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Intercultural Ministries Day

AUGUST 25th is “Intercultural Ministries Sunday”

Celebrate What God Is Doing Among the Nations—within Our Nation!  

On this day we recognize and celebrate what God is doing among the hundreds of nations that are coming to the USA.

Intercultural Ministries Sunday is August 25, 2024. On this day we recognize and celebrate what God is doing among the hundreds of nations and languages that are coming to the USA. Hopefully we already have internationals in our churches. And, in some settings, our churches are hosting international congregations in our buildings, or we may see a neighboring church is hosting a church from another country or language group. As well, our children may have classmates from other countries. If we don’t have internationals in our congregation already, we probably will within the next five to ten years. Let’s welcome them in the Name of Jesus!

Here are a few suggestions of ways that churches can celebrate Intercultural Ministries Day:

1.   Invite international friends, co-workers, classmates and neighbors to church.

2.   Show this video from the Intercultural Ministries Department of US Missions:

SHARE LINK: https://youtu.be/NrbS0LfLFPM?si=yyYvCDgkZEKSB-Ko (en Español)

3.   Host an international potluck dinner after church. Invite internationals to bring food to share from their unique cuisines. Give them opportunity to share about the food and how they enjoyed such meals in their homes and churches in their homeland (It may be good to identify which dishes contain pork for those who avoid this). If your church does not have many internationals, invite the congregation to prepare international dishes for the dinner.

4.   Invite internationals from within your fellowship to participate in the worship experience in various ways such as: greeting; ushering; worship team; Scripture reading; prayer; testimonies, etc. Encourage them to wear their national outfits. If you don’t have internationals who are willing to serve, perhaps you could contact an international church nearby and invite the pastor to send some people to assist in your service.

5.   Prepare a handout with the Scripture reading of the day in English and in the various languages represented by your church. Read a (short) key verse aloud in several different languages.

6.   Prepare specific prayer requests for each nation represented by your congregation. Provide a slide and/or handout to assist in this. Take time during the service to pray for the nations represented in the congregation.

7.   Consider how your congregation can make an impact upon one or more international communities in your area. For example: establish an English Conversation Club (see link, below); adopt a refugee family (2-year commitment); add ethnic non-perishable foods to your food pantry; volunteer with local schools to assist the ESL (English as a Second Language) classes; etc.

8.   Take up a special offering for Intercultural Ministries. Funds can be sent to one or several different Ethnic and Language Fellowships of the Assemblies of God, or to the Intercultural Ministries department of US Missions (see links, below).

  

Remember how the Apostle Paul described the nations living among us:

“From one man [God] made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.  God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us (Acts 17:26, 27).”

 

Let’s look at the nations among us as those whom God has brought to our attention so that the gospel can be preached among them, and by them.

Please share photos and stories of how you celebrated Intercultural Ministries Sunday to pharris@potomacag.org

 

Resources:

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