Worth the Trip? Yes.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to go. Trying to pack my carry-on for Portland weather, I wondered whether I was making a mistake traveling to the opposite coast for the RHPNA Roundtable conference. Red eye flights there and back, hotel headaches, and rain in the forecast almost every day? I sighed as I finished packing and prepared to depart, hoping I wasn’t making an expensive mistake.
A little over 24 hours later, I was walking into Village Church in Beaverton. Within minutes, I reconnected with a friend I hadn’t seen since the Chicago Roundtable in 2018, and was inspired by her work creating illustrated books featuring stories written by refugees. Soon after, I had another conversation with a new acquaintance who is several years into running a mentorship program similar to one we’re just trying to start in Charlotte. And before the time difference got too severe for this East Coast girl, I was able to grab some amazing coffee in order to keep the energy going. Maybe this wasn’t going to be too bad after all…
All my doubts about attending the Portland Roundtable were laid to rest within an hour or so of arriving at the conference. And I was again reminded of why these types of gatherings are so incredibly important for those of us who follow Jesus in serving the forcibly displaced:
We need the fellowship - As I talked with new friends from all across North America who are loving on refugees, I had so many “These are my people!” moments. I hadn’t realized that I was a little burned out until I had the opportunity to be refreshed and encouraged through fellowship with other conference attendees. Honestly, everyone felt like family to me because it was so easy to connect and share. I needed that.
Innovation loves company - In a ministry setting, we’re always trying to do as much good as possible on as small of a budget as possible! For my work at least, this means regular iteration as we evaluate how best to meet needs and show Christ’s love.
At the conference this year, I talked to many folks who were engaging in holistic ministry efforts similar to what we’re doing at Project 658. Similar, yes, but not identical. In fact, as I learned more about these other ministries, I also learned new ways to engage volunteers, to connect with refugees, to better organize our work. In short, I was inspired to innovate! In fact, the week after the Roundtable, I shared some of what I learned with my colleague and we began making plans for a volunteer event based on those new ideas. In truth, RHPNA Roundtables always provide this spark for me. I need to gather with others in this field in order to make my ministry more effective.You don’t know what you don’t know…until you learn it - During one plenary, I sat down next to someone I’d never met, and we began to chat. She shared about her work in trauma-informed education, and I was fascinated! As a sewing teacher, I know my refugee students deal with lots of trauma, but I’d been unsure of how to incorporate that knowledge into my teaching methods. Even in this short time of chatting, I was hearing new things.
Since our time talking before the plenary was short, my new friend and I made plans to have dinner. Several others who also have backgrounds in trauma informed education joined us and wow! I learned so much…and I know our conversation was just the tip of the iceberg on this particular subject.
Thanks to these folks taking time to share with me, I now had ideas on how to start learning about trauma care, as well as actionable ways to better care for my students during our weekly sewing classes. But I truly didn’t know what I didn’t know until this conversation.
The conference wrapped up, and I returned to Charlotte (on another red eye flight) in a much different frame of mind. I had been encouraged. I had received a wealth of new ideas. I had made new friends and reconnected with past friends. Was the Roundtable worth the effort and lack of sleep? Yes, yes, yes. I was reminded yet again that we need each other in this work as we seek to build up and strengthen our part of the refugee highway.