Mid-Point City

I want to introduce a concept I think is more helpful than urbanization as we think about reaching people where we love and work.  It is what I am calling the mid-point city.  Probably some demographer has an official word, and I confess my ignorance and make apologies for not knowing it.  I hope the concept is helpful as we think about reaching people with the gospel.  This is the size of the city in which the individual lives where 50% of the people live in larger cities and 50% in smaller places.

The size of the mid-point city has been the focus of many questions during the seminars I have been present.  Answers were problematic for three reasons:

1. Answer often received was one million.  The real percentage of people living in cities of over one million is 18% worldwide and 8% in the USA.

2.  The second most popular answer was half a million.  The percentages go up, but still fall well under the 50% threshold.  By the way, I don't harbor a smidgen of regret for answers one and two; these were assumptions I had and simply accepted them until I actually thought about the population and city sizes in places I had lived.

3.  The third answer was the right one, not known, and it set me on a search for the answer in a few countries that affect my work.

4.  Common sense, and now some research, seem to show the mid-point city is a lot smaller than anticipated.

Work is still being done in compiling lists of all cities in each country I am interested in.  These have to be checked, verified, and checked again and again.  Sociology students at Ouachita Baptist University and a very generous sociology professor have greatly accelerated the process.  Once I get the spreadsheets done as well as possible, I will send them to team leaders and ask for further refinement.  However, here are the current figures for mid-point cities in Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

• Croatia -6,712

• Czech Republic -12,461

• Hungary -11,171

• Poland -17,924

• Slovakia -12,381

• Slovenia - 2,162

Two of the countries, Poland and Slovakia, need a lot more review.  The numbers are close, but I am not as confident in them as I am the others.  Notice Bosnia is left out.  Not because it is impossible to do, though Bosnian census data is difficult to interpret, but because I am interested in only a part of Bosnia and am not sure how to approach the project.  Actually, I am sure that I simply need to get a map, determine which places are in the area I am interested in, and do it one city at a time  As of yet I been unwilling to pay the price.

Keep in mind that 50% of the population of these counties live in towns and villages smaller than the populations listed.  There are some significant implication for how we reach out to the people we serve, but more of that later.

Urban Equals City?

No, urban does not equal city and this is the root of my misunderstanding of the world-is-50%-urban-and-we-all-need-to-focus-on-the-big-cities teaching I have been hearing over the past few years.

I grew up in Weatherford, Oklahoma; a great town to grow up in, but certainly not an urban center.  Not the way I grew up thinking of urban and rural.  I have always thought of it as a rural Oklahoma town of about 10,000.  Little did I know, the U.S. Census Bureau lists Weatherford and Arkadelphia, where I now live, as urban.  It is amazing how small a place can be and still be considered urban.

Strategically there is still great value is focusing on the big cities.  Ed Stetzer said, "I've said before that any global network or denomination or wanting to be serious about church planting and global missions has to be serious about cities-- actually, if you are not serious about cities, you're not being serious about a holistic mission strategy. That's a bit of a shock to some denominations with rural histories and constituencies, but any denomination serious about church planting and missions MUST factor cities into their total strategy."  He is right.  Cities are major hubs of the world and give tremendous opportunity for the gospel and present unique challenges.

However, the dividing line is not urban vs. rural.  82% of America is considered urban, one of the most urbanized countries in the world.  That came as a shock to a boy from western Oklahoma with west Texas roots.

In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau distinction between urban and rural is this:

The Census Bureau identifies two types of urban areas:

• Urbanized Areas (UAs) of 50,000 or more people;
• Urban Clusters (UCs) of at least 2,500 and less than 50,000 people.

“Rural” encompasses all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area.

Obviously, the definition for urban means it does not equal city.  Places with 2,500 are considered urban!  You can explore the site linked above.

However, more interesting for the work we do is the United Nations definition of urban.  Simply put, they don't have one.  Each country makes their own definition and that makes for some interesting and rather humorous reading, but let me focus on the countries I am most interested in and conclude this with a list.  You can find the link used for the definitions here, and that for the percentages here.

• Bosnia does not have a U.N. Urbanization Prospectus definition available and I don't know what criteria they used.  The percentage of urban population listed by the World Bank (several data sources have been researched and there is no significant difference) is 49%.

• Croatia does not have a U.N. Urbanization Prospectus definition available and I don't know what criteria they used.  The percentage of urban population listed by the World Bank (several data sources have been researched and there is no significant difference) is 58%.

• Czech Republic defines urban as, "Municipalities with 2,000 inhabitants or more."  The percentage of urban population listed by the World Bank (several data sources have been researched and there is no significant difference) is 74%.

• Hungary defines urban as, "Budapest and all legally designated towns."  The percentage of urban population listed by the World Bank (several data sources have been researched and there is no significant difference) is 68%.

