Migration is a Global Trend:
"One of the dominant features of our time is the massive migration of hurnan beings that is occurring all over the globe. The migration of peoples from rural to urban areas has escalated to the point that there are over four hundred cities of a million or more people. Others have left their homeland in search of greater economic opportunities, and thousands have been involuntarily displaced by warfare, genocide, famine, and drought. Migration is not just one of the dominant features of our globe; it is also one of the most significant opportunities for mission today. "
(Missiology, Missions and Migration "At Issue" Jan 2003, pg2)
"Several years ago, Elie Wiesel observed that the twentieth century was marked by "displacements on the scale of continents. ...Never before have so many human beings fled from so many homes" (1996:19). Clearly the situation has not improved in the first years of the twenty-first century. The numbers of refugees around the world are staggering, and their desperate need is nearly incomprehensible. Statistics are slippery, but presently there are between 20 and 35 million refugees and people living in refugee-like situations. Many women, men, and children have fled from their home countries because of a "well-founded fear of being persecuted" others have fled from their homes, but for any number of reasons, have remained within the borders of their home countries. The conditions of these "internally displaced persons" are often even more desperate than those of persons who are actually designated as refugees." ("Biblical Issues in Mission and Migration"; Christine D. Pohl, Professor of Christian social Ethic at Asbury Theological seminary. Missiology, Missions and Migration "At Issue" Jan 2003, pg3)
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