Christian Witness and Proclamation through Migration

RELIGION AND SOCIAL COMMUNICATION VOLUME 22, NO. 2 (2024)

ISSN 1686-9184

Author

vănThanh Nguyễn, SVD

Abstract

People are constantly on the move, more so now than ever before. Crossing international borders is defi-nitely a major characteristic of our present era. No countries or regions are immune from this worldwide migration phenomenon, certainly not Asia. Statistics indicate that Christian immigrants are the largest population on the move, totaling 49 percent of all inter-national migrants on the planet. When Christian immigrants travel, they take their religion with them, or more personally, their God literally migrates with them. If every Christian migrant is a potential mission-ary, migration then could have enormous prospects and opportunities for evangelism – a commu-nicative act that involves the transmission of beliefs, ideas, or messages regarding their religious worldview. Thus, the aim of this essay is to examine the impact of and contribution to Christian witness and proclamation through today’s global phenomenon of migration. Migrants are indeed a precious gift of the Church, especially Asian Christian migrants, who normally bring their faith with them and bear witness of the Christian faith wherever they are. The effects of their plight and emigration not only alter the demo-graphic landscape and the image of Christianity, but also enhance the theology and spirituality of its host country. 

Keywords

migration, Christian migrants, Asian migrants, witness, proclamation

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Pages 395-415

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62461/VTN020724

Submitted: September 28, 2023; Accepted: Feb. 7, 2024; Published: June 30, 2024