Strangers Next Door E-Book

J. D. Payne

• Herausgeber: IVP
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Seitenzahl: 277

Beschreibung

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.

Leseprobe

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Strangers Next Door

Immigration, Migration and Mission

J. D. Payne

www.IVPress.com/books

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InterVarsity Press P.O. Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426 World Wide Web: www.ivpress.com E-mail: [email protected]

© 2012 by J. D. Payne

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.

InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at www.intervarsity.org.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

While all stories in this book are true, some names and identifying information in this book have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

Excerpts from Who Is My Neighbor? Reaching Internationals in North America by Phillip and Kandace Connor (Princeton, NJ: n.p., 2008) is used by permission. Available from www.reachinternationals.com.

ISBN 978-0-8308-6341-9

To my heavenly Father, who oversees the movements of the nations,

and to Sarah, whom he moved into my life

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Immigration, Migration, and Kingdom Perspective

2. What in the World Is God Doing?

3. The World’s Unreached in the West

4. Migration and Kingdom Expansion, Part 1

5. Migration and Kingdom Expansion, Part 2

6. Migration and the West, 15002010

7. Students on the Move

8. Refugees on the Move

9. Stories from the Field

10. Guidelines for Reaching the Strangers Next Door

11. A Suggested Strategy for Reaching the Strangers Next Door

12. Diaspora Missiology

Appendix 1Unreached People Groups in the United States and Canada (Global Research)

Appendix 2Unreached People Groups in the West, Excluding the United States and Canada (Global Research)

Appendix 3Unreached People Groups in the West (Joshua Project)

Notes

Scripture Index

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Iam thankful that you have decided to read this book. While my name is on the cover, you would not be reading these words without the assistance of some great people, and in this section I wish to thank them. Of course, I take full responsibility for any limitations or errors in this work.

Thank you, Renee Emerson, for your administrative assistance and the development of many of the tables contained in this book. I must also thank my research assistant, Matt Pierce, for his labors of tracking down numerous resources for me.

Thank you, Volney James and the several individuals making up your committee. I appreciate your heart for the nations and for believing in this project. Thank you to my editor, John Dunham, and your team for your labors. And thank you, Mike Dworak and Dean Galiano, for all that you guys do to help spread the word about this book. Shortly after writing this book for Biblica Books, this division of Biblica Worldwide was acquired by InterVarsity Press. It has been a tremendous blessing working with the people of IVP. They have greatly assisted with this work and are to be commended for their professionalism and encouraging spirit. I truly appreciate all that you have done on this project.

Of course, I must say thank you to Sarah, the greatest wife and mother in the world! And also, thanks to Hannah, Rachel, and Joel as well. I truly appreciate all of your prayers and sacrifices to make this book a reality.

Most of all, I must offer a word of thanksgiving to the Lord. It has been a blessing to work on this book. His grace to me is amazing.

Introduction

Samuel and Young Cho are a middle-aged Korean couple living in Lutherville, Maryland.[1] Korean is their heart language and English is their second language. A few years ago, the Lord used this couple to begin Nepal Church of Baltimore, after they met a Nepalese waitress and her family. Recently, the Chos also planted a Bhutani church in Baltimore.

The Nepalese, whether from Nepal or Bhutan, are considered among the world’s least reached peoples . . . and they live in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

In 2008 the Chos took a short-term mission trip to Nepal and visited the families of the church members living in Baltimore. In Nepal, one family invited other family members to hear Samuel preach. Several people came to faith and the Antioch Church in Jamsa was planted. By the conclusion of the trip, over two hundred people had made a profession of faith in Jesus.

Did I mention the Nepalese are considered among the world’s least reached peoples . . . and they live in Baltimore, Maryland, USA?

Shortly after returning from their first missionary trip, the Chos decided to take a second trip to Nepal to minister to refugees and also to travel into India. After finally arriving in a Jhapa refugee camp in southeast Nepal, the Chos were able to locate relatives of members of the Nepal Church of Baltimore. During this visit the Chos were able to share letters and gifts from family members in the States. One of the family members living in Nepal made a profession of faith in Jesus.

