Main Conference: 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Pre-Conference for Pastors + Leaders: 9:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Today, about 1 in every 67 people worldwide has been forcibly displaced from their home, including 42 million refugees--survivors of persecution--many of them our Christian brothers and sisters.
Yet the God of the Bible is alive and well, building His Church against all odds (Matt. 16), working in and through people on the move, as he has since the beginning.
What are forcibly displaced people facing today, and what is our response? How might we learn from them and come alongside them in unity and mission? What does that practically look like, right here in Phoenix?
Join renowned authors and speakers Daniel Yang and Matthew Soerens, along with local Phoenix leaders, for an eye-opening and empowering time, including a meal from a refugee-owned restaurant.
Pastors and leaders are invited to join the daytime pre-conference (9:00-2:30) for practical equipping and encouragement. Through stories, teaching, breakout sessions and fellowship, you will gain immediately useful, practical tools to better understand your refugee and other immigrant neighbors, and to lead others in a faithful, Christlike response to today's cultural moment.
Pre-conference breakout sessions:
Shepherding Our Communities (Daniel Yang and Rev. Caleb Campbell): Honest discussion around leading your congregation into deeper understanding of refugee/immigrant issues, responding to difficult questions, navigating tension among your community in a Christlike way.
Immigration 101 (Matthew Soerens): Explanation of the current legal pathways into the US, major recent policy changes and proposed legislation, plus an overview of World Relief's free resources for churches and leaders.
Unique Opportunities for Clergy (Alicia Contreras and Rev. John Talley III): How clergy are uniquely positioned to bring hope and justice for our refugee and other immigrant neighbors. Learn from those on the front lines, hear testimonies, and explore local opportunities.
Platforming Refugee Stories and Engaging Your Church (Rev. Clint Leavitt, Bikonzi Moise and Mary Kaech): How to feature refugee stories in your church context, the importance of relationships with our refugee neighbors, and a survey of local ways for the Body of Christ to engage with our refugee neighbors.
Daniel Yang was in utero when his family was resettled to Illinois as refugees from Laos. Today, he is the Senior Director of Global Mission and Church Movements for World Relief. Previously, he directed the Church Multiplication Institute at the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center and pastored or helped to plant churches in Detroit, Dallas, Toronto, and Chicago. Daniel is a missional strategist, consultant, and co-author of Inalienable: How Marginalized Kingdom Voices Can Help Save the American Church (InterVarsity, 2022) and Becoming a Future-Ready Church: 8 Shifts to Encourage and Empower the Next Generation of Leaders (Zondervan, 2024).
Matthew Soerens has spent much of his life living and serving among immigrants and marginalized people. Today, he is the Vice President of Advocacy and Policy for World Relief and the National Coordinator for the Evangelical Immigration Table. He is the co-author of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion; Truth in the Immigration Debate (InterVarsity, 2018), Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis (Moody, 2016) and Inalienable: How Marginalized Kingdom Voices Can Help Save the American Church (InterVarsity, 2022). He holds a master’s degree in International Public Service.