My One Thing

I had the great privilege and honor of going to the GC2Summit near Chicago, Illinois this past Wednesday.  Debbie Niblock and I went from our church, and we had the most amazing time learning an unbelievable amount about refugees, the conditions and journeys they face, the resettlement process, and what the church's response should be based on Scripture and the life of Jesus.  To give you a glimpse of what we heard, I have listed the topics and some of the speakers who presented at the bottom of this post.



 

There is so much information to share and to be honest, it is kind of overwhelming to know where to start in sharing the information, let alone in doing the work of helping refugees.  But there are a few things that stand out in my mind as the right places to start.

Jenny Yang, Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at World Relief, gave 3 clear places in which to start.  The first is educate your congregation, and that is what I hope to do in the coming months.  The second is build relationships with refugees in your community, which I also hope to do at some point in 2016.  We are fortunate to have a World Relief office in High Point and a newly opened office in Winston-Salem that is always looking for Good Neighbor Teams to help walk alongside newly arriving refugees for six months to a year (or more!).  The third is to pray and advocate on behalf of refugees.  Jenny said to advocate means to be good stewards of the influence God has given us.  She also co-wrote this book with another presenter, and I am starting to read it.

 



The other thing that stands out in my mind is a chart that I can not seem to find in my 14 pages of notes, so I may not remember it exactly correctly.  But it goes something like this: There is a continuum with 3 points on it, and we are all at different points along the continuum.  The first point is awareness, the second is engagement, and the third is investment.  We all started at awareness, and some of us have moved beyond that point, but we need to be respectful of those who are still there.  Bill Hybels urged us to remember that we can't expect other people to go from "here" to "there" overnight.  Many of us who attended the summit are further along toward "there" based upon the simple fact that we were interested and came to the summit.  Now it's our job to help energize people and give them opportunities to move from "here" to "there" in a variety of ways.

 

They had these yard signs at the summit, but we didn't think they would fit in our carry-on bags!



One opportunity I'm offering to help move people along the continuum is this blog post and some website links to further information.  Another opportunity is collecting gently used toys and books for World Relief (see requested items here).  I will collect them through Sunday, February 7th and then take them to World Relief's Winston-Salem office.  Our church is currently investigating how to become a Good Neighbor Team with World Relief as well.  World Relief's website has a lot of information that can help you learn more.  Another website that is full of factual information to read and share with others is We Welcome Refugees.  Lastly, World Vision also has a wealth of helpful information. 

*I am writing this post in response to one by Lori Harris, who is one of my absolute favorite bloggers.  She is encouraging her readers to share about the one thing you are doing right now to love your people and serve your place.  After going to the GC2 Summit and being so encouraged to find other like-minded, incredibly intelligent people, I think I have found my one thing right now!

GC2 Topics and Speakers

 

The Role of the Church (Dr. Jamie Aten, Humanitarian Disaster Institute, Wheaton College)

Domestic Refugee Resettlement (World Relief employees Maggie Konstanski, Matthew Soerens, and James Misner)

The International Crisis (World Vision employees from different areas)

Videos from Dr. David Platt, Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, and Rick Warren

Welcome (Dr. Ed Stetzer, Senior Fellow, Billy Graham Center for Evangelism)

Why the Refugee Crisis is a Key Justice Issue for the Church (Christine Caine)

Understanding Islam and Isis (Dr. John Azumah)

Video: The Crisis in Europe (Phil Metzger)

The Crisis in the Middle East (Fayez Ishak)

The Migration Crisis and The Great Commission (Stephan Bauman)

Story of a Syrian Refugee (interview with an actual refugee)

Domestic Refugee Resettlement (Jenny Yang)

Justice Fatigue (Dr. Vincent Bacote and Ken Wytsma)

Leading Through Crisis (Bill Hybels and Rich Stearns)