throughout Scripture is that the missio Dei is also a motus Dei.19 The Christian God who sends people on mission is also a moving God. He is not a static God. He is not a territorial God tied to one location or a region. He moves with people and reveals himself to them as they go. They do not have to go to a particular place or location to find him. This God is moving with the people he brings to us. We need to welcome them and hear what God has to say to them through us and to us through them.