Church

World Relief Southern California boldly engages the world's greatest crises in partnership with the local church. We have seen the body of Christ be a space of welcome for refugee and immigrant neighbors across the U.S. for over 45 years. God’s call to be recognized in “the stranger” — the foreigner, the immigrant, the outsider — is an ancient call. And it is one that today faces immense challenges.

As a new administration takes office and policy changes are enacted with significant impact on our refugee and immigrant neighbor - we want to help equip and guide your church and leaders to come alongside those suffering, demonstrating the love of Christ in tangible ways and being a resource for your congregations and all those in your communities.

Whether you lead in the pulpit, from the pew, or out in the streets, your people are ready to love the stranger. Let us guide you and your congregation as you do the work of welcome.

Check out our CHURCH RESOURCE HUB to find sermon outlines, Bible study curriculum, E-Courses, advocacy resources, and more.

CHURCH RESOURCE HUB

Mobilizing & equipping local churches to make a difference

At World Relief Southern California, we’ve been partnering with churches across the region for 46 years, helping them join in God’s plan to bring lasting change to our world.

Our passion is to create partnerships that support and empower local churches to serve immigrants and refugees in vulnerable situations. We would love to have a conversation about what partnership could look like for your church.

"For WE are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

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Start, Rise, Stand

Together, we can expand your congregation’s understanding of what it means to love, serve and learn from immigrants and refugees, as well as guide your church through a process we call START, RISE, and STAND.

START exploring what it might look like for your church to serve refugees and immigrants. We prepare an individualized plan for your congregation to learn and launch into a ministry of welcome.

RISE stands for Refugee and Immigrant Sunday Emphasis. We partner with you to design and deliver a customized event or program that will help your congregation understand God’s heart for refugees and immigrants.

STAND with refugees and immigrants by taking what you’ve learned from your RISE event and putting it into action to welcome refugees and immigrants in the community.

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7 Reasons We Believe The Church Can Change The World

We believe that when the church is mobilized to achieve its full potential, it has the power to change our world. We believe this because:

1. The local church is God’s plan to reveal his mercy, compassion and truth to people around the world.
2. The local church is the largest social network on the planet and has the ability, authority and permanency to do far more than any government institution or non-profit organization could.
3. The local church is led by local, trusted community leaders — those with an inside voice and understanding that no outside organization can bring.
4. The local church has the influence and moral authority to shape behaviors rooted in biblical values of love, compassion and justice.
5. The local church offers the greatest hope of reconciliation between classes, tribes, ethnicities and political parties, unifying people under a common identity in Christ.
6. The local church can restore dignity and bring hope to the suffering, forgotten and marginalized by reaching out to the most vulnerable in its community and answering God’s call to love.
7. The local church is empowered by the Holy Spirit to do more than human wisdom and efforts could ever possibly accomplish alone.

"Church health can’t be defined by attendance or budgets alone. Rather, by how well our congregation is loving their neighbors and coming alongside the most vulnerable in our community and around the world. As a partner, World Relief has played an important role in equipping and mobilizing our church to step into the lives of the vulnerable both here and around the world."

– Nathan Nelson, Missions Pastor