Opportunities are mounting to take the Gospel to more newly-arrived Asian-Americans.
More than twice as many immigrants to the nation’s most populous state -- California -- now come from Asia than from Latin America, according to The New York Times.
Some of the largest increases in the Asian population were in wealthy white suburbs in the San Gabriel Valley. In the Los Angeles suburb of San Marino, just a generation ago, whites made up about two-thirds of the population, The New York Times found. Most of the homes here are worth significantly more than $1 million. Yet, Asians now make up more than half of the population in San Marino.
Many of the immigrants are from China and Taiwan. That’s where they were part of an equally educated and affluent group. They have excitedly bought property in places like San Marino, where the median income is almost double that of Beverly Hills and is home to one of the highest-performing school districts in the state. The local library now offers story time in Mandarin.
Hans Johnson, a demographer with the Public Policy Institute of California, said these patterns may be about particular places, but they are generally true for the nation. The majority of immigrants in California are from Latin America, but of those who have been arriving most recently, we see those arrivals are more likely to be Asians than Latin Americans.
“For a long time, the largest group of immigrants has been from Latin America. There’s been a pretty dramatic change in the last 10 years in California, since we now have twice as many immigrants from Asia as Latin America,” Johnson said. “The economy has dried up a lot of opportunities where a lot of Latin American immigrants have worked. A lot of immigrants from Asia come to America with degrees.”
How are we, as Christians, supposed to respond to immigrant of any sort or kind? Unsurprisingly, with love.
Leviticus 19:34 says, “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
Deuteronomy 10:19 asserts: “And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”
It’s also worth noting that God makes us part of his family when we’re born again in Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:19: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.”
God’s love is available to everyone, regardless of country of origin, race or creed. God adopts us as part of His family when we come to faith in His son Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the gospel. The good news is revealed in His birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension. Christ’s crucifixion is the heart of the Gospel; His resurrection is the power of the gospel and His ascension is the glory of the Gospel. Christ’s death is a substitutionary sacrifice to God for our sins. It satisfies the demands of God’s holy justice and appeases His holy wrath. It also demonstrates His mysterious love and reveals His amazing grace.
