Equipped to Welcome & Enabled to Belong

Hosted jointly by Welcome Churches and Mission Action Partnership (MAP)

Equipped to Welcome & Enabled to Belong is an in-person day conference in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland for churches and refugees following Jesus to learn more about welcome and belonging in the local church.

Welcome Churches’ vision is for every refugee and migrant to be welcomed by their local church. Bringing together Christians arriving and settling in Northern Ireland and the churches that are welcoming them, this event is a unique opportunity to celebrate the incredible contributions that refugees, people seeking asylum and migrants make to their local communities.

Equipped to Welcome, Enabled to Belong is also a place for people of all cultural backgrounds and experiences to discuss the role of the Church as part of the integration of new arrivals in the NI. Come ready to be inspired, informed and connected.

Who is the this event for?

Church leaders and volunteers who are committed to helping refugees and people seeking asylum, Welcome Network churches, Welcome Plus churches, churches who are at the beginning of learning how to support refugees as well as those who have many years of experience.

Refugees and people seeking asylum who are followers of Jesus

Equipped to Welcome, Enabled to Belong is a unique opportunity to come together as Christians, encourage one another and build connections and community.

Why should I attend?

Celebrate and learn from the array of knowledge, gifts and experiences of refugees
Hear stories of God’s faithfulness to refugees and people seeking asylum.
Experience multilingual worship in a larger setting
Be inspired to learn and grow together in our intercultural church communities
Be equipped to provide practical and emotional support and welcome.
Learn new ways to reach refugees and people seeking asylum in your local community.
Support the Christian refugee community by gathering together

The role of churches in refugee achievement

The journey of refugees, people seeking asylum and migrants continues once they arrive in Northern Ireland. Migrants face many challenges on arrival, including social isolation, language barriers, mental wellbeing problems and financial pressures. Yet with the support and encouragement of communities of Christians across NI, migrants are able to re-establish their lives, and contribute richly to our churches and communities.

What will the day look like?

9 .30am - 10am : Registration opens
1 0am - 11am : Main session 1
1 1am - 11.30am : Coffee break
1 1.30am - 12.45pm : Choice of seminars
1 2.45pm - 1.45pm : Hot lunch provided
1 .45pm - 3pm : Choice of seminars
3 pm - 4pm : Main session 2
4 pm : End

Food

There will be refreshments in the form of tea, coffee, and scones; a hot lunch will also be provided as part of your ticket price.

Refunds Policy

In the unlikely event that you need to cancel your ticket for this event, please note that Eventbrite will retain 6.95% of the ticket cost, plus £0.59, plus VAT at 20%. Unfortunately, we are not able to process any refunds after Wednesday, 13 September.

Main sessions

Morning:

Living out the Biblical call to welcome

Ivan Steen, South Kirk Presbyterian Church

Bio:

There is a Biblical mandate for welcoming those who are seeking refuge and asylum here, as followers of Jesus we are called to join in with what God is already doing. How are we as the ‘Church’ called to love, serve and welcome and how is God using this as a blessing to us as well as those we are welcoming?

Afternoon:

Integration and discipleship of refugees in the local church

Samuel Luak, Welcome Churches

In this session, Samuel will share practical strategies for integrating and discipling refugees within local church communities. Samuel will discuss the specific challenges and opportunities that arise when welcoming refugees and offer guidance on creating a supportive environment. Samuel looks forward to helping participants learn how to make refugees feel included and supported while enriching their church communities. This talk aims to provide actionable insights for promoting both the emotional and spiritual growth of refugees.

Bio:

Samuel Luak, a Finnish citizen from Sudan, directs Refugee Integration, Discipleship, and Leadership programmes at Welcome Churches in the UK. A qualified lawyer and theologian, he has served as a pastor, preacher, and former Dean of Studies at a Bible school. Since moving to the UK in 2017, he has worked as a refugee support worker, immigration caseworker, and project manager. Samuel holds degrees in law and theology (M.Div and MA) and is dedicated to helping churches support refugees emotionally and spiritually. He speaks Nuer, Arabic, Finnish, and English.

Seminars

Morning:

SEMINAR A - Intercultural Discipleship - Kerry Fee

Do you have believers from different cultural backgrounds joining your church family? How can you help them grow in their relationship with God, and use or discover their gifts? How can your church be enriched as they serve? How can you overcome language and culture barriers and help brothers and sisters to flourish as part of your church family?

This seminar will help you think through both principles for intercultural discipleship, as well as looking at potential materials and practical worked examples.

Bio:

Kerry Fee is Community Worker at Windsor Baptist Church. Her role is focussed on reaching out to the international community in South Belfast. Prior to taking up her current role, Kerry worked with Welcome Churches, and as a Coordinator with Friends International, helping churches welcome, reach, and disciple international students, and with All Souls Langham Place as International Student Worker. Discipling believers from other cultures is her passion. Kerry co-authored 'Discipleship Explored: Universal Edition'.

