Immigration is a boon and a wakeup call for the Church. The un-evangelized are being brought to its doorstep, but more importantly, Christian migrants are swelling the ranks of the faithful. This is true for Catholic, Protestant and Independent Christian groups.

• The influx of Christian migrants from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean provides a much-needed impetus to church life. Some claim that almost 50% of the EU's migrants are church members. The sheer numerical presence of Christians as a result of immigration has shored up a flagging Church.
• Christian immigrants' spiritual vibrancy, evangelistic passion and confidence in the gospel are making an impact on religious life in Europe. Many Christian migrants come from nations where persecution is common and where other religions are the majority. Their bold witness and unswerving faith is much needed in the West. Praise God for such faith; pray that it might yield fruit and rub off onto the indigenous Christians of Europe.
• Cross-cultural mission to Europe is changing and growing:
  • Until now, immigrant churches focused almost solely on evangelizing their own nationality or closely related ethnicities. But this is changing. More and more, there is a vision to reach out cross-culturally to their host nations. Pray for this vision to grow, and for wisdom in transplanting the Christian faith from Majority World cultures onto European soil.
  • Intentional missionary service from overseas to Europe was once dominated by the US. This has been reduced, but new waves of African, Latin American and Asian missionaries are coming and serving in many ways. Pray for adequate preparation, for realistic expectations and for effective outreach that remains focused on its goal. It is easy to get side-tracked into ministering in responsive immigrant churches rather than continuing to till the hard soil of the spiritually needy European communities.