Diaspora:
A New Paradigm for Mission by Jeff Thormodson
For the past 2,000 years, the traditional model for missions has been to send missionaries to “the ends of the earth.” Individuals travel to distant lands and learn a new language and culture in order to share the Good News about Jesus Christ, raise up leaders, train pastors and establish new congregations. Rev. Jeff Thormodson is director of MissionShift Institute at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo.
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s a traditional missionary for eight years in Siberia where the Mission helped establish 17 Lutheran congregations, I fully support the traditional model of missions. But today another model of missions is emerging called Diaspora Missions, and predictions are that these will become the primary vehicle of missions in the 21st century. So, what is Diaspora Missions? The term diaspora historically refers to the dispersion of the Jews in history, when the nation fell and the people scattered. Today, diaspora is currently being used to describe the mass migration of immigrants and refugees that started during the last half of the 20th century. People are crossing international borders and migrating to new countries at an unprecedented scale. It is estimated that 214 million individuals, or 3.1% of the world’s population, are migrants (that’s one out of every 33 persons). The reasons for migrating are varied, some by choice and others forced, but every migrant is included in the term diaspora, as they have taken up residence away from their place of origin. Using this definition of diaspora, Diaspora Missions is then defined as ministering to the diaspora through evangelism and Christian charity, but also in-
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cludes ministering through/beyond the diaspora to their kinsman located in their immediate region, in their host country, their homeland and abroad.
Good Example in Boston
One of the best examples of Diaspora Missions is Boston’s Quiet Revival. It began with the 1965 Immigration Act that opened the door for new immigration from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Many immigrants were Christian — and when they settled in Boston, they planted new congregations. What is unique is that the appearance of these new congregations went unnoticed, most likely because they were worshiping in different languages. It wasn’t until the Emmanuel Gospel Center decided to produce a church directory that an amazing discovery was made – that from 1965 until 1989 the number of churches in Boston had doubled to 570 worshiping in over 30 languages. Further research revealed that these diaspora populations did not stop with planting a local congregation, but continued through relational networks to establish an additional 200 churches in the region, and 600 more worldwide! This tremendous growth of new congregations hasn’t slowed down over time, but has continued steadily for the past 40 years. Diaspora growth is not limited to Boston, but is beginning to reveal itself in many ministries across the United States. Over the last nine years, my responsibilities at Concordia Seminary have given me the opportunity to visit over 90 congregations reaching out to immigrants through the Seminary’s EIIT Program. EIIT stands for the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology, and each con-
gregation was serving as a vicarage congregation for a pastoral student, or an internship congregation for a deaconess internship. During each visit, I conducted interviews with both the student and the supervisor to learn about their history, their ministry and their goals for the future. Overall, there are many exciting things happening throughout the LCMS in the area of Diaspora Mission—but there are also a few struggles.
About Half of the Immigrants are Christian
During these nine years, I’ve learned about half of all immigrants resettling in the United States identify themselves as Christian. Christianity remains the fastest growing religion worldwide and for migrants, the United States remains the number one destination for Christian migrants. The Pew Research Center estimates about 32 million (74%) of the 43 million immigrants living in the United States are Christian. This does not mean they necessarily have a deep understanding of the faith, or are connected with a specific denomination; but it does reveal how God is already at work among immigrants bringing them into our neighborhoods, and in many cases to our church doors! When interviewing EIIT students, I often discover it was the immigrant who first showed up at the church and introduced themselves to the pastor! A significant number were raised in the church overseas and have Christian parents. A few were pastors overseas and had served several congregations before immigrating to the