Mission Strategy in the City: Cultivation of Inter-Ethnic Common Grounds

This book was written to suggest an appropriate mission strategy by identifying key issues that impact urban ethnicities through an urban socioanthropological lens. This book is based on the authors sixteen years of living in China where he conducted missionary work in urban areas. The book discusses the authors interactions with enclaves of ethnic minorities who had recently arrived in the city after migrating from rural areas. The minorities struggles to balance cultural assimilation and tradition preservation are highlighted throughout. The book explains that similar phenomena occur within Korean American communities in Los Angeles as well. Based on these observations the author states that immigrants in many cities face similar social issues and find similar resolutions to them. Though there are many negative aspects to urban areas readers will see some positive features of cities that can contribute to effective evangelism. The book highlights three main points: (1) Ethnic urban dwellers evolve into many more diverse ways than commonly thought. (2) Ethnic groups are actively choosing the future of their community types. (3) Modern cities create many new communication channels interethnically and also across social strata within ethnicities. This is a new and important contribution to urban mission studies. The impact of over a century of global urbanization has resulted in expanding increasingly complex numbers of multi-ethnic urban social networks within the worlds cities. Their resulting struggle between conflict and assimilation is creating a new family of micro mission fields which in turn require new missional responses. Kim provides us with the urban socio-anthropological lens we need to understand and respond in new ways. --Bryant L. Myers Professor of International Development School of Intercultural Studies Fuller Theological Seminary Dr. Enoch Kim is not an armchair theorist who sits in the office formulating urban mission strategies. He is a reflective practitioner when it comes to discussing the mission to the urbanites especially among non-western minority ethnic people groups living both in Asia as well as emigrants dwelling in large western cities. It will be a significant contribution for all of those who will be engaging in urban ministries in various forms. --David Tai Woong Lee Director of Global Leadership Focus Seoul Korea Enoch Kim has made a unique contribution to mission studies. In this one volume we are introduced to the study of the city we learn about the many ways we need to look at the city and we are shown how Christian mission needs to be shaped by urban studies. Those who hope to engage the cities of the world today would do well to start here: with Enoch Kim on the city. --Scott W. Sunquist Dean School of Intercultural Studies Fuller Theological Seminary Enoch Jinsik Kim is Assistant Professor of Communication and Mission Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary at Pasadena California. He is initiating professor of Doctor of Missiology program in Korean Studies there. His work has appeared in the International Journal of Frontier Missions the Korean Society of Missions Studies and Missiology.