While on this second missionary trip, the Chos were able to plant two more churches and to observe two hundred Nepalese, three hundred Bhutanese, and thirty-five Indians make professions of faith in Jesus.

And it began when Koreans in living in Maryland started evangelizing and planting churches with Nepalese living in their neighborhood.

What if more believers like the Chos took seriously the need to cross cultural barriers and take the gospel to the least reached peoples living in the Western world, where the challenges to getting the gospel to the people are not as daunting as trying to reach them in their homelands? What if more kingdom citizens living in Western nations recognized the Great Commission opportunity set before them—that the Sovereign Lord has moved the world into their neighborhoods so that such peoples may become his followers?

Imagine the global possibilities if churches would serve, share the good news, plant churches, partner with, and send the least reached peoples of the world back to their families, tribes, villages, and cities as missionaries. Believers living in the West have dreamed and talked about these possibilities for some time. While some churches have moved beyond talking and are doing it, far too many kingdom citizens remain oblivious to the needs in their neighborhoods and the Great Commission potential that exists.

While the perspective used in this book is unique and contemporary, the notion of reaching those who migrate to our countries and sending them home with the good news is not new. For example, Frank Obien, in his book Building Bridges of Love: A Handbook for Sharing God’s Love with International Students, wrote that in the 1960s he noticed that while missionaries were traveling the world, international students were coming to the United States—only to return without anyone sharing the gospel with them.[2] Don Bjork, in a 1985 Christianity Today article, attempted to raise awareness of the migration of the nations to the United States. Commenting on the realities in the 1970s and 1980s, he wrote:

Millions of strange new faces began appearing on the streets of American cities, collectively changing the face of the nation itself. But who in the church really noticed? Unseen or unheeded, the fields at home were long since “white unto harvest.” Yet right down to the end of the 1970s, few missions leaders really knew what was going on. The “invisible migrants” took no pains to hide, yet it seemed few missions took pains to seek.[3]

Progress has been made since Bjork’s article, but unfortunately it is too little and too slow. While such discussions have taken place in the past, most evangelicals have been slow to respond. The good news is that more and more people, churches, networks, denominations, societies, and mission agencies are talking about this topic once again and starting to act on the need.

Many of the world’s least reached peoples live in our communities. Now is the time to cross the street and meet the strangers next door.

The Beginning of This Book

Authors always have reasons for writing books. For some time I had been thinking and lecturing on the topic of migration and the Great Commission but never felt strongly compelled to write a book on the topic. I knew such a work needed to be produced, but the vision for this book did not become a reality until one day during a conversation with my mother.

One afternoon we were talking about the Appalachian region of the United States. In particular, we were discussing a community in Laurel County, Kentucky, known as Swiss Colony, just a few miles north of my hometown. My mother noted that the name of that community quite possibly came from the migration of the Swiss into the southeastern part of the state, bringing their dairy skills, culture, and their faith traditions. I knew many European peoples migrated into Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee through places like Cumberland Gap in southeastern Kentucky. The thought of such people settling in Laurel County was not a surprise to me. However, the more I thought about the origins of Swiss Colony—an area far from Switzerland both geographically and culturally—the more the Lord started to stir my thoughts regarding global evangelization and migration and the opportunities for the church in the Western nations of the world.

The more I prayed and researched the topic of migration to Western countries, the more I realized how the church was missing out on a significant opportunity to reach, model, equip, partner, and send many people groups back to their peoples across the globe. For centuries the church has been sending missionaries to the least reached peoples across the globe. While this practice must continue, we also must recognize that over the years large numbers of peoples have been migrating to Western nations, peoples that have been categorized by missiologists as the world’s least reached people groups (or unreached people groups).

The Purpose of This Book

Such global movements of peoples across history, whether forced or voluntary, are under the eye of the Sovereign Lord. Migration does not occur by happenstance. This book is written from the conviction that God permits the movement of peoples across the globe in order to advance his kingdom. Some people move to locations that enable them to hear the good news (Acts 17:26–27). Others, who are kingdom citizens, move and are able to share the good news in their new locations (Acts 1:8). With these points in mind, the purpose of this book is twofold.

