The Settlement Of Christian Migrants In Ghana: A Study Of The Action Chapel International, Spintex Branch

Abstract

Marks-Williams (2016) contends that at any given time three percent of the world’s population is moving from one geographical area to another. Ter Haar (2001) asserts that the migration of people across geographical boundaries is a permanent phenomenon within human history. These assertions do indicate that for academic purposes migration has received a lot of attention from various disciplines for years. However, Frederiks (2015) posits that studying migration from the discipline of religion was a late entry into academia. This late entry has caused a disparity in the geographical areas for the study. Much of the focus has been on the global north. Due to this apparent paucity of empirical research in migration and religion that focuses on global south countries, particularly as destination areas in the migration process, thus this study sought to find out how Ghanaian churches help immigrants to settle in Ghana. This study employed the qualitative method using both case study and phenomenological approaches to find out how churches in Ghana help migrants to settle in Ghana using Action Chapel International (ACI), Spintex branch as the study area. The study established that Action Chapel International provided the environment and opportunities for migrant Christians to settle and integrate well into the Ghanaian society, especially those in the urban areas due to ad-hoc policies, positive perception towards migrants and an equal status granted to both migrants and Ghanaian church members. The study recommends that the church moves from ad-hoc policies to instituinalised policies for migrants. Moreover, the study recommends a broader teaching by the church especially into mainstream society about how migrants should be treated since there is a positive perception about migrants at the church.