NEW YORK CITY – Global Gates shares with us a great desire to reach the unreached people of this world who have waited for the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. While obstacles of all sorts many times stand in our way, the Lord has been bringing the unreached people from the ends of the earth to us.

Global Diaspora

The Global Gates FBO has recognized the need to evangelize those who have reached the shores of North America and settled in many of our global gateway cities.

These people tend to settle in communities with others who share their same backgrounds. Hoping to have left their troubles behind, many find life in a strange land to be a much more difficult transition than they had imagined. They need friends who are willing to advocate for them and help them acquire a feeling of being at home.

It’s as if, while we were not paying attention, the unreached have been coming to us in their quest for a better life. We, as Christ-followers in North America, now have the opportunity to share the love of Jesus and the good news of the gospel with them.

Historically, missionary endeavors have focused on rural populations in developing countries. The reality is that over half the world is already living in urban areas.

“Global Gates is focusing on what the world is becoming – an urban world. Nowhere is there a greater concentration of unreached peoples than in cities. Global Gates is focusing on the unreached in these cities who have been neglected or written off as too difficult to reach. We seek to start churches among peoples who do not have one. And when they do have a church, we want to help them multiply a movement of disciples and churches that will transform their community with the gospel.”

Gateway Discipleship Needs

If this Missions Box article does nothing else, we want it to offer examples of communities where Global Gates desires to disciple thousands of unreached people who have immigrated from other countries.

• Edmonton is home to 20,000 Somalis, the second-largest Somali community in Canada.
• Houston has a diaspora population in excess of 150,000 people from South Asia alone.
• Los Angeles is a community melting pot of displaced Arab Muslims (100,000) and Iranians (300,000).
• Montreal is home to nearly 56,000 Algerians along with more than 75,000 Moroccans.
• San Francisco is home to the largest concentration of Afghan in the U.S., with a population of about 60,000. Another 80,000 young Muslims reside in the Bay Area.
• St. Louis’ 70,000 Bosnians comprise the largest community of their nationality in the U.S.
• Toronto is home to the largest Somali community, with 80,000 living in the borough of Etobicoke. An additional Somali Bantu also call Toronto home.
  • About 160,000 Punjabi Sikhs live and work in the Brampton and Mississauga areas of the Greater Toronto Area.
  • More than 5,100 are now living in the GTA.
  • There is only one Afghan church Scarborough at the east end of Toronto, yet nearly 42,000 Afghan refugees have settled there.

We haven’t even mentioned cities like Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Seattle; or the Washington, DC, and New York City immigrant communities where there is little or no outreach to the hundreds of thousands who are without a witness to their culture or language.

Missions Box News encourages readers to become more familiar with the vision, mission, and needs for ministries to the unreached people who have established communities in our urban areas. Begin by praying that the Lord will “remove the walls of suspicion they have for outsiders and give them a desire for God’s Word.” Check the Global Gates website to learn more.

These people have come here to find freedom. Pray they will find eternal freedom in Jesus.

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