Who Is My New Neighbor?

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neighbors

 

With millions on the move, it is likely that you have some new neighbors from around the world. How are you responding to their presence in your neighborhood? Are you being a blessing to those who have moved just down the street but may come from places and peoples who have never heard the Gospel?


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Devotional

A World on the Move		  

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NOTE: This Missiographic is the second in a series of 3 infographics on issues related to global mobilization developed for the Center for Mission Mobilization. The first and third in the series can be found here at New Harvesters and Ambassadors.
 

Engaging through Prayer

Dear God, my life is full, but I pray there would be plenty of room in my heart for the new neighbors moving into my neighborhood. Help me to see them in the midst of my hectic schedule and stop to be a kind and loving neighbor to them.  Amen

 

Personal Reflection

Think back to something a neighbor did for you that was a particular encouragement or blessing. Now consider what you might do to bless a new neighbor from another country. Research what hospitality looks like in their country and then ask God to give you a plan for how you can connect with them in an appropriate and helpful way.  

 

Engaging the Church

How neighborly is your church? Do you know your neighbors in the community? Are you intentionally reaching out to the unreached peoples and immigrants who have moved near the church? What have you done to help them feel welcomed? Consider working with us at GMI to identify the nations next door. Contact GMI at info(at)gmi.org. 

 

Organizational Application

It’s so easy for international organizations to focus your time “out there” in the world and for local organizations to focus only on those who have been your traditional audiences. But our world is changing and the peoples of the world can be found everywhere. How is your ministry responding? Are you integrating an “everywhere to everywhere” approach to mission? Are you giving people a chance to engage where they are as well as around the world? Don’t see it as a distraction. Instead, see it as an expansion of your impact with new amazing opportunities to connect.

 

Sources

  

1

“Exit rate” formula.

(Total migrant stock x % non-evangelical)  /  country population = exit rate.
Migrant stock - “Trends in International Migrant Stock: Migrants by Destination and Origin 2013,” UN Population Division. (“Migrant Stock” is the term used by the UN and other sources to describe the combined total of migrant workers, immigrants, and refugees.)
Percent evangelical - Operation World 2010.
Population - “World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision,” UN Population Division.
Note: Only countries less than 3% evangelical were included. Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Georgia all qualify and had slightly higher exit rates than Somalia, but we opted not to show them since we were emphasizing countries with less Christian history or presence.

2

Balkans average.
3.16 is the average rate of the following Balkan states: Montenegro 4.53,
Albania 4.29, Bosnia 4.00, Macedonia 2.47, and Croatia 1.78. The average was weighted
for country population. We grouped the Balkans because they otherwise would
have held four of the top five “exit rate” positions.

3

 Tolerance by country. The link https://goo.gl/jwHCB4 is https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries. The relevant question on
the World Values Survey was, “On this list are various groups of people.
Could you please mention any that you would not like to have as neighbors?”
“Immigrants/foreigners” was one of the nine groups listed (item V36 on
WV6_Official_Questionnaire_v5_SilatechMenaModule_English.doc, www.worldvaluessurvey.org).

4

 www.movein.to

5

  https://worldrelief.org/us-offices

 

Cautions on data interpretation:

  1. Our data gives global totals on source and destination countries. That should not be misinterpreted to mean that the people from the unevangelized countries with high exit rates like Palestine are necessarily going to the places with high entrance rates per evangelical like Hong Kong.
  2. Our figures are based on exit percentages of country population, not people counts. The actual “new neighbor” we meet is much more likely to be Chinese or Indian than Palestinian, even though Palestinians show as having the highest “exit rate”.
  3. Hong Kong is not a “country” but a “special administrative region” within China. Data is available on it as a region, and this strategically significant data would have been obscured if we had only considered data on China as a whole.

Good information is key for any individual or ministry. For more insights look at missiographics.com.

 

Permissions
The representation of this data is copyrighted by the Center for Mission Mobilization (CMM) and the information within is used by permission. GMI is sharing this visualization as a Missiographic with permission. Anyone seeking rights to utilize this infographic must receive permission from CMM. Please visit the CMM website for more information at www.mobilization.org.