EMQ » October–December 2019 » Volume 55 Issue 4
Edited by Sam George and Miriam Adeney
Littleton, CO: William Carey Publishing, 2018
296 pages
USD $14.99
Reviewed by Bradley Cocanower (pseudonym), PhD, who lives in Southern Europe doing evangelism, discipleship, and church-planting among Muslim background refugees.
“Migration is a more significant factor in Christian history than the Reformation itself.” — Andrew Walls (xxiii)
Refugee Diaspora helps Christians understand both the plight of refugees around the world as well as the significance of embracing diaspora communities with the love of Christ. The first section of the book focuses on the regions from where refugees are fleeing and includes several compelling first-hand accounts from people who have fled horrific situations. The second section looks at a variety of ministries around the world that are seeking to serve refugees. The final section provides insights and encouragement for believers who want to help refugees either at home or abroad. For those seeking to understand or engage the current humanitarian crises around the world this resource cannot be passed up.
In the introduction, George suggests that the current crises around the world present opportunities “not only to ignite faith in refugees but also to inject new life into the Christianity of the host nations” (xviii). Daniel Zeidan, who shares his insights from a ministry in Greece similarly concludes that “Europe’s refugee crisis had created a historically unprecedented window of opportunity for sharing the saving message of the gospel with some of the least-reached people on earth—a segment of the world’s population that would otherwise be in “closed” or “restricted access” countries hostile to the gospel and Christian mission” (89). Certainly, one of the greatest benefits of this book is its ability to provide a broad overview of how God is working through the movement of migrants and refugees around the globe, while simultaneously giving readers the opportunity to familiarize themselves with specific situations, ministries and perspectives. In fact, it is astonishing that such a wide range of information has been packed into this concise resource. Every region of the world is in some way represented and topics such as technology’s impact on refugees, the importance of welcoming, and an Old Testament perspective on refugees help to provide a broad range of valuable insights.
Readers should be aware of two minor limitations of the book. First, the issue of politics is mentioned briefly, but no substantial insights are given for anyone interested in that aspect of the current humanitarian crises. Second, while brevity is certainly one of the advantages of this book, readers will need to look to other resources if they want any significant instruction on how to begin making a difference in Christian ministry to refugees. Refugee Diaspora certainly makes up for this by pointing readers to a plethora of excellent resources to help them go further. Miriam Adeney concludes the book by reminding readers that in Jesus “there is indeed a safe place, and it is one that is available to every refugee” (174). This book is certain to be an encouragement and inspiration to all believers, particularly those who already recognize the importance of responding to the humanitarian crises around the world with the love of Christ.
For Further Reading:
Bauman, Stephan, Matthew Soerens, and Issam Smeir. Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2016.
Pocock, Michael, and Enoch Wan, eds. Diaspora Missiology: Reflections on Reaching the Scattered Peoples of the World. Evangelical Missiological Society Series 23. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2015.
Tira, Sadiri Joy, and Tetsunao Yamamori, eds. Scattered and Gathered: A Global Compendium of Diaspora Missiology. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2016.