First, it is my desire to educate the Western church on the scope of global migrations that are taking place as the peoples of the world move to the West in search of a better way of life. At present there are large numbers of believers and unbelievers migrating to Western nations. Much of the Western church is fairly ignorant as to the numbers, cultures, and beliefs of such peoples.

Second, I want to challenge the Western church to reach the least reached people living in their neighborhoods and partner with them to return to their peoples as missionaries. An enormous Great Commission opportunity exists that seems to be going unnoticed by the church. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, other Western European nations, Australia, and New Zealand presently receive an enormous portion of the world’s migrants, with the United States receiving the largest percentage of those migrating to the Western world. Refugees, students, long-term and temporary workers, and immigrants move to these regions of the world every year.

At the time of this writing, the opportunities for ministering to such peoples are as simple as locating them, finding out their needs, and serving them with the love of Jesus. Obtaining visas is not a problem. Overcoming governmental opposition to missionary activity is not an issue. Western churches can easily begin welcoming and serving the strangers next door with little preparation. As migrants come to faith in Jesus, there are numerous opportunities for equipping, partnering, commissioning, and sending those believers as missionaries back to their people to multiply disciples, leaders, and churches.

What You Will Not Find Here

I remember being in a restaurant and ordering a dish that sounded good, based on the menu’s description. I was greatly surprised when the meal arrived. What I thought was going to be a delightful chicken dish covered with a mild sauce turned out to be a plate filled with chicken smothered in liquid fire! My expectations did not meet reality. And several gallons of water later, I remained greatly disappointed.

As you read this book, I do not want you to expect one thing and then receive something disappointing. Therefore it is important that I state from the outset what this book is not about. While I believe that the following matters are extremely important and that the church must speak to these issues, it is not my desire to address them in this book.

First, this book is not about the political issues revolving around immigration and refugees. As I write this introduction, countries such as France and the United States are facing numerous political debates on the topic of immigration. Second, this work will spend little, if any, space addressing the ethical issues regarding immigration and how people should respond. While there are chapters addressing what the Scriptures advocate regarding migration, I will not attempt to offer a practical response to the moral and ethical dilemma concerning how the church should address undocumented immigrants and immigrant quotas. Third, this book does not address how a church should respond to the cultural shifts that occur whenever its membership significantly increases in the number of minority peoples, sometimes resulting in local church conflicts. Fourth, while this book recognizes that the Majority World churches are now sending missionaries to Western countries and that the future dominant missionary force is likely to come primarily from the non-Western world, this book will not address the changing demographic and cultural shape of the Christian faith. For such information I will direct you to works such as Philip Jenkins’s The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity.[4]

This book is not written to an exclusively North American audience. While I must state my American bias from the outset and admit that more attention is devoted to what is happening in my neighborhood, it has been my desire to write for a wider Western audience, at least by noting migration matters related to other Western countries. I want to help you catch a vision for your neighborhood. Because I wish to leave you with an impression rather than a comprehensive look at the West, this book does not provide a detailed treatment for every Western country. And since I am the most familiar with migration issues in the United States, I beg for some grace whenever my ignorance is revealed regarding other Western nations.

I also am aware that what constitutes the West or Western countries varies from group to group. For the purposes of this book, whenever I use these terms, I am referring to the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and many of the countries commonly referred to as Western Europe. While I am aware that many of the countries of this latter region are technically from Northern and Southern Europe, I have placed them all together for a few reasons. First, for some time Western has been closely linked to industrialized nations with a certain general Judeo-Christian worldview that is distinctive from Eastern countries. Also, the West has been understood as a collection of nations that are separate from the Majority World, thus maintaining several common cultural distinctions. Finally, the Western countries have also been places of great evangelical growth, with little religious persecution or threat to missionaries and churches.

