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Christianity and Conversion among Migrants
Moving Faith and Faith Movement in a Transit Area
Series: - Theology and Mission in World Christianity, Volume: 17
Author:
In Christianity and Conversion among Migrants, Darren Carlson explores the faith, beliefs, and practices of migrants and refugees as well as the Christian organizations serving them between 2014â2018 in Athens, Greece. This is the first major study of migrant faith communities and refugee centers conducted in Athens. The study traces the travel stories of participants as they leave their home countries and migrate to Athens.
Darren Carlson discusses the ways evangelical and Pentecostal Christians served migrants along their journey, how churches and specific refugee centers served and proclaimed the gospel, and the impact Christian witness had on migrants, particularly Muslims, who were converting to evangelical Christian faith.
Darren Carlson discusses the ways evangelical and Pentecostal Christians served migrants along their journey, how churches and specific refugee centers served and proclaimed the gospel, and the impact Christian witness had on migrants, particularly Muslims, who were converting to evangelical Christian faith.
Darren M. Carlson, Ph.D (2018), London School of Theology, is President of Training Leaders International and teaches at various institutions in the majority world. He is also General Editor for the Journal of Global Christianity.
"It is an excellent primer for those seeking a better understanding of migrant faith, as well as an encouragement to the Western church, showing the positive impact of a theology of welcome towards those displaced."â Will Cumbia, Vienna, in: Journal of European Baptist Studies, Volume 21.2 (2021).
This book contributes to a theoretical enrichment of the myriad intersections between religion and forced migration. Hitherto, the forced migration field witnessed a dearth of research on religious imaginaries in refugees and migrantsâ journeys. The author, located in diaspora missiology, and utilizing research triangulation and a multi-layered analysis, provides a rich longitudinal study that constructs complex narratives of travel, conversion and faith of refugees and migrants, but also role of migrant organizations in Athens. This book fills an important lacuna by privileging migrantsâ agency, voices, profoundly formative Christian experiences and religious imaginaries in transitional, liminal contexts of displacement, journeys and sojourning. â Afe Adogame, Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Religion and Society, Princeton Theological Seminary, USA.
Darren Carlson has broken new ground with his portraits of migrant Christian communities in Athens. There have been studies of churches formed by immigrants in places like London, but this is the first analysis of churches composed of migrants from Africa and the Middle East in transit to a final destination in Europe. â Dr Mark Beaumont, Research Associate, London School of Theology
Christianity and Conversion among Migrants is a theoretically robust ethnographic account of immigrants, refugees, and the Christian ministries which serve them in Athens. Carlson provides a wealth of moving stories, interviews, and analysis to show how testimony to the life of Jesus is at work amongst these people on the move. For confessing Christians, Carlson also provides powerful stories for how the biblical practice of hospitality to strangers is being embodied in migrants, refugees, and others in the 21st century in Athens. â Joshua W. Jipp, Associate Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
The migrantsâ conversion to Christianity is one of several âresponsesâ to crises people on the move face. Whilst there are fine works on conversion to Christianity, this ethnographic analysis goes further. i. it rigorously maintains a distinction between Iranian, Afghan, Eritrean and Ghanaian migrants into Greece and offers an empirically supported and unexpectedly complex reasons for their conversion; ii. It underlines convertsâ agency in conversion without over simplifying it by excluding the agency of the Christian workers; and iii. it highlights the crucial sense in which the context where this occurs is significantly different from other analyses of conversion stories; in that Greece, where all this unfolds, merely serves as a transit station in the convertsâ stories. This book is an excellent resource for both missiologist and conversion specialists; it is also a must read for those starting their research in these fields. â David Emmanuel Singh, The Oxford Centre for Mission Studies
This book contributes to a theoretical enrichment of the myriad intersections between religion and forced migration. Hitherto, the forced migration field witnessed a dearth of research on religious imaginaries in refugees and migrantsâ journeys. The author, located in diaspora missiology, and utilizing research triangulation and a multi-layered analysis, provides a rich longitudinal study that constructs complex narratives of travel, conversion and faith of refugees and migrants, but also role of migrant organizations in Athens. This book fills an important lacuna by privileging migrantsâ agency, voices, profoundly formative Christian experiences and religious imaginaries in transitional, liminal contexts of displacement, journeys and sojourning. â Afe Adogame, Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Religion and Society, Princeton Theological Seminary, USA.
