W.E.T. Ministries
RAIN desires to saturate Alliance Churches with
WELCOMING | ENGAGEMENT | TRAINING
WELCOMING
Welcoming our global neighbors with the love and compassion of Christ, as He has welcomed us into His Kingdom, is the heart of this network. We see an opportunity to strategically welcome, support, build relationships, and share the gospel with our global neighbors.
WELCOMING strategies include:
- Offering English as a Second Language Classes
- Offering Conversational English 1:1
- Providing Citizenship Exam Tutoring
- Developing or Hosting a Christian Immigration Law Center
- Offering Bi- or Multi-Lingual Bible Studies & Worship Services
- Hosting an International Men’s or Women’s Group Ministry
- Establishing a Refugee/Immigrant-Led Community Garden
- Developing a Church-based Welcoming Team/Center
- Churches offer welcoming gifts and supplies to new global neighbors coming into the local community
- Christian couples or families welcome global families into their homes to build relationships
- Hosting/Participating in Back-to-School, Summer, and Holiday Events
- Offering Secondary Resettlement home furnishings and help
- Providing Social Skills Supports within Service Systems
We encourage you to meet, learn from, and connect with some of our community-focused Welcoming Ministry Partners!
(see below)
Cornerstone Christian Fellowship
Hilliard, Ohio | Irma Chon
With the help of the Holy Spirit, Cornerstone believes the Lord is blessing the earnest desire of their Church to build authentic relationships within the Hilliard community, particularly the international population.
Salem Alliance Church
Salem, Oregon | Doug & Anya
Salem Alliance Church has the vision to see Salem, Oregon, as a city at peace with God. Part of that vision includes caring for refugees who have fled from war, persecution & violence as they are resettled in their city
Envision Atlanta
Clarkston, Georgia | Envision Atlanta
Envision Atlanta focuses on ministering to refugees in Clarkston, Georgia. It is the most diverse square mile in the world, with about 200 cultures represented. The felt need for these refugees is friendship with an American.
ENGAGEMENT
We are focused on equipping Alliance churches and Districts with the resources they need to engage global neighbors within their local communities.
ENGAGEMENT strategies include:
- Offering church-wide ESL Train-the-Trainer courses
- Hosting and collaborating with Church-based Teams to assist in refugee/immigrant community ministry
- Providing Seminars, Workshops, and Consultations to Districts on Refugee and Immigrant Ministry development
- Convening local and regional conferences on church-based refugee and immigrant services
- Assisting in the development of Church-based Welcome Centers for local refugees/immigrants to receive needed services
- Sponsoring Church volunteers to receive board-certified Immigrant Law Advocacy Training
Learn more below!
Church-Led Engagement Opportunities
The EMBRACE Network -
Western PA District of the Alliance | Cathy Sigmund, PhD., CWM
Allegheny Center Alliance Church (ACAC), Pittsburgh, PA and the Western PA District of the Alliance founded and hosts EMBRACE, a network of churches and humanitarian and faith based entities, with a mission to "Encourage Missional Bridges, Relationships, and Collaborative Endeavors that demonstrate the love and compassion of Jesus Christ to local global neighbors."
District/Regional Equipping Opportunities
Great Commission ESL
Nationwide | Bruce Lyman
Great Commission ESL (English as a Second Language) exists to cast vision, equip, and coach local churches to launch academically sound, evangelistically focused, cost-effective, and self-sustaining ESL Ministries to reach the nations in the US and around the world.
TRAINING
Through our partnerships with academic institutions, we provide ministry practitioners worldwide with specialized training designed to address the needs of traumatized refugees, immigrants, and those who serve them.
TRAINING partnerships include:
- International Church-Leader/Pastoral Care Conferences on Community-based Grief and Trauma Strategies
- Crown College - Certificates, bachelors, and master’s in Crisis Responding
- (Pending) MA in Counseling Certification – International Counseling
- (Pending) virtual Global Care & Counseling Center
- Webinar - Best Practices for Helping Displaced People - COMING SOON!
See Examples of our Training Ministries below!
RAIN Biannual Refugee Care
Training Conference & Retreat
Every even year, RAIN partners with Alliance colleges to convene a Two-Day Refugee Care Training Conference and Retreat at one of our Alliance churches or ministries.
The purpose of the conference/retreat is three-fold:
- Encourage and support one another as we minister to refugees and immigrants in our local communities.
- Corporately seek God’s face for fresh anointing, divine strategies, and power in our kingdom-building work among refugees and immigrants.
- Build our corporate capacity to support and train others in our Alliance family to reach local unreached people groups in our US communities.
Pastor/Church Training
UNHCR Nakivale Refugee Camp, Uganda
RAIN partners with the ACTS Institute—a collaborative training initiative between Allegheny Center Alliance Church (Pittsburgh, PA) and Crown College (St. Bonifacius, MN), with an international presence through the Church of Uganda and Bishop Stuart University in Mbarara. This partnership equips leaders for holistic ministry, focusing on underserved and crisis-affected communities.
The photo above highlights a church-based refugee care training conference in Nakivale Refugee Camp, Uganda, which now hosts over 200,000 refugees. 80 refugee pastors and church leaders from the newly formed Nakivale Christian Born Again Churches Association, representing 36 churches across six African countries and serving tens of thousands of refugees, were in attendance. These leaders were trained in biblically-based care, compassion, and community healing. The RAIN team taught practical and theological insights and spent time in personal prayer with each pastor, believing God for healing, deliverance, and renewed strength in their ministry.