WHO WE ARE

MISSION AND VISION
WHAT IS DIASPORA
WHAT ARE UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS

How We Started

In 1995, a small group of people identified a powerful opportunity in New York City. By discipling immigrants in New York City, they could send the gospel around the globe. By sharing their faith with international students, United Nations personnel, international business people, and ethnic communities, the group saw God begin planting churches both locally and globally. Over time, they recognized a need for more workers to receive training in diaspora ministry and start reaching immigrants in New York City. In 2010, International Project launched a one-year cross-cultural training program called “Equip.”

The vision was to send more workers into pioneer and diaspora ministries.  To date, more than 100 workers have received training through International Project. Many of these workers are serving Jesus in various cross-cultural contexts.

Our diverse family of 20+ workers are the true backbone of what we do. We are passionate about sustaining healthy teams and operating in an environment of grace and fun together. While our work remains centralized in New York City, we are actively expanding into other cities around the world.

How We Disciple

  • Providing open access to the gospel. We champion the right of every person to hear the Good News of Jesus in an understandable way. We start contextualized Bible studies, coach church planters, and share our faith with the communities in which we serve, and do life with those around us as Jesus did.
  • Providing services to enrich the lives of people living in ethnic communities. These services include conversation groups, acculturation activities for international students, and our community center and thrift store initiative. We always strive to seek, show, and tell the Gospel in everything we do. 

MISSION & VISION

International Project exists to initiate church planting movements through diaspora unreached people groups.

Reaching Immigrants in New York City
International Project exists to initiate church planting movements by reaching immigrants in New York City.
 
Let’s break it down together:
  • Initiate – We believe in indigenous leadership and contextualized worship. Thus, we will serve as coaches instead of overseers.
  • Church-Planting Movements – We are not satisfied with planting one church. Rather, we want to help plant churches that will plant other churches. 
  • Through – Diaspora ministry is key to unlocking their home countries to the Gospel. We want to see the Gospel extend out to the nations!
  • Diaspora – Those displaced in the United States should be opened to cross-cultural ministry.
  • Unreached people groups – God cares about all ethnic groups having access to the Gospel.
What We Believe

Who We Serve - Reaching Immigrants in New York City

Di·as·po·ra: the dispersion of any people from their original homeland.

Diaspora refers to groups of people who have migrated from their homeland and now live in a foreign culture. Because of migration, we have the opportunity to minister to groups of people who before had little to no access to the gospel.  
 
Engaging in diaspora ministry is strategic for many reasons, including:
  • The major change in their environment turns their worldview upside down. This leaves many individuals more open to the Gospel than they might have been if they stayed home.
  • Individuals are often highly connected to their families and friends back home in their countries of origin.  This is reflected by many money transfer businesses and shipping businesses in diaspora contexts as well as frequent conversational references to Skyping with family and friends.
 
  • Individuals in diaspora communities are often highly educated and relatively wealthy. This makes them influential in their communities.
  • They may travel back to their home countries frequently to visit friends and family.
When diaspora people receive the gospel in a Western setting, they are likely to share it with their new communities here and with their families and friends back home! Amazing, right?

WHAT ARE UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS?

There are approximately 2.4 billion people today who have no access to the gospel. These people are “unreached,” not only because of their spiritual lostness but also because of their limited access to the gospel.
 
According to the Joshua Project, a people group is: “A significantly large grouping of individuals who perceive themselves to have a common affinity with one another. For evangelization purposes, a people group is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.”
 
An “unreached people group” is often defined as a people group that is less than 2 percent evangelical Christian — a “critical mass.” At this point, missiologists have determined that the indigenous community can then spread the gospel themselves. Similar terms to unreached people groups include “least-reached,” “unengaged unreached people groups” (UUPG), and “last frontier people groups.” There are various terms and subcategories, but the vision remains the same. We want to see every people group reached with an active indigenous church spreading the gospel. We can accomplish this by reaching Immigrants in New York City.