A North American Mission Board (NAMB)/LifeWay Research study found that while ministries across North America are reaching out to a significant portion of first-generation immigrants, much work remains to be done. Still while evangelistic growth among these groups has been slow, the potential is promising, with immigrants from most countries considered somewhat receptive to the gospel.
“Things are changing in the U.S. and Canada,” said Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research. “By 2050, there will be no majority race or ethnicity in the United States. Already in Toronto, the majority of residents were born outside of Canada. This is a wake-up call to the church in North America. The nations of the world are living right here, yet many are not hearing the gospel in an intentional, organized way. We can do better.”
The 74 Christian organizations included in the study have 3,757 missionaries and church planters working among first-generation immigrants.
Participating organizations report having the highest number of first-generation immigrant believers from Mexico. The next highest numbers of believers involved in their churches or ministries, in descending order, are immigrants from Haiti (a distant second), South Korea, Cuba and China.
Survey respondents were asked to indicate, by country, changes in the number of immigrants involved in the organizations over the last year. Only Myanmar’s, Vietnam’s and Cambodia’s immigrants average at or above “more total participants than one year ago.”
“The opportunity here is great,” said Ken Weathersby, NAMB’s vice president of church planting. “Many immigrants come from places where preaching the gospel is illegal, but they can hear the gospel in their new home. In turn, those believers can impact their families here in North America and in their country of origin, more easily crossing language and cultural barriers [than non-native believers].”
Significantly, despite the slow growth of immigrants participating in these organizations, respondents said immigrants from most countries, overall, are considered somewhat receptive to the gospel.
Surveyed organizations currently minister to immigrants from 151 of a possible 202 countries considered in the analysis. This number includes countries such as the Vatican and Taiwan, which are not always counted among the world’s official countries.
That means that 25 percent of possible countries of origin, including nations of Europe, Africa and the South Pacific, have no organizations ministering to their immigrants in North America. Another 26 percent have only one or two national or regional organizations ministering to them. (BP)
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