Is a Christian Response to Migration Possible?

What does it look like?

Welcome to “Global Witness, Globally Reimagined,” where we dream about mission in a postcolonial world. Every Thursday, I share one thought that has spoken to me in the week, some resources that I trust will be helpful to you, and three exciting quotes about mission to give you something to think about. I pray one of these will energise you in the coming week.

---

1. Thought I Can’t Shake Off

---

The subject of migration is a difficult one for Christians to think about. It is quite hard to make sense of the generous biblical propositions on migration while also reflecting our national identities (as Christian nationalism rises) and our allegiance to governments who want to limit migration. We have the God of the Bible who radically identifies with migrants by being embedded in the story of Israel as an immigrant who not only pitched a tent in our world but was also forced to flee his homeland to Egypt. Of course, the Bible is clear about Israel's identity as a nation born in migration.

The fact that the Israelites were once strangers in a foreign land is so important to their self-understanding that God wanted them to recite every year, "my father was a wandering Aramaean" (Deut. 26:5). The Bible is also clear about how Israel ought to treat the strangers in their midst—to be generously hospitable to them. God wanted the Israelites to be hospitable to strangers, following their father's example, Abraham, who, without knowing, entertained angels (Heb. 13:2). Indeed, the Bible seems to understand that migration is a normal part of human existence and, expecting migrants to be vulnerable, asks God's people to be generous and hospitable to migrants.

We live today in a world of modern empires and nation-states where this biblical stance on migration seems untenable. It is, generally speaking, in the interest of many industrialised Western countries to discourage inward migration (especially that of non-white peoples) as much as possible. Many anti-immigrant politicians go to unbelievable lengths to make sure migrants understand that they are not welcome, with little care for their circumstances. There are definitely many factors behind this; economics, social control, religion, culture, etc. The anti-migration sentiments make sense, given the secular nature of Western politics—even when practised by Christians.

Yet, significant portions of this same Western society that has been responsible for the spread of Christianity around the world, teaching converts about the primacy of Christ, the inerrancy of Scripture, and the need to love one another support their governments' effort to keep migrants out. The God they have preached around the world continues to be generous towards migrants while they turn their backs on those in need. The very different positions on migration between Christian leaders and the government on issues like the British Government's deal to have asylum seekers taken to Rwanda shows how divisive this subject can be. It leaves me with a question: What would a humane, biblically-informed response to migration today look like?

---

2. Resources I am Enjoying

---

Podcast: Global Church Project Conversations, Graham Joseph Hill and Barbara Leung Lai: The Book of Daniel & Multicultural & Minority Faith

In this episode of The Global Church Project Conversations, Graham Joseph Hill sits down with Barbara Leung Lai to explore insights into multicultural and minority experiences of faith from the book of Daniel. Barbara brings her wealth of knowledge and practice to the fore from more or less twenty years of theological and ministerial engagements across Asia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Drawing from her experience as a minority on multiple sides and the six diaspora stories she identifies in the book of Daniel, Barbara provides a postcolonial view of the biblical text and applies it to modern times. She discusses some of the lessons the Church in the West can learn from diaspora communities, and indeed, non-Western Christian expressions today. Of course, we all need to learn from one another for an effective global witness in this postcolonial era of Christianity.

---

3. Quotes I am Pondering

---

• The missionary church lives in mutuality and interdependence with other missionary churches throughout the world. — Kalemba Mwambazambi.

• As a response to contextual issues that change from region to region and from one historical era to another, missiology as a discipline will need to change in tandem with them. New approaches and new methodologies would need to be applied and experimented with. — Hazel O. Ayanga

• … the Gospel imperative to preach the Good News to all peoples (Matt. 28:19-20) entails a willingness to enter into dialogue with these same people. It is in this sense that one should understand the affirmation that dialogue is a constitutive element of the task of evangelization. — Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator

I pray that you will be faithful in whatever God calls you to do this week.