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Strangers Next Door: Immigration, Migration and Mission Paperback – September 27, 2012


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More than ever, North America is being flooded by people from all around the world, many of them here illegally. How should the church respond to these sojourners among us?In Strangers Next Door professor of evangelism and church planting J. D. Payne introduces the phenomenon of migrations of peoples to Western nations and explores how the church should respond in light of the mission of God. As we understand and embrace the fact that the least-reached people groups now reside in (and continue to migrate to) Western countries, churches have unprecedented opportunites to freely share the gospel with them.This book includes practical guidelines for doing crosscultural missions and developing a global strategy of mission. It also highlights examples of churches and organizations attempting to reach, partner with, and send migrants to minister to their people. Discover how you can reach out to the strangers next door by welcoming them into God's family.

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From the Publisher

Additional resources on immigration:

Migration
Welcoming the Stranger
Serving God in a Migrant Crisis
You Welcomed Me
Separated by the Border
Strangers Next Door
Author(s): Alexis Busetti and Dorcas Cheng-Tozun Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang Patrick Johnstone With Dean Merrill Kent Annan Gena Thomas J. D. Payne
Description: This six-week, thought-provoking study is not just about understanding the migration narrative in Scripture but also about reshaping your perspective on migration today. Explores immigration through a Christian lens, sharing immigrant stories, debunking myths, and offering compassionate, practical ways for believers to engage in reform and minister to vulnerable neighbors. Examines today’s refugee crisis, its causes, and biblical examples of migration, offering guidance on how Christians can respond with compassion, hope, and action to those displaced by war, poverty, and disaster. Exploring fear, misunderstanding, and the refugee crisis, this book calls us to respond with welcome and shows practical ways to build bridges and live out our faith with compassion. This powerful story follows Julia’s harrowing journey from Honduras to the U.S., her separation from family, and the foster mother who fought for her. A moving look at immigration, trauma, and the power of motherly love. This book explores global migration to Western nations and how the church can respond. With practical guidelines and real-life examples, it shows how to welcome migrants, share the gospel, and join God’s mission right where you live.
Available as ebook:

Editorial Reviews

Review

"For a fairly slim volume, this book has a wide scope, a hallmark of InterVarsity Press. In its target of a university-aged audience, it tends toward both the academic and practical. Its versatility includes grounding in scripture, technical definition of terms without being encyclopedic, spiritual depth, historical breadth, relevant present-day stories, sound statistics, and the book's applicability."

-- Allen Yeh, Religious Studies Review, Volume 39, No. 3, September 2013

"Payne's book is an important and much-needed clarion call for evangelicals first to see the opportunity for missions that the Lord has sovereignly brought to our doorstep and second to engage these unreached people groups among us with a thoughtful, long-term strategy."

-- John Wind, Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, 17.1, 2013

"Strangers Next Door is a much-needed book that provides detailed analysis of migratory patterns around the world and challenges churches to embrace migration as part of God's redemptive purposes. It is a useful tool in equipping churches to be more effective in missions right in their own community."

-- Jenny Yang, Evangelical Missions Quarterly, July 2013

"With this work J. D. Payne effectively reminds us that 'the world' can sometimes be right on our doorsteps. . . . I highly recommend this book to church leaders and individuals who are keen to think through the implications of being Christ's witnesses in our multi-cultural society."

-- Vox Reformata, 2013

"Written in a popular and accessible style, Payne passionately argues that human mobility and migration are inextricably linked with God's divine purposes."

-- Matthew Krabill, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 37, No. 2

"Payne's work is informative and compelling, presenting fascinating data and inspiring anecdotes. Furthermore, it offers practical strategies for local churches seeking to reach the 'stranger next door.'"

-- Church Libraries, Winter 2012–2013

"With its case studies and practical guidelines for reaching migrants, pastors and lay leaders will find Strangers Next Door to be a clear and useful resource in building a global missions strategy. . . . Payne does readers a service by bracketing the U.S. immigration debate and refocusing attention on the unique opportunity migrants present for the missions world."

-- Jeff Haanen, Christianity Today, October 2012

"The world has not only shrunk; it has become energetic and mobile. It might be a tad clichéd to say it, but the world is now on our doorstep, which requires us to take the gospel seriously and devise a mission strategy to reach, train, partner and resource our global neighbors as they return to their homes with the gospel. J. D. Payne has presented us with the gospel imperative to take responsibility for those from all over the world who are among us. Some books impress you with their fresh insight, while others hit you with a clear and compelling statement of the obvious. This book does the latter, and it does it very well indeed."