SEMINAR B - Intercultural Worship - Noah Bartlett and Intercultural Worship Ireland

‘Every nation, tribe, people and language…’ Revelation 7:9. What if this wasn’t just a picture of heaven to come but a description of our present day lived experience in our times of worship? In this seminar we will explore, from Scripture, why our times of sung worship are enriched by incorporating different languages, traditions, styles and voices and how, practically speaking, we can implement this in a meaningful way in our local churches or ministry situations.

Bio:

Intercultural Worship Ireland is a collective of musicians and singers from different nations and languages with a heart to see Jesus lifted up through sung worship that reflects the beautiful linguistic, cultural and generational diversity of His kingdom. They do this through leading, resourcing and encouraging intercultural worship through the island of Ireland.(Intercultural Worship Ireland is a part of Intercultural Ministries Ireland, a joint venture of the Evangelical Alliance, MAP, OMF, ECM, Lausanne and LatinLink)

SEMINAR C - Belonging – Emily Shepherd

Can I really feel at home in my church? Come and discuss with Emily and Samuel what it means to belong in our church community and how we can join in.

Bio:

Emily is Welcome Churches' CEO, having co-founded Welcome Churches in 2018. She is now based in Greater Manchester, England. She has a wealth of experience in welcoming many people seeking asylum and refuge with her local church. Emily is passionate about seeing the UK Church being at the forefront of welcoming refugees. She has an MA in Conflict, Development and Security where she specialised in European citizens’ responsibilities to refugees.

SEMINAR D - A Good Welcome - Patrick Purdy

How do you start welcoming refugees and people seeking asylum? What makes a good welcome? In this seminar, we will share how to provide a good welcome to refugees and people seeking asylum, and we will highlight some key resources that can aid your church on this journey. This seminar will be particularly beneficial for churches who are early on in, or yet to start welcoming refugees.

Bio:

Patrick is the Northern Ireland Regional Coordinator for Welcome Churches. Patrick is passionate about training and equipping the local church to answer the call to 'welcome the stranger.' Patrick has a BA in Theology and a PGCert in Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, and in his spare time is involved in a provison charity in Belfast that helps refugees and people seeking asylum.

Afternoon:

SEMINAR E - Developing and Leading an Intercultural Church - Nathaniel Jennings

To successfully see your church become an intercultural community of worship and witness for people of all backgrounds and cultures it takes intentionality and action. In this seminar we will cover the bible basis for intercultural church, how to disciple a congregation to understand this and practical steps that need to be taken to see this collectively practiced and embodied.

Bio:

Nathaniel Jennings is of Anglo/Caribbean/American heritage, but was born and spent his childhood in Bangladesh. Following the completion of a Masters in Contextual Missiology (with a focus on the church in Islamic contexts) through Queens University in Belfast, he returned to Bangladesh to be involve in social development and welfare work with SIM. Nathaniel is currently OMF UK's Intercultural Ministries Director based in Northern Ireland. His ministry focuses on encouraging and equipping churches across the UK and Ireland to share Jesus with people of all backgrounds and cultures, and grow as intercultural places of worship and witness.

SEMINAR F - Looking After Yourself - Emily Shepherd

In this seminar, you will be invited to reflect on what trauma is, how it might be caused, and how our bodies and minds might respond to trauma. You will be encouraged to think about how to support a friend who is showing signs of trauma, or how to look after yourself.

SEMINAR G - Teaching English - Johanne Martin

Wondering where to start? In this seminar we will look at what are the vital skills to teach, share ideas, tips and hints on how to teach English. Most importantly, you will get the chance to hear from others who have been running English classes for refugees. We will discuss the challenges and opportunities from this rewarding activity with newcomers.

Bio:

Johanne has been working with newcomers in N Ireland, mainly refugees and Asylum seekers, for over a decade. She has been involved in a range of English language teaching activities from formal classes, conversation groups and preparation for English citizenship test. She completed TEFL/CELTA at QUB in 2002 while studying at Belfast Bible College.

SEMINAR H - Befriending/Cultural Awareness - ANON (The facilitators of this seminar can not be named online.)

The Great Commission commands us to make disciples of all nations. Those of different nations often come from different cultures resulting in different worldviews. Come along and hear how to cross cultural barriers without compromising the Gospel. Perhaps you are new to Northern Ireland and just don’t quite understand why people do things the way they do or perhaps as someone ‘born and bred’ here in Northern Ireland you are struggling to understand the newcomers who attend your church, English class or place of work. During this seminar we will think through what makes up worldview and culture, what causes some of the clashes, as well as how to navigate them for the sake of the Kingdom.

Bio:

Our speaker for this seminar has followed Jesus since her teens, she has a burden to see some of the most unreached and marginalised hear the truth about Jesus while being treated with dignity and respect as image bearers of God. While serving short term across Latin America, Middle East and North Africa the Lord opened a door for a ministry to develop among those God has brought to Northern Ireland. For over 15 years she has been in local ministry among newcomers – through befriending and English Teaching both in the Christian and secular sphere. Most recently, alongside some likeminded people our speaker has been involved in establishing a new ministry seeking to bridge the gap between individuals and churches who have a heart to engage with the refugee and asylum seeker community.

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Equipped to Welcome, Enabled to Belong