Diaspora ministry in Detroit

Metro Detroit is a mosaic of people and cultures: South Asian Indians in Farmington, Chinese in Madison Heights, Arabs in Dearborn, Bangladeshi in Hamtramck, and Japanese in Novi. Each culture brings restaurants, grocery stores, customs and beliefs. Many of these immigrants come from areas of the world where there is little access to the gospel and belong to people groups considered by missiologists as unreached or least-reached.

SEND International is committed to reaching unreached people groups throughout North America with the gospel and seeing culturally appropriate churches develop that can minister to these communities both here and abroad.

We envision our Metro Detroit work as a collection of teams working with different unreached people groups throughout the area and coaching churches to reach the immigrants around them. Currently, we have teams working with two distinct people groups.

Central Asian Team

Central Asians are rather new to Detroit. In 2017, our team first met a Central Asian family while teaching English in an Arab-dominated community. Over time, the number of Central Asian immigrants and refugees has continued to increase to the point where the team has decided to focus on them.

Central Asians in Metro Detroit face difficulty because they are often placed in Arabic-speaking neighborhoods by resettlement agencies when they arrive, although they do not speak Arabic. One family in dismay said to us that they feel like they are living in the Middle East and not in America. This cultural difference, though often unnoticed by Americans, is very real and often leads to prejudice and racism. Focusing on this community allows our team to create value and meet unique needs for these people.

The team’s desire is to serve Central Asians in love, to help them explore who Jesus is, and to see vibrant, reproducing churches develop. The team is building relationships with this group through English programs as well as one-on-one tutoring and meeting people’s practical needs. Through these relationships and programs, students are able to improve their English, which allows them to get better jobs, deepen their connection to their local community and not feel isolated.

These programs also provide opportunities for students to build relationships with Americans who can help them with other issues they face in their American experience, as well as just be a friend. Through these relationships, our team is sharing Biblical truth and praying that God would bless them with the fullness of life that only he can offer.

South Asian Team

In many of the suburbs surrounding Detroit, God is bringing young, professional South Asian Indians to come work in the growing healthcare and information technology fields. In fact, the population of South Asian Indians in Metro Detroit quadrupled from 1990 to 2004. This has led many communities to see Indian restaurants and grocery stores emerge as well as the building of Hindu temples.

This group of Hindu and secular professionals has been on our hearts and in our prayers for some time, and we are excited that a new team is launching to love and share the gospel in this community. Currently, our team leader is getting to know the community better so that he can see their needs and how the gospel may best flow through this community. Pray that God will give us wisdom, direction, and people of peace as we join with what God is doing in this community.



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March 7, 2025 Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution only to break it in less than a week? On March 1, 1.8 billion Muslims began their annual fasting month called Ramadan. They are supposed to fast completely—no water or food—during daylight hours from March 1–Mar 29. It begins with much fanfare, promises, and declarations, as fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims believe that faithfully keeping the fast ensures one’s place of favor with God. But many Muslims won’t be able to keep the fast through the whole 30 days. The reasons and excuses are myriad. Sometimes they will continue to claim to be fasting, but in reality, they are eating behind closed doors. To gain God’s favor, they must fast through the whole month, not just part of it. So, they live with the guilt and shame of not fulfilling the requirements of Islam. What was supposed to help gain their salvation now stands in condemnation. A Feast Within the Fast To complicate matters even more, Persian New Year’s Day is March 20, right in the middle of the fasting month. Persian New Year is one of the most important cultural holidays for most Iranian and Afghans, as well as many others with a Persian background scattered throughout Central Asia and the Middle East. In fact, many people with Persian heritage don’t just celebrate on one day. Their New Year’s celebrations extend over two weeks! How do they reconcile these two weeks of festivities within Ramadan? For Arab Muslims, it is a non-issue. But for the Persian world, it IS a struggle. The hard-core Taliban will try to push people to keep the fast. However, many will lean more towards keeping their more ancient pre-Islamic traditions of New Year’s. I would encourage you to take time to explore with your Muslim neighbors and colleagues why they fast. Then share why Christians fast. Perhaps read Isaiah 58 with them, summarize it, and ask for their thoughts on this passage. One more thing to note during Ramadan is the Night of Power. Each year, during Ramadan, on or about the 27th day of the month, there is a special time called the Night of Power. This year it will happen on or around March 26. Muslims believe the Night of Power is when Mohammad first received the revelations of the Quran from the Angel Gabriel. Prayers offered up by Muslims during Ramadan—especially prayers in a mosque—are believed to be weightier than prayers at any other time. However, prayers on this special Night of Power, prayed in a mosque, are considered infinitely more valuable than any other prayer. Many Muslims will stay up all night praying on the Night of Power to earn extra points with God. There is a small problem in all of this, though—Muslims can’t agree on which night is actually the Night of Power. It is sometime during the last ten days of Ramadan, with tradition stating that it is on the 26th or 27th night. There are several resources to help Christians and churches pray for the Muslim world through this month of Ramadan. I would encourage you to connect with some or all of them. Please make others in your church aware of these resources. Perhaps you could even host a special prayer time at your church, utilizing these resources. Ramadan 30-Day Prayer Guide Booklet – This can be purchased as a hard copy or PDF. Prayercast – A wonderful website with many videos on the Muslim world. If you sign up, you can receive daily prayer videos that also work great during a Sunday worship service to help raise awareness of the need for prayer for the Muslim world.
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