About Us

Our Philosophy

GDN seeks to mobilize followers of Jesus to fulfill God’s missional purposes among the people on the move. We operate under the Lausanne Movement and embrace its philosophy of ministry: “Together we seek to bear witness to Jesus Christ and all his teachings, in every part of the world—not only geographically, but in every sphere of society and in the realm of ideas”.

Our Vision

Our vision is to see the global Church empowered and responding effectively to the missional opportunities presented by global migration and diaspora communities. Further, we envision leading seminaries and learning institutions across the globe providing focused training in diaspora missiology that will produce leaders who are equipped for Spirit-filled engagement in mission to, through and beyond the people on the move.

Our Goal

Following the Seoul Declaration on Diaspora Missiology in 2009 and the Cape Town Commitment’s call to action regarding people on the move in 2010, GDN organized the Global Diaspora Forum, an international gathering of diaspora specialists, experts, agency and organizational leaders, and missions practitioners in March 2015 in Manila, Philippines. The Forum helped to produce Scattered and Gathered: A Global Compendium of Diaspora Missiology as a landmark resource for training for missional engagement in today’s borderless world. In light of the release of this comprehensive text, GDN is now focused on equipping a new generation of diaspora leaders, workers and missiological researchers for mission among diasporas in the 21st century. GDN has crafted The Singapore Resolution to help guide our way forward in this next phase.

Our Mandate

 

The People On The Move have serious implications for world evangelization; therefore GDN focuses its mandate on the following:

1. Accelerate the development of diaspora missiology (i.e., a missiological framework for understanding and participating in God’s redemptive mission among people living outside their place of origin) in leading seminaries, universities, and learning institutions in order to produce scholars, organizational and government leaders and practitioners who are better equipped for mission in the 21st century.

2. Because “People On The Move” are not only subjects of evangelism and mission, but have also become powerful agents of gospel proclamation, GDN aims to catalyze the global Church to demonstrate and proclaim the whole gospel to, through and beyond diasporas scattered everywhere.

3. GDN fosters theological thinking in various dialogues and consultations with other reflective practitioners and scholars in diaspora in order to develop interdisciplinary curriculum, courses, programs, research projects and publications, resource books, and textbooks for mission and ministry education at all levels.

4. Network with fellow academics, mission agencies, NGOs, and local churches as much as possible and encourage the development of similar networks, think tanks, associations, organizations and movements.

Executive Committee

Rev. Dr. TV Thomas

Chairman
Malaysia and Canada

Rev. Barnabas Moon

Vice Chairman
South Korea

Dr. Sam George

Lausanne Catalyst for Diaspora
India and USA

Rev. Art Medina

Secretary/Treasurer
Philippines

Dr. Paul Sydnor

Member
USA and France

Dr. Bulus Galadima

Member
Nigeria and USA

Core Team

Dr. Sadiri Joy Tira

Diaspora Missiology Educators Task Force

Katherine Lorance

Director of Prayer Mobilization

Joel Wright

Director of Social Media

International Board of Reference

  • Michael Oh, Executive Chair/CEO, Lausanne Movement
  • Daniel Bourdanne, General Secretary, International Fellowship of Evangelical Students
  • Samuel Escobar, renowned Latin American Missiologist
  • Patrick Fung, General Director, OMF International
  • Peter Kuzmic, Professor of Missions at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
  • See-Young Lee, former Ambassador to the United Nations, Republic of Korea
  • Bishop Efraim Tendero, CEO/Secretary General, World Evangelical Alliance
  • Henri Aoun, President, Life Agape International
  • Jack Klemke, Chair, The Klemke Foundation
  • Elias Medeiros, Professor of Missiology, Reformed Theological Seminary
  • Doug Nichols, Founder, Action International Ministries
  • Mike Adegbile, former Executive Secretary, National Evangelical Missions Association
  • Lisa Espineli-Chinn, Ministry Coach/Mentor, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship
  • Eldon Porter, Global Connections Consultant, Missio Nexus