It's a shocking statistic, but true. Christianity Today reports: "… new research in Gordon-Conwell's Center for the Study of Global Christianity's Christianity in its Global Context, 1970-2020. Missiologist Todd M. Johnson and his team found that 20 percent of non-Christians in North America really do not 'personally know' any Christians. That's 13,447,000 people—about the population of metropolitan Los Angeles or Istanbul—most of them in the United States."

The biggest factor in those surprising numbers? Immigration. Many immigrants (many of whom come from countries with little Christian witness) join existing immigrant populations. And relationships across those boundaries are rare. "Migrants move into enclaves and don't venture out. But even Christians who live close to Chinatowns and Little Italys don't often venture in …"

Possible Preaching Angle:

It begs two questions: how can we love our neighbors if we don't know them? And why venture overseas for expensive mission trips when a cross cultural experience may only be a block away?