WELCOMING THE REFUGEE

Pre-Conference to the PCA Global Missions Conference

November 9–10, 2017

Registration is now closed.

People fleeing persecution in Muslim countries are showing up in German churches asking how to become Christians. Venezuelans are fleeing to Panama, South Sudanese to Uganda. People from all over the globe are leaving their homeland seeking safety, opportunity, and hope.

We have an unprecedented opportunity for making disciples and planting churches among nations that have been closed to the gospel. Now is the time to act!

Learn from ministry experts, hear amazing stories, and find out how you can be part of a worldwide kingdom movement.

Speaker Matthew Soerens

Matthew Soerens is uniquely qualified to help churches understand refugee and immigration issues from a distinctly biblical perspective. He currently serves as U.S. Director of Church Mobilization for World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals. Previously he served as field director for the Evangelical Immigration Table, as a Board of Immigration Appeals-accredited immigration legal counselor, and before that with Pueblos en Accion Comunitaria, World Relief’s local counterpart organization in Nicaragua. Matthew is the co-author of Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis (Moody Publishers, 2016) and Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate (InterVarsity Press, 2009). He has been honored for his advocacy on behalf of immigrant communities by the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, and the White House. Matthew earned his bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College and a master’s degree from DePaul University’s School of Public Service. He resides in Aurora, Illinois, with his wife Diana and their two children.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Patricia Hatch

Pat Hatch serves as the director of refugee and immigrant ministry for Mission to North America. Prior to that she worked as a community liaison for the Maryland Office for New Americans and as program manager of the state refugee office, the Maryland Office for Refugees and Asylees. Pat is an active member of the River’s Edge Community Church in Oella, Maryland, where she serves on the missions team.

Chris Sicks

Chris Sicks is pastor of mercy at Alexandria Presbyterian Church (APC) near Washington, D.C. He works with APC's deacons and mercy committee to develop mercy ministry to those in the congregation and community. APC’s congregation includes 35 refugees, three of whom serve as deacons. Chris also serves as MNA’s Mercy Conference facilitator. He is a graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary, and author of Tangible: Making God Known through Deeds of Mercy and Words of Truth.

Kaitlyn Mullens

Kaitlyn Mullens and her husband, Cameron, founded For the Nations Refugee Outreach in 2011, and now lead around 20 staff members and 450 volunteers annually in refugee ministry in Dallas. Kaitlyn’s joy is serving refugees through For the Nations Refugee Outreach and helping churches across the nation engage in refugee ministry. Her prayer is for refugees to become connected to American brothers and sisters in Christ.

Kay Burklin

As MTW’s refugee liaison Kay supports, encourages, and advocates for ministry to refugees by facilitating connections between missionaries on the field and churches in the U.S. Previously Kay served as director of MTW’s Mercy Ministry, and was a missionary in Berlin for 11 years with her husband, Heiko. Kay earned her master of theological studies in ethics from Gordon-Conwell Seminary and her doctorate of ministry from Alliance Theological Seminary (N.Y.).

How will you benefit from the Welcoming the Refugee pre-conference?

Gain a biblical understanding of the global refugee situation with featured speaker Matthew Soerens of World Relief, then dig deeper in breakout sessions on topics such as:

- Opportunities for ministry in Europe
- Incarnational living among refugees in the U.S.
- Learn a model of outreach from For the Nations, which includes the gospel, education, and acculturation

- Hear stories of outreach to Middle Eastern refuges from as far away as Bangkok

Registration is now closed.

SEMINARS

PRE-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

DOWNLOAD PDF SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, NOV. 10

8:30–9:30 a.m. Large group session 2
9:30–10:00 a.m. Break with coffee
10:00–11:15 a.m. Seminar Breakout A
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Large group session 3
12:30–1:30 p.m. Lunch (boxed lunch provided)
1:30–2:45 p.m. Seminar Breakout B
3:00–3:30 p.m. Large group closing remarks
3:30 p.m. Pre-conference ends

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