Engaging Immigrants

Matthew is the U.S. director of church mobilization and advocacy for World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals. He also serves as the National Coordinator for the Evangelical Immigration Table. He is a contributing writer to three books on the topic of immigration: “Welcoming the Stranger”, “Seeking Refuge” and “Inalienable”.

Donna has been in ministry for 40 years. She became passionate about the needs of immigrants after befriending a Syrian refugee family. She loves to build genuine relationships and to walk alongside immigrants as they navigate their new home country. Donna serves as the national leader for Cru’s Immigrants, Internationals and Refugees (IIR) ministry.

Mark spent 17 years as an associate pastor before he and his wife made the shift to overseas ministry. They spent 10 years building churches, orphanages, and various ministries throughout the islands located in the South China Sea. God then shifted their focus once more, this time to reaching the nations in the United States. They founded Oasis International with the mission to love and care for those who seek refuge from a war torn country.

Emmanuel was born and raised in Cameroon and went to the United States as an international student athlete. While studying in the States he became a Christian. He has been in international student ministry for over a decade and is currently on staff with InterVarsity. Emmanuel is passionate about helping African students grow in their faith and make a global impact for Christ.

Ubi grew up in a bordertown on the Mexico side. He went to college in Texas crossing the border daily. Straddling the line of two countries has given him a unique perspective of crossing cultures and finding a place of belonging. Ubi is currently working with immigrants and teaching others to do the same. He is an area director for InterVarsity.

Over the past two decades Chris has worked with students in East Asia, North America, and Western Europe. He has experienced that people operate in one of three cultural operating systems: fear/power, guilt/innocence, or honor/shame. Most gospel presentations focus on guilt-innocence but most international students come from honor/shame cultures. In this lesson, Chris introduces Honor Restored, a new digital evangelistic tool for honor-shame cultures.

Abby has been in ministry for over 16 years, two of which were spent overseas in South Asia. She is on staff with Cru and lives just outside of what is known as “the most diverse square mile in America.” Living in a popular resettlement location for refugees, Abby has plenty of opportunity to live out her calling to love immigrants and refugees through friendship and hospitality all in the name of Christ.

Mike has been in ministry for nearly 50 years and has served the Lord in four different countries. His experience of being a foreigner has given him great insight into the challenges newly arrived immigrants face. He desires to help immigrants find belonging and grow in their ability to communicate but most of all for them to meet Christ. Mike, along with his wife, leads the ESL ministry at his church.

Osman arrived in the United States with his family as refugees from Somalia when he was six years old. Osman understands what it means to count the cost of following Christ As a teenager Osman converted to Christianity from Islam which caused his family to disown him. He has a burden to help new Christians continue to love and invest in their family of origin no matter the family’s response.

Christy has over 20 years of cross-cultural ministry experience in both the UK and the US. She is an advocate for immigration reform and has experience mobilizing churches to welcome immigrant populations and does regular teaching on thinking about immigrants and immigration through the lens of Scripture. She is a consultant for The National Immigration Forum and also works with the Evangelical Immigration Table.