Most of us probably missed that 2008 marked a turning point in world history; the number of people living in cities passed 50%. According to the UN, that number is growing by 187,000 each day as people are lured by better work prospects, education for their children, and improved medical care.  

Historically, mission efforts have centred around rural areas. I grew up reading stories of missionaries going to towns and villages where everyone knew everyone and sometimes entire villages decided to follow Jesus together. Many city-dwellers, however, no longer live near their wider family members and may not even know their neighbours. So how will the gospel spread in urban settings, especially Muslim cities? 

IT’S COMPLICATED 

Communities in the city are complex. When a family moves from a village to the city who are their people? New groupings evolve that are not based on family bloodlines, relationships are often weaker and people regularly move away. As mission fields become increasingly centred around cities we’re learning how the gospel can take root and bring transformation in diverse community structures.  

THE CHALLENGE OF AIR-CONDITIONERS 

I recently read of two teammates who live a couple of streets apart. On one street everyone knows each other because neighbours socialise outside in the summer evenings. Our worker on this street is fully connected and has opportunities to share. Yet just down the road his teammate struggles to connect as no one socialises outside the home. What’s the difference? Air-conditioners! On the first street people can’t afford them so take advantage of the cooler air outside. On the other street everyone has them so stay inside. Such a simple fact has a profound social impact.  

GOD LOVES CITIES 

As we look at the challenges rapid urbanisation presents we know God has a plan. Christians might have a negative view of city problems but God loves cities – it's his final grand design for his people (see Rev 21). For now, his desire is to bring his transforming presence into cities through us. Most of the book of Acts takes place inside the walls of the major cities of the Roman Empire. The early church grew rapidly in these places, and Paul almost exclusively concentrated his church planting activities there as that’s where he found many spiritually hungry people. 

CITY TREND-SETTERS 

Trends and fashions usually begin in the city and ripple outwards. Cities are the generators of new ways of doing things, both good and bad. Exchange of ideas and new affiliations, often restricted in small rural communities, can loosen ties to traditional ways of thinking. There is less pressure to conform and new freedoms can lead to receptivity to new ideas, providing opportunities for Muslims to consider the claims of Christ.  

DIVERSITY AND OPPORTUNITY 

Cities give us the chance to reach members of people groups who would otherwise be inaccessible. In a large city in Turkey, where our family lived, I’ve had the joy of making friends with people from parts of the country that had no believers and no witness. Some came to faith in Jesus, some didn’t, but many of them would invite me and my team mates to visit their home towns and villages. I had incredible opportunities to sit around eating and drinking chai with extended Muslim families, discussing faith and reading Bible stories. The gospel went wide because we had met in the city.  

This is nothing new: we learn that as a result of the apostle Paul spending two years in the metropolis of Ephesus, “all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.” (Acts 19:10). Paul and his apostolic teams understood the strategic nature of cities. As urbanisation hits record levels let’s get to grips with the opportunities God is giving us in our generation. Pray with us for the 240 teams in Frontiers, many of whom are working in megacities, and for the Lord to send more workers into the urban harvest fields.