• Poland defines urban as, "Towns and settlements of urban nature (for example, workers' settlements, fishermen's settlements and health resorts)."  By the way, Wisla, home of our last two AGM's is considered urban.  The percentage of urban population listed by the World Bank (several data sources have been researched and there is no significant difference) is 61%.

• Slovakia defines urban as, "Cities with 5,000 inhabitants or more."  The percentage of urban population listed by the World Bank (several data sources have been researched and there is no significant difference) is 57%.

• Slovenia defines urban with the most complicated formula of these countries, "Settlements with over 3,000 inhabitants; settlements with 2,000-3,000 inhabitants and a surplus of workplaces; settlements that are seats of municipalities and have at least 1,400 inhabitants and a surplus of workplaces; suburban settlements that have fewer inhabitants but are spatially and functionally integrated with the city.  The percentage of urban population listed by the World Bank (several data sources have been researched and there is no significant difference) is 48%.

Urbanization Confusion

At least I was confused.  For a few years I have been hearing the world is over 50% urban; however, when I looked at the small part of the world I know - Oklahoma and a few central European countries - the numbers just did not make sense.  I would ask questions trying to define urban but answers were few and far between and when given, very different from one another.  So what to do?

The blessing of serving at Ouachita Baptist University this school year it that is has given me the opportunity to consider the implications of urbanization for central Europe and to answer some of those questions that seemed to have no answers.  Better than having the opportunity, OBU has provided me with real sociologists with real training.  I feel better about sharing these things due to their expertise.

I have been hearing that we need to focus all of our efforts in urban areas, for the obvious reason that we need to be where the people are.  I have heard this portrayed as either meaning that our personnel should be in cities of over a half million or in cities that are a million or more.  Several of my colleagues, team leaders, began asking if they would have to move and whether or not this was really true in our part of the world.

The information that will follow in the next few days is intended to examine these things and evaluate what urbanization means for our job in central Europe.  I think it is significant for decisions and attitudes as we try to share the gospel in central Europe.

Last, I have been very slow to say these things and have given trained sociologists, demographers, and urban researchers a chance to look at it.  Some have gone the extra mile and then some to help me.  I am very thankful for their input and guidance.  There are a few that have been a bit defensive about the topic, as if I was attacking them.  Phone calls have taken care of that perception, but I want to say all the research on urbanization is worthwhile and significant for missions around the world.

I simply don't think urbanization means quite what we have assumed and that a better understanding of it helps us share the gospel with the world in a more effective manner.

Oklahoma City at its best!

Religion and Jesus

Interesting video, full of truth we need to hear.

Family and Friends Letter

It has been so wonderful to be in Arkansas this fall as the colors of the leaves were breathtaking!  They have all blown away and we are having some cool temperatures now.

We have been able to see lots of our family members in the last 6 weeks with a few trips to Weatherford, OK, an early Thanksgiving trip to Decatur, AL with Elise's Dad and Barb to visit Elise's brother and sister-in-law,

and Ryan was able to come from CA to visit us over Thanksgiving!  It was so special to be with our sons and Trey's family for Thanksgiving.  It has 8 years since we have celebrated Thanksgiving with family!  We truly are thankful for the extra time that we have had with family during this stateside assignment and look forward to celebrating Christmas and New Year's holidays with Elise's family in Austin, TX.
Both Ryan and Bret will get to join us for the entire Christmas break!

We are feeling much more settled at OBU (Ouachita Baptist University) and enjoying the students, opportunities to minister to them, as well as teach ESL (English as a Second Language).   Thanks for praying for our trip with the International students to Branson, MO.  It was great to be able to hang out with the International students for such an extended period of time.  We will be helping to host a Christmas Party for these students this Thursday and have been invited to their party on Monday!  PRAY for many more opportunities to share our faith in Christ with them and for the students to have open and receptive hearts.

Bret and his basketball coaches have decided it's best for him to red shirt his freshman year.  He would only have a maximum of 5-10 minutes of playing time per game this year and Bret decided that he would prefer to have another year to get stronger, improve his game, and still have 4 years of playing time since he is planning on getting his Master's in Education.  Thank you for praying for this very important decision for Bret.

This is the time of year when many Baptist Churches give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for IMB as well as other World Missions Offerings.  We want to thank many of you who give to these offerings so that we can fulfill the call that God has placed on our lives to go and tell the good news of Jesus Christ.  We have several opportunities to speak at different events as a prelude to the Christmas holidays...five to be exact!  PRAY that God would give us His words and leadership as we seek to share our heart for the Lord, Europeans and for the world.

We pray that this Christmas season will be a wonderful time of pondering and experiencing the incredible gift that we have received in and through Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection.

In His Love,
Trey and Elise