Curricula
World Relief has developed a set of materials that churches can use to promote the cause of refugees. These “Replanting Lives” materials include:
- Replanting Lives Sunday – ways to engage your church during a Sunday service falling near World Refugee Day, which occurs on June 20th each year.
- Replanting Lives curricula for Sunday School
- Replanting Lives media and stories
- Replanting Lives info for pastors
World Relief Minnesota has copies of this material on CDs. We can make these available to churches; request one at minnesota@wr.org
_____________________________________________________________
Simulations
World Relief Minnesota staff will conduct a simulation for churches called “The Refugee Journey” that gives people a feel for some of the stories of refugees coming to the U.S. It not only provides an understanding of the life experiences of refugees but also simulates situations that evoke the appropriate feelings of fear, uncertainity, and loss.
The UNHCR (UN High Commission for Refugees) also has developed an online simulation to learning about the plight of refugees. If you’ve got some online gaming skills, visit the game “Against All Odds“.
_____________________________________________________________
Reading list on Refugees and Cross-Cultural Ministry
The reading list found below is included here as a pdf file.
Reading list
Resources for Working with Refugees
The Middle of Everywhere: Helping Refugees enter the American Community. 2002. Mary Pipher. Harcourt.
Replanting Lives: The Story of the Church at Work (CD with following resources: nine video resources, bulletin insert, replanting lives kit instructions, a PowerPoint presentation, adult curriculum, children’s Sunday School curriculum, Youth curriculum, Speaker resources, and real refugee simulation information.) published by World Relief; available at World Relief Minnesota.
Welcome to the United States: A Guidebook for Refugees. 2004. Center for Applied Linguistics, Cultural Orientation Resource Center. Downloadable at: http://www.cal.org/co/pdffiles/newwelcomeguide.pdf
Welcome! A Guide for Hosting Refugee Families in Minnesota. 2007. National Voluntary Agencies in Minnesota in collaboration with the Resettlement Programs Office of the Minnesota Department of Human Services. (copies available at World Relief Minnesota’s office)
Refugee Stories
The Story of My Life: An Afghan Girl on the Other Side of the Sky. 2005. Farah Ahmedi with Tamin Ansary. Simon Spotlight Entertainment.
Of Beetles and Angels: A True Story of the American Dream. 2001. Mawi Asgedom. Megadee Books.
The Bible or the Axe: One Man’s Dramatic Escape from Persecution in the Sudan. 2005. William O. Levi. Moody Publishing.
What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng. 2006. David Eggers. McSweeney’s.
God Grew Tired of Us (Documentary about the Lost Boys of Sudan). 2007. Christopher Quinn. Sony Pictures. PG.
From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey. 2002. Pascal Khoo Thwe. Harper Collins
The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir. 2008. Kao Kalia Yang. Coffee House Press.
Ministering Cross-Culturally and Cultural Awareness
Ministering Cross-Culturally. 1986. Sherwood Lingenfelter and Marvin Mayers. Baker Books.
A Beginner’s Guide to Crossing Cultures: Making Friends in a Multicultural World. 2002. Patty Lane, InterVarsity Press.
Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility. 2006. Duane Elmer, InterVarsity Press.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. 1998. Anne Fadiman. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Culture Profiles. Center for Applied Linguistics, Cultural Orientation Resource Center. Downloadable at: http://www.cal.org/co/publications/profiles.html
Available for: Burma, The Meskhetian Turks, Liberians, Muslim Refugees, Hmong, Somali Bantu, Bosnians, Haitians, Iraquis, Iraqui Kurds, Afghans, Montagnards, Cubans, Sudan.
Immigration and the Church
Strangers in the Land: A Six-Week Devotional Guide on Immigration, the Church, and the Bible. 2008. from the editors of Sojourners Magazine.
Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible. 2008. M. Daniel Carroll R. Baker Academic.
The Immigration Crisis: Immigrants, Aliens, and the Bible. 2009. James Hoffmeier. Crossway Books.
Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate. 2009. Matthew Soerens and Jenny Hwang. InterVarsity Press.
Hospitality and Acts of Kindness
Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition. 1999. Christine Pohl. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road. 1997. Timothy Keller. P&R Publishing.
Irresistible Evangelism: Natural Ways to Open Others to Jesus. 2004. Steve Sjogren, Dave Ping, Doug Pollock. Group Publishing.
God’s Call to Minister among the Poor and Vulnerable
The Hole in Our Gospel. 2009. Richard Stearns. Thomas Nelson Publishing Co.
When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. 2009. Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. Moody Publishers.
Butterfly in Brazil: How Your Life Can Make a World of Difference. 2007. Glenn Packman. Tyndale House Publishers.
