J.D. Payne has written a helpful book on migration and ministry among diaspora population segments.

Check out my review of the book at The Gospel Coalition.

Strangers Next Door

J. D. Payne | Review by: Mark Morris

J. D. Payne. . Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press 2012. 206 pp. $15.00.

In light of projections from early census data, Michael Cooper of The New York Times reported on December 12 that very soon the United States will no longer be considered a nation consisting of a majority and multiple minorities. He insists the new census data points to the United States becoming a “plurality.” “The term ‘minority,’ at least as used to describe racial and ethnic groups in the United States,” Cooper writes, “may need to be retired or rethought soon.” Cooper explains that by the end of this decade “no single racial or ethnic group will constitute a majority of children under 18. And in about three decades, no single group will constitute a majority of the country as a whole.”

No doubt J. D. Payne’s Strangers Next Door: Immigration, Migration, and Mission comes at an appropriate time in our nation’s history. The book effectively informs Western Christians—particularly North Americans—about God’s kingdom activity as it relates to the movement of people across the globe. An ethnographer, a demographics guru, or an urban strategist might consider Strangers Next Door a mile wide and an inch deep. I would argue the breadth and depth is just right for the American audience. Read More