March 01, 1991 by Timothy Monsma, Ph.D

There are those who believe that worldwide urbanization is ringing the death knell for an emphasis on evangelizing people groups. They say, "Many streams intermingle to make one river. So too, many ethnic and social groups intermingle to make one city." So it is thought.

This writer, for one, would take issue with such thinking. Having studied cities extensively both in Africa and in Asia, I have observed that people groups are not like streams that mix easily into a larger river. Even when people live in close proximity to one another, or are intermingled with one another as they often are in cities, they still retain their ethnic, linguistic, religious, educational and social identities. Attention to people groups living in cities will in many cases be the key to the evangelization of these cities. There is no conflict between the challenge of the cities and the challenge of the unreached peoples. It is substantially the same challenge.

Experience in Africa

Five years ago, my wife and I studied six African cities on behalf of the Mission to the World agency of the Presbyterian Church in America. We analyzed each city on the basis of the people groups living within them, both reached and unreached. On reading our report, Mission to the World chose to send a group of medical missionaries to the Muslims in Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast. They had noticed that although there were several missions at work in Abidjan none were targeting directly the large Muslim population in that city.

Since they did not intend to reap where others had sowed and watered, they were welcomed to Abidjan by the existing missions. Today there is a fellowship group of about 50 former Muslims preparing to have their own church in this strategic city.

Mission to the World is in the process now of sending another team of missionaries to Dar Es Salaam, in Tanzania, another city on which we reported five years ago. In both cases segmenting the population according to their ethnic and religious identities helped identify those elements of the city in need of Gospel penetration.

Overlooking the Majority

Here is another example: from Palembang, a city of one million on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia and an industrial center for the entire nation. There are 29 Protestant churches in Palembang, but there are no churches serving Indonesians from the Palembang area. These churches serve people groups who have moved to Palembang from other parts of Indonesia. The people who have always lived in the Palembang area are all Muslims and they constitute the vast majority of the Palembang population. Government figures list 230 mosques in Palembang, but only 29 churches.

Compare Palembang to Dallas, Texas (they are about the same size if we count that part of Dallas within the city limits). Supposing there were 29 churches in Dallas and all of them were serving people groups who had either been born overseas or who had been born in other states (like New York or California). But supposing there were no churches in all of Dallas serving native Texans who were the vast majority of Dallas residents. If such were the case, we would have a situation in Dallas similar to the situation in Palembang.

The major ethnic groups from the Palembang area are the Pasemah, Komering, Palembang and Sekayu, plus at least five more smaller groups. Each of these groups speak their own language in addition to the Indonesian language and all have their own customs. They have one religion in common: Islam. There is need for Indonesian Christians or Christians from elsewhere working at secular occupations to begin a witness to these diverse groups.

It makes little difference whether one wishes to reach Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Animists or others, the principle remains the same. Sort out the residents by their ethnic, linguistic and religious affiliation, and one will have a good estimate of where new evangelistic efforts ought to be placed.

Attention to Social Groupings

As I pointed out in my chapter, "The Intersecting Veins of the City" (Cities: Missions New Frontier by Roger Greenway and Timothy Monsma, Baker, Grand Raplds, 1989), attention to ethnic groups ought to be complemented by attention to social groups in the city. In a given city that appears to be well evangelized, there may still be certain strata of society or social groupings that are neglected.

This is the case in Kingston, Jamaica's capital. This city of 900,000 or more residents appears on the surface to be well evangelized. There are many churches throughout the city. But closer investigation reveals that these churches generally serve the 40% of the metropolitan population that is middle or upper class. Only a few Pentecostal churches serve the 60% that are lower class, and while there is Christian charity for the 10% who are very poor, there is no concerted effort to bring them to Christ or to gather them into churches.

As Donald McGavran pointed out in a small book published in 1962 (Church Growth in Jamaica, a preview of things to come in many lands, Lucknow Publishing, India), here is a social group in need of more attention from pastors, evangelists or missionaries. What is true for Kingston is true for countless cities in the Southern World (Africa, Asia and Latin America) and also the Northern World. In many cities there are both ethnic groups and social groups that have been neglected by the heralds of Jesus Christ. The larger the city, the more likely this will happen.

Cities are complex, but not impossible. Knowing the population in terms of their people groups will assist missionaries and evangelists to understand the city and their work within it. Cities for Christ Worldwide collects such information and offers seminars for pastors, evangelists and missionaries who wish to gather helpful information in their own city.

We are forging ties with other research oriented agencies such as Adopt-A-People Clearinghouse and Global Mapping International. Individuals and agencies desiring more information should write Cities for Christ Worldwide at 1605 Elizabeth St. Pasadena CA 91104 or call (818) 791-0598.