Even in light of the fact that the United States receives the overwhelming majority of the annual migrants to the Western world, very large numbers of people are arriving in Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. While I recognize there are geographical, cultural, and political differences among kingdom citizens living in Western nations, we are all part of the same body of Christ. And the Great Commission applies to us all. Regardless of our location, as kingdom citizens we are to carry the never-changing gospel to an ever-changing world. As kingdom citizens living in Western nations, we have enormous freedoms and opportunities to reach some of the least reached people with the good news. This book is a call for Western Christians to live missional lives in their neighborhoods as they labor for the day when heaven proclaims, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

The Divine Maestro

From a human perspective, the global movement of people from one geographical location to another is sometimes chalked up to sociocultural push-pull realities. War and famine push people out of East Africa while the promise of safety and a better life pulls them to France. A poor educational system in India pushes students out of their homeland to follow the pull of a better education in the United States. This view of the migration of peoples across the globe is a complex matter of economics, power, freedom, justice, and a better way of life. While such social forces are at work in our world today, we must realize that through such means the Sovereign Lord is working to bring about the expansion of his kingdom. Since the world is presently under the rule of the gods of this age, human wickedness sometimes brings slavery, hardships, death, and destruction, resulting in the forced migration of peoples. Yet the God of the ages is still in control while all of creation groans for his return (Romans 8:22).

The premise of this book is that the Sovereign Lord orchestrates the movement of peoples across the globe in order to advance his kingdom for his glory. Whether through believers transferring jobs and finding themselves in new locations or unbelievers moving to cities of refuge where they may first come face-to-face with the message of Jesus, the migrations of peoples do not happen as an afterthought in the heart of God. The church may be oblivious to such workings of the Spirit, but the seasons and times of life are part of the King working out his plan to redeem the peoples of this world from the bondage of the wicked one.

Until that day when the kingdoms of this world will all bow to the true King, the church is to be on a mission, making disciples of all nations and teaching them obedience (Matthew 28:20). While a major part of making disciples occurs as we go throughout the world (Matthew 28:19), we must realize that the divine Maestro has been orchestrating the movement of peoples into our neighborhoods. He has been bringing the peoples of the uttermost parts of the world into our communities.

While this book in no way diminishes the importance of churches in the Western world going to other nations to reach peoples with the gospel, this book does offer a challenge to Western churches: what are you doing to reach, equip, partner with, and send the strangers next door back to their loved ones with the good news? Are they simply strangers with strange ways, or do you realize the Great Commission opportunity that is present?

Other Writings to Date

At the time I am writing, this book is one of only a few resources that attempt to address the issue of migration to Western nations in light of the Great Commission. I certainly hope this situation changes soon, for the need is great for such publications. Thorsten Prill’s Global Mission on Our Doorstep: Forced Migration and the Future of the Church is a helpful work related to understanding the realities for mission that migration provides. Philip and Kandace Connor self-published Who Is My Neighbor? Reaching Internationals in North America, a small but excellent book on the topic. Glenn Rogers has written North American Cross-Cultural Church Planting, addressing the need for cross-cultural work and methods for planting churches among immigrants. Other recent publications that have been helpful include David Boyd’s You Don’t Have to Cross the Ocean to Reach the World: The Power of Local Cross-Cultural Ministry and Donna S. Thomas’s Faces in the Crowd: Reaching Your International Neighbor for Christ.

Several years ago Tom Phillips and Bob Norsworthy wrote The World at Your Door: Reaching International Students in Your Home, Church, and School; Lawson Lau wrote The World at Your Doorstep: A Handbook for International Student Ministry; and Brian Seim edited Canada’s New Harvest: Helping Churches Touch Newcomers.