Darren Carlson has broken new ground with his portraits of migrant Christian communities in Athens. There have been studies of churches formed by immigrants in places like London, but this is the first analysis of churches composed of migrants from Africa and the Middle East in transit to a final destination in Europe. â Dr Mark Beaumont, Research Associate, London School of Theology
Christianity and Conversion among Migrants is a theoretically robust ethnographic account of immigrants, refugees, and the Christian ministries which serve them in Athens. Carlson provides a wealth of moving stories, interviews, and analysis to show how testimony to the life of Jesus is at work amongst these people on the move. For confessing Christians, Carlson also provides powerful stories for how the biblical practice of hospitality to strangers is being embodied in migrants, refugees, and others in the 21st century in Athens. â Joshua W. Jipp, Associate Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
The migrantsâ conversion to Christianity is one of several âresponsesâ to crises people on the move face. Whilst there are fine works on conversion to Christianity, this ethnographic analysis goes further. i. it rigorously maintains a distinction between Iranian, Afghan, Eritrean and Ghanaian migrants into Greece and offers an empirically supported and unexpectedly complex reasons for their conversion; ii. It underlines convertsâ agency in conversion without over simplifying it by excluding the agency of the Christian workers; and iii. it highlights the crucial sense in which the context where this occurs is significantly different from other analyses of conversion stories; in that Greece, where all this unfolds, merely serves as a transit station in the convertsâ stories. This book is an excellent resource for both missiologist and conversion specialists; it is also a must read for those starting their research in these fields. â David Emmanuel Singh, The Oxford Centre for Mission Studies
Contents
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
List of Tables and FiguresI
1 Methodological Reflections
â1.1âOverview of Research
â1.2âMissiology, Diaspora, and Ethnography
â1.3âCritical Realism, Theological Understanding, and Social Science
â1.4âChallenges to Conducting Research with Immigrant Populations
â1.5âThe Participants
â1.6âInsider/Outsider
â1.7âInterviews
â1.8âParticipant Observation
â1.9âResearch Ethics
2 The Field of Study
â2.1âThe Great Movement of People
â2.2âReasons for Migration
â2.3âGlobal Christianity
â2.4âDiaspora Christianity Literature Review
â2.5âDefinitions
â2.6âChristian Witness and Migration
3 Travel
â3.1âThe Basics
â3.2âLeaving Home
â3.3âTravel Stories
â3.4âThe Migration Industry
â3.5âConclusion
4 Evangelical Refugee Centers
â4.1âOasis
â4.2âHelping Hands
â4.3âHellenic Ministries
â4.4âAMG International
â4.5âFatherâs Heart
â4.6âBridges
â4.7âFaros
â4.8âIssues Faced
â4.9âConclusion
5 Conversion from Islam to Evangelical Christianity
â5.1âConversion from Islam to Christianity Literature
â5.2âDefining Conversion
â5.3âReasons Given for Converting
â5.4âDreams and Visions
â5.5âFake Conversions and Reconversions
â5.6âWhat Happens Next
â5.7âConclusion
6 âChurchesâ
â6.1âEritrean Church of Athens
â6.2âRedeemed Lighthouse
â6.3âPolis: Glyfada Church and Exarchia Church
â6.4âIranian Evangelical Church of Athens
â6.5âAgape ChurchâAfghan
â6.6âPersian Leader 4âs Church
â6.7âMan Cave Church
â6.8âConclusion
7 Summary
â7.1âImmigration as Mission
â7.2âHospitality, Evangelism, and Tensions
â7.3ââWesternâ vs. âBiblicalâ
8 Chosen Sojourners
â8.1âHospitality to Strangers
â8.2âHospitality as Advocacy
â8.3âHospitality as Gospel Proclamation
â8.4âSalvation for the Migrant
Appendix A: List of Known Migrant Churches in Athens, Greece
Appendix B: Interview Guide
Appendix C: Key Issues to Address While Attending Migrant Churches and Refugee Centers
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
List of Tables and FiguresI
1 Methodological Reflections
â1.1âOverview of Research
â1.2âMissiology, Diaspora, and Ethnography
â1.3âCritical Realism, Theological Understanding, and Social Science
â1.4âChallenges to Conducting Research with Immigrant Populations
â1.5âThe Participants
â1.6âInsider/Outsider
â1.7âInterviews
â1.8âParticipant Observation
â1.9âResearch Ethics
2 The Field of Study
â2.1âThe Great Movement of People
â2.2âReasons for Migration
â2.3âGlobal Christianity
â2.4âDiaspora Christianity Literature Review
â2.5âDefinitions
â2.6âChristian Witness and Migration
3 Travel
â3.1âThe Basics
â3.2âLeaving Home
â3.3âTravel Stories
â3.4âThe Migration Industry
â3.5âConclusion
4 Evangelical Refugee Centers
â4.1âOasis
â4.2âHelping Hands
â4.3âHellenic Ministries
â4.4âAMG International
â4.5âFatherâs Heart
â4.6âBridges
â4.7âFaros
â4.8âIssues Faced
â4.9âConclusion
5 Conversion from Islam to Evangelical Christianity
â5.1âConversion from Islam to Christianity Literature
â5.2âDefining Conversion
â5.3âReasons Given for Converting
â5.4âDreams and Visions
â5.5âFake Conversions and Reconversions
â5.6âWhat Happens Next
â5.7âConclusion
6 âChurchesâ
â6.1âEritrean Church of Athens
â6.2âRedeemed Lighthouse
â6.3âPolis: Glyfada Church and Exarchia Church
â6.4âIranian Evangelical Church of Athens
â6.5âAgape ChurchâAfghan
â6.6âPersian Leader 4âs Church
â6.7âMan Cave Church
â6.8âConclusion
7 Summary
â7.1âImmigration as Mission
â7.2âHospitality, Evangelism, and Tensions
â7.3ââWesternâ vs. âBiblicalâ
8 Chosen Sojourners
â8.1âHospitality to Strangers
â8.2âHospitality as Advocacy
â8.3âHospitality as Gospel Proclamation
â8.4âSalvation for the Migrant
Appendix A: List of Known Migrant Churches in Athens, Greece
Appendix B: Interview Guide
Appendix C: Key Issues to Address While Attending Migrant Churches and Refugee Centers
Bibliography
Index
All interested in migrant faith communities, evangelical mission practices, Muslim conversion, and Christian witness in a transit area.