The Front Doorstep of Christianity

As the center of Christianity shifts from the West (North America and Western Europe) to the Global South, grinding poverty is on the front doorstep — and in the front pews — of the church of Jesus Christ. The Global South includes 2.6 billion people who live on less than two dollars per day, and it is amongst these very poor people that the church is experiencing its most rapid growth.

As church historian Philip Jenkins notes, “The most successful new denominations target their message very directly at the have-nots, or rather, the have-nothings.” Moreover, as the church’s…