Abstract
The Korean author, Enoch Kim, ministered in China for 16 years among the immigrant Hui (Muslim) minority living in Han (non-Muslim)-majority cities. His experiences aided in the writing of this volume that focuses on strategies for missions in world-class cities, using as a basis rural migrations to those cities. As such, the volume dedicates the major portion of its contents to the delineating the dynamics of the arrival of ethnic groups to the city and how they incorporate themselves into the city. His research is worthwhile.
Kim clearly believes that this process is a door for missioners to take advantage in connecting with the immigrants. The author investigates the fluid interaction within ethnicities in a city that has the ability to expand or contract new and old ethnicities in the city and thus open doors for ministry. This, however, comes with a caution for the missioner not to overlook the history of existing ethnic divisions that transfer to the city along with the migration, as to do so can affect ministry. Kim warns us that the mission “should not see the ethnic issue too naively, but quite realistically. If not, though those ethnicities can gather together in a church for a while, it may not sustain for long.” Kim wants missionaries to understand the dynamics of ethnic segregation so that “they can have a realistic alternative and establish an effective mission strategy.”
Although cities do present challenges for sharing the gospel, it also presents opportunities for sharing the gospel. One of those is exploiting “urban junctures.” This is where various ethnics, along with missioners, can easily meet without many of the restrictions one will find within ethnic enclaves.
A couple issues do detract from the overall value of the book, one of which is a poor conclusion as it just ends without bringing together the various strands of methodologies integrated throughout the book. Another detracting aspect was the feeling that I was reading a PhD dissertation with its concomitant grammatical issues of syntax and spelling. On the plus side, this book is a must-read for mission candidates, particularly from those communities in the USA that are geographically and culturally isolated, as they would be less exposed to the ethnic dynamics of world-class cities.