Christian Ministry Towards the Migrant Workers in Kerala

Human migration is the movement by people from one place to another with the intentions of settling temporarily or permanently in the new location for different reasons. Migration is a process in which an individual or a group shifts their residence from one place to another for their survival. People choose to move out of their family, friends and the society in which they are brought up, because of some significant reasons in their contexts. Migrant worker is a person who has moved from his so-called home base/home land to a new adopted home/land to earn for his livelihood.[1] In Kerala they are addressed by the Malyalees as ‘Bengalis’ or ‘Bhai.’ There is a great possibility to extend Christian ministry among these Bhais. According to Thomas O Meara, “Ministry is doing something for the advent of the kingdom in public on behalf of a Christian community which is a gift received in faith and which is an activity with its own limits and identity within a diversity of ministerial actions.[2] It is worth to know that migration is a topic that links to theological studies and pastoral ministry. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to examine the life of migrant workers in Kerala and the means of Christian ministry towards them.