Migrants have always been a part of every country's story, but as ease of travel seemingly makes the world smaller than ever, and conflict and strife see more people uprooted from the place they call home, the number of people seeking new lives on distant shores has only continued to grow.
However, as the recent anti-immigration riots that rocked the UK have shown, reactions to growing numbers of migrants can see them pushed further to the margins of society.
To meet that need, the Church Mission Society (CMS), one of the world's oldest mission societies, is establishing a new centre that will help educate and equip Christian communities to reach out to migrants where they are.
"CMS recognises that the world is experiencing an 'Age of Migration' where globally one in every 30 of the earth's population are migrants," Dr Harvey Kwiyani, Diaspora Centre leader for CMS, said.
"However, until now migration has not been an integral part of mission and Christian communities are not equipped to reach out and share their faith with strangers in a world where migration and tensions are on the rise."
This new centre will be called The Acts11 Centre, after the accounts recorded in scripture of the first Christians migrating from Judea, and their missing to bring the good news of the Gospel to the world.
Initially offering theological and missiological resources, practical seminars, courses, and conferences on topics including global witness and human migration, the centre will also act as a curated library of resources for Christian communities, mission agencies, and academic institutions seeking to find ways of reaching migrants across the globe. It will also undertake research that will help identify the opportunities and challenges that global migration presents followers of Christ with as they seek to share God's love in today's world.
"The explosion of migration globally over the last 25 years has prompted a reassessment of how we prepare Christians to engage with migrant communities, as well as how we equip and enable migrant Christians to share their faith," Dr Harvey Kwiyani said.
"Our vision is to gather people and share resources to equip and empower the Body of Christ to effectively bear witness for his name in the age of migration."
The work of the Acts11 Centre will be launched at a ground-breaking conference run by CMS, covering the missiological and theological issues raised by migration. Acts11: Convergence 1, will take place from 26 to 27 September 2024 and will be held at CMS's offices in Oxford. The Keynote address will be delivered by Dr Jehu J Hanciles, Professor of World Christianity at Emory University in Atlanta.
The Church Mission Society was formed at the height of the anti-slavery movement in 1799, with the mission of following Jesus to minister to those on the margins and cultural fringes of society. This new centre will help achieve that goal, with migrants often among the most neglected in society.
"We are committed to helping Christian communities share the Good News with the migrants who come to their neighbourhoods and to empowering Christian migrants to engage in disciple-making in their new host societies," Dr Harvey Kwiyani said.
"Migrants are often at the edges of society, but we believe they come bearing God with them."