There is a growing new category in the area of missions known as diaspora missiology, which I will briefly discuss in a later chapter. There is a small but growing amount of literature in this area. Enoch Wan edited Missions Within Reach: Intercultural Ministries in Canada, coedited with Sadiri Joy Tira Missions Practice in the 21stCentury, and coedited with Michael Pocock Missions from the Majority World: Progress, Challenges, and Case Studies. These three works contain a wealth of chapters related to reaching, equipping, and sending migrants across the world. Luis Pantoja Jr., Sadiri Joy Tira, and Enoch Wan edited Scattered: The Filipino Global Presence, which examines the work of believers comprising the Filipino diaspora. Jehu J. Hanciles examined the African diaspora in his recent work Beyond Christendom: Globalization, African Migration, and the Transformation of the West. And S. Hun Kim and Wonsuk Ma edited a book on the Korean diaspora titled Korean Diaspora and Christian Mission.

While this book draws from many of these excellent publications, it offers the first extensive treatment of the connection of missions and migration to the West. While this book is a serious scholarly treatment of the topic including much statistical data, I have worked hard to prevent it from reading like an academic treatise. My desire from the beginning has been that you will be able to grasp the truth of a very weighty issue and make practical adjustments in life and ministry in relation to the Great Commission opportunities that migration provides.

So now that you have a glimpse of what this book addresses, I invite you to travel with me into the world of global migrations. As you read through this book, it is my prayer that you will develop a vision for the harvest fields that will result in action. I hope that you will develop a heart for reaching, equipping, partnering, and sending migrants to the least reached nations of the world. The Lord of the harvest is actively at work in his world through the movement of peoples for the advancement of his kingdom. May the strangers next door that you meet this morning become your brothers and sisters in the Lord this afternoon and go to the nations later this evening.

1 Immigration, Migration, and Kingdom Perspective

My name is Jo. I left my country six years ago looking for hope and a better life for my family. I came to this country to find a higher paying job so that I could take care of my wife and five children. I came here so my children could have an opportunity to receive a good education. I moved to here in search of prosperity. What I found was twelve-hour workdays and very little time with my children. The longer we are here, the more I fear my children will forget who they are and where they come from; I want them to remember our language, our culture, and our family values. Very few people have befriended us. I miss the tight-knit community in my home country. We are so lonely here. Where is our hope? Who will be our friend?

My name is Fatima. I came to this country five years ago with my eleven children after my husband was killed during the war in my country. Before coming to this country, we spent many years in a refugee camp in another country near our home. Life there was very hard. We had little food, and there was no schooling for my children. I gave birth to my youngest child in that camp. Then we received the news that we were allowed to come to this country. We did not know the language and had very little money. When we arrived in the city, we lived in a bad part of town. I was mugged once and my children were harassed daily. We were completely lost and lonely. My knowledge of the language is still poor. We all still have nightmares about the things that happened in our own country. We also fear what will happen to us here in this new country. How will we survive? Does anyone care?

My name is May. I am an international student at the university. My dream is to become very successful and make my family and my country proud. It is a great honor to be able to come to this country to study, but taking classes in a different language is very hard. It is also difficult to be separated from my family. In my country, three generations of a family usually live together in one house. Here at the university, I live all by myself. I spend a great amount of time studying, and most of the time I am lonely. I want to get to know some nationals, but everyone seems so busy and like they are in such a hurry. Does anyone care? Who will be my family while I am here? [1]

While not all migrants share the same stories, Jo, Fatima, and May represent a great number of people migrating to countries across the world. For some, migration offers hope for a better way of life financially and educationally; for others, migration provides a way to escape persecution, war, and death. Highly skilled specialists and entrepreneurs migrate to a much better standard of living and quality of life than the family that is forced to relocate because of genocide. Some individuals and families move to other countries to be greeted by family and friends who preceded them, and who are able to offer some stability and security to their newly arriving relatives. Others arrive as students, refugees, or workers, knowing few, if any, people.

Though the stories are not exactly alike, all migrants have stories to tell. While it is important for us to hear such stories, having a kingdom perspective requires that we are praying and looking for opportunities for the stories of migrants to intersect with the story of Jesus, so that their future stories involve him.

Terminology and Types of Migration

At the risk of being labeled too simplistic when it comes to the topic of migration, I offer some simple explanations and definitions of commonly used words in the field of migration studies. Since this is not a book primarily addressing migration theories or contemporary secular issues in migration studies, I will leave the more robust discussions and definitions to the work of other scholars. With such a disclaimer in mind, I want to turn your attention to a brief overview of the different types of migration.

