Migration in Christianity and the Modern Culture

Abstract

This article looks at how Korean churches tend to deal with their mission for migrants under globalization. In the contemporary World, a large number of migrants are looking for a more comfortable and safer place to live, and for more opportunities. Various and confused phenomena push them into much larger spaces regardless of ideology, religion, and politics. They are open to diverse influences such as networks, SNS and so on. This traffic and flow of new social media can not be fully controlled and/or regulated by any local authorities. In this context, this article argues, it is the time for Korean churches to prepare a multi-cultural missioneering in reference to the know-how of successful overseas missions. However, Korean churches in multi-cultural mission are still in hardship because of rapid globalization, increasing numbers of migrants, the stubborn and conservative attitude of local churches and so on. Overcoming these difficulties, this article attempts to present 1) the presence of Christian migrants in the World based upon the data of the Pew Research Centre in March 2012, 2) the criticism of the routine practice of mission by Korean churches so far, 3) the necessity of the mission for migrants in the contemporary culture along with the acknowledgment of the transition of Korean society into a multi-cultural society, and 4) finally, case studies of two overseas Korean Christian women’s lives and faiths in the Korean society. With regard to the issue, “Migrants in Christian society and Modern Culture”, it is very realistic and important to examine the social, cultural and religious structures of the Korean society. In Korea, a kind of modern culture, the transition into a multi-cultural society has already taken place and begun to influence upon ethnically Korean Christian migrants. Accordingly. it requires the radical change of the mission approach of Korean churches. Therefore, the author insists that Korean churches have to recognize a new arena of mission and that they have to find a practical way to approach migrants for mission. For this purpose, the author will use sociological and missiological methodology with subaltern and contextual perspectives.