-- Steve Timmis, Director for Acts 29 Western Europe

"Many in our society―and even within our churches―see immigration as a threat or an invasion, but J. D. Payne challenges us to see immigration as Scripture does: as a missional opportunity. Many immigrants bring a vibrant faith with them to their new country, breathing new life into local churches, but others do not yet know the hope of a transformational relationship with Jesus. If we have the eyes to see it, immigration presents an opportunity to 'make disciples of all nations' without even leaving our zip codes, and Strangers Next Door serves as an informative and practical guide."

-- Matthew Soerens, U.S. church training specialist at World Relief and coauthor of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion Truth in the Immigration Debate

"Strangers Next Door is a candid admission that a strategic frontier of world missions in the 21st century has returned to the home front. This book will charm readers with heart-rending anecdotes, relevant surveys and the author's insightful analysis of the realities in the changing landscape of missions within the borders of the Western world. This is perhaps J. D. Payne's most fascinating, coherent and convincing work on diaspora missiology to date!"

-- Tereso C. Casiño, professor of missiology and intercultural studies, School of Divinity, Gardner-Webb University, and executive chair, North America Diaspora Educators Forum (Global Diaspora Network)

Review

"J. D. Payne is at it again with another perceptive and prophetic call to the Great Commission community! With the perfect blend of Scripture, stories and strategies, this book turns us toward our global diaspora future. Read it with careful attention to what the sovereign God is doing in our time―and with a commitment to be in step with his work in the world."

-- Grant McClung, president, Missions Resource Group

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ IVP
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 27, 2012
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ Illustrated
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 206 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0830857583
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0830857586
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.25 inches
  • Best Sellers Rank: #1,544,531 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

About the author

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J. D. Payne
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J. D. is Professor of Christian Ministry at Samford University. Before joining the faculty, he served as the pastor of church multiplication with The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. He was also a National Missionary with the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and an Associate Professor of Church Planting and Evangelism in the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also directed the Center for North American Missions and Church Planting.

After completing his doctoral studies at the age of twenty-seven, he was invited to serve with the seminary, making him one of the youngest professors in the history of the school. Prior to his arrival at Southern, he taught as an Adjunct Professor at Crossroads Bible College in Indianapolis, Indiana. He holds memberships in the Evangelical Missiological Society and Great Commission Research Network.

J. D. is originally from Corbin, Kentucky, and came to faith in Jesus as a teenager. Following the completion of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Kentucky, he later completed a Master of Divinity degree in Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Evangelism and Church Growth from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He has served as a pastor of five churches in Kentucky and Indiana and has worked with four church planting teams. Over the years he has also served as a coach and mentor to numerous church planters. Rather than seeing himself as the "Apostle Paul-type," he best describes himself as a "Barnabas" to church planters and pastors. His desire is to minister alongside of others in order to see them equipped to become all that God desires for them as they multiply disciples, leaders, and churches.

Over the years, he has written numerous book chapters, articles, and reviews in the area of missions and evangelism and church growth.

J. D. is the author of several books:

Missional House Churches: Reaching Our Communities with the Gospel (InterVarsity Press)

The Barnabas Factors: Eight Essential Practices of Church Planting Team Members (CreateSpace)

Discovering Church Planting: An Introduction to the Whats, Whys, and Hows of Global Church Planting (InterVarsity Press)

Evangelism: A Biblical Response to Today's Questions (InterVarsity Press)

Roland Allen: Pioneer of Spontaneous Expansion (CreateSpace)

Kingdom Expressions: Trends Influencing the Advancement of the Gospel (Thomas Nelson)

Strangers Next Door: Immigration, Migration, and Mission (InterVarsity Press)

Pressure Points: Twelve Global Issues Shaping the Face of the Church (Thomas Nelson)

Developing a Strategy for Missions: A Biblical, Historical, and Cultural Introduction (Baker Academic, co-authored with John Mark Terry)

Missionary Methods: Research, Reflections, and Realities (William Carey Library, co-edited with Craig Ott)

To the Edge: Reflections on Kingdom Leadership, Mission, and Innovation (CreateSpace)

Apostolic Church Planting: Birthing New Churches from New Believers (InterVarsity Press)

Roland Allen's The Ministry of Expansion: The Priesthood of the Laity (William Carey Library, edited)

He is married to Sarah who is a physician in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, working part-time at a clinic for uninsured populations in Birmingham, Alabama. They have three children Hannah, Rachel, and Joel.

J. D. may be contacted at jd.payne@samford.edu and found on Twitter @jd_payne. He blogs at jdpayne.org and hosts the podcast "Strike the Match with J. D. Payne."