In his work The History of Human Migration, Russell King shared three common divisions related to migration that will assist us in “creating a conceptual map of human mobility.”[2] While King rightly recognized that there are limitations to these divisions (e.g., some migration situations cannot be easily divided but can be classified according to both divisions), migration is sometimes referred to as being internal or international (e.g., moving to a different location in one’s country versus moving to a different country altogether); forced or voluntary (e.g., moving due to being forced into slavery versus moving out of a desire to live with relatives); and permanent or temporary (e.g., moving for indefinite employment versus moving for seasonal employment).[3]

While these three common divisions are helpful to keep in mind, it is also important that you are aware of the meanings of a few words used throughout this book. Migration is the movement of a people from one location of residence to another location of residence. Throughout this book, I use this term to refer to a very broad range of people on the move. Migrants can refer to those who would be categorized as long-term workers or short-term workers, students, refugees, stateless peoples, asylum seekers, and people in the process of immigrating as well as those who have immigrated to another country.

Immigration is understood as the movement of a people into a different country to settle.

Emigration is the departure from one’s country to settle elsewhere.

Refugee can be a challenging word to define, so I will use a commonly accepted definition. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, the 1951 Refugee Convention establishing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees notes that a refugee is a person “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”[4] An asylum seeker is a person who claims to be a refugee, but whose claim has not yet been definitively evaluated.[5]

I recognize that we typically hear the word immigration used more often than migration. It should be noted, however, that throughout this book I often use the latter word to communicate the overarching notion of the movement of all kinds of peoples across the world. While issues related to the movement of peoples from one country to another to settle for permanent residence (immigration) are very important matters today, the church must recognize that such movements are not limited only to those who will take up citizenship in another land but include the temporary resident as well.

Stephen Castles and Mark J. Miller offered some helpful information regarding two additionally important terms: foreign born and foreign national:

The foreign born include persons who have become naturalized, that is, who have taken on the nationality (or citizenship) of the receiving country. . . . The category excludes children born to immigrants in the receiving country (the second generation) if they are citizens of that country. The term foreign nationals excludes those who have taken on the nationality of the receiving country, but includes children born to immigrants who retain their parents’ nationality (which can be a large proportion of the second and even third generations in countries which do not confer citizenship by right of birth).[6]

Kingdom Perspective on Global Migrations

The history of humanity is a history of migration. Ever since the exodus from Eden (Genesis 3:23–24), men and women have been on the move. The expansion of the Europeans in the 1500s began a new era in the history of migration. While the nineteenth and twentieth centuries recorded large movements of peoples across the globe, mainly from Europe to the United States, the latter part of the twentieth and early twenty-first century has revealed that migration is now more of a global phenomenon. Globalization—with advances in telecommunications, faster and safer forms of transportation, as well as new political structures—has helped facilitate the movement of large numbers of people on a global scale. Such matters have caught the attention of many scholars. Castles and Miller titled their highly praised book The Age of Migration because numerous momentous events across the globe now involve international migration. And according to these authors, there are several reasons to expect this age of migration to continue:

Growing inequalities in wealth between the North and South are likely to impel increasing numbers of people to move in search of better living standards; political, environmental, and demographic pressures may force many people to seek refuge outside their own countries; political or ethnic conflict in a number of regions could lead to future mass flights; and the creation of new free trade areas will cause movements of labor, whether or not this is intended by the governments concerned. But migration is not just a reaction to difficult conditions at home; it is also motivated by the search for better opportunities and lifestyles elsewhere. It is not just the poor who move; movements between rich countries are increasing too. Economic development of poorer countries can actually lead to greater migration because it gives people the resources to move. Some migrants experience abuse or exploitation, but most benefit and are able to improve their lives through mobility. Conditions may be tough for migrants but are often preferable to poverty, insecurity, and lack of opportunities at home—otherwise migration would not continue.[7]