Global Fountains

In Fort Worth, TX, my family lives at an apartments complex where around 30 different people groups are living together out of 418 units. Our home is surrounded by our neighbors from Afghanistan, Congo, Iran, Iraq, Nepal, Somalia, Sudan, Texas, and others.

There are many people moving into the DFW metroplex every day domestically and internationally. Here is some brief census data information of the DFW area and Texas:

Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (2016):

Total Population - 7,232,599

Foreign Born - 1,319,883 (18.25% of total population)
Language Spoken at Home other than English - 31.9%

(Source: American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Foreign Born and Language Spoken at Home)

Refugee Arrivals from Oct 1, 2002 through Nov 1, 2017 from 61 countries - 33,761

(Source: U.S. State Department’s Refugee Processing Center) 

Texas:

Refugee Arrivals from Oct 1, 2002 through Nov 1, 2017 from 80 countries - 83,024 (out of 897,215 the U.S. total)
Afghanistan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Arrivals from Oct 1, 2006 through Oct 30, 2017 - 6,459 (out of 44,045 the U.S. total)
Iraqi Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Arrivals from Oct 1, 2006 through Oct 30, 2017 - 4,455 (out of 17,805 the U.S. total)

(Source: U.S. State Department’s Refugee Processing Center) 

Also, there are around 40 different colleges and universities in the DFW area, where many international students are studying abroad. These international students, refugees, and migrants are gradually growing in North America. Other religious groups, such as Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and others, continue to arrive in North America. There has been a massive movement from non-Western global south (Africa, Asia, & Latin America) to Western global north (Europe & North America). Andrew F. Walls calls it as the Great Reverse Migration versus the Great European Migration. (Source: Andrew F. Walls, “Mission and Migration: The Diaspora Factor in Christian History” in Global Diasporas and Mission. Edited by Chandler H. Im and Amos Yong, 19-37pp. Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series Vol. 23, Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2014)

While most European and North American churches are declining or plateaued, God is raising up churches from non-Western parts of the world including Brazil, China, India, Iran, and Nigeria today. In the midst of global refugee crisis, God may be waking up Western churches through human dislocation and migration. The nations are right here in our own backyard, our neighborhood, and our community. If local churches are not reaching out to them although it is obvious that the nations are around them, it may be hard to see them to grow. 

God is the One who brought them to our own backyard. Jesus teaches that "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev 19:18; Matt 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27). Jesus also commands that "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matt 28:19-20). 

Reach the nations glocally and limitlessly! 

Love your Neighbors, Reach the Nations!

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D. David Lee is the founding president of Global Ministries Inc. and currently serving in Madagascar with his faimly. A graduate from Southwestern Seminary, he served at the World Missions Center from 2008 to 2017. He is husband to Jee Su, and father to Shion, Siyoung, & Siyul.