On a warm summer evening surrounded by cornfields near Ashland, Ohio, 43 people gathered to focus on refugees – who they are, what their lives are like, and how believers can help.
Fact is, most of us have never experienced the kind of sudden, deep, and often traumatic loss that refugees encounter. So to help the North American audience appreciate a little more fully the refugee experience, Pastor Steve and Celeste Kern (Wooster Grace, Wooster, Ohio) launched the evening with a poignant refugee simulation, also called a loss simulation.
Presenters JoEllen F and Steve & Celeste Kern (background)
The rest of the evening was given to JoEllen F., an Encompass worker serving in Germany among some 1 million plus middle-east refugees that flooded into that country in 2015-16.
Encompass’ director of recruitment, John Ward, concluded the evening with a challenge to pray, give, and even GO to help refugees through Hope Teams. A powerful new 1-2 year ministry experience focusing on serving refugees in two international cities: Birmingham, England, and a great city in Western Asia.
HOPE TEAMS INFO
Find out more about Hope Teams and connect with John Ward (go@encompassworld.org) to start investigating if God might send you to invest a year or two helping refugees heal from their losses and establish themselves in their new worlds.
HOST A REFUGEE ENCOUNTER
Also, this Refugee Encounter was the first of several we are planning, so if you are interested in hosting a refugee event at your church, please contact Barb (crisisresponse@encompassworld.org).
