By Missionaries Serving in Dearborn
Dearborn, Michigan, sits right at Detroit’s doorstep. At times the line between the two seems blurred. The original Ford plant and Ford’s ubiquitous presence add uniqueness to Dearborn, but there’s something of far greater significance that makes Dearborn stand alone among American cities, and for that matter among all the cities in the world.
Here we have the largest concentration of Arab Muslims in any city outside the Middle East. Of just under 100,000 residents, more than 50,000 are Arab Muslims, a mix of immigrants and refugees and their descendants from Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, and elsewhere, creating a rich blend of unique yet very similar cultures. Nearby cities – Detroit, Hamtramck, Dearborn Heights, and others – host their own populations of Arab Muslims, totaling tens of thousands more. A tour of Dearborn reinforces the reality that God is bringing the nations to the US in significant numbers and, importantly, every Arab people group He has brought here is unreached, less than 5% evangelical Christians.
What We’re Doing in Dearborn
Team Expansion’s Dearborn team came together in summer 2016 with two families. Another family plans to join the team in 2022. We are among the only workers in Dearborn practicing DMM (Disciple Making Movement) principles. Among other things we teach ESL, provide humanitarian relief to refugees, evangelize on the streets and in the shops, lead Discovery Bible Studies, create and send daily Pray4Dearborn.com prayer emails, mobilize and assist the local church, network and partner with other workers, host and train short-term teams, and gather regularly for focused corporate prayer. We practice broad Gospel sowing, we intentionally build and nurture relationships based on love and trust, and we do whatever else it might take to reach the goal of a movement of self-reproducing churches among Dearborn’s Arab Muslim population by 2024.
You Can Join the Work
Team Dearborn is actively seeking new disciple-making teammates. Dearborn is, by definition, a pioneer mission field and the workers are few. It’s also an easily accessible place where a vibrant Arab culture is pervasive and a place where we can openly and freely speak of the reason for the hope we have in Christ without providing an “official” reason for being here. Our Arab friends are among the most hospitable people we’ve ever known. There’s no ocean to cross and no need to leave at regular intervals to renew our visas.
We are now in what we have committed to being a never-ending season of boldly and aggressively praying big prayers, and God is answering them, giving us reason to believe that He is moving to fulfill His plan for the Muslims of this city. It’s an exciting time for anyone who’s called to use the gifts and talents God has given them to help catalyze a Disciple-Making Movement in Dearborn, Michigan.
Want to learn more about serving in Dearborn or wherever God has called you? Start a conversation by filling out this short form.
