The Lausanne Global Conversation is on the World Wide Open Network
Author: Sadiri Joy Tira
Date: 14.10.2010
Category: Media and Communications, Diasporas
What is an international church?
An international church is a "family", ""home, and "place of refuge" primarily for expatriate Christians located (usually but not always) temporarily outside their country of citizenship (e.g. foreign workers, foreign students, diplomats, military personnel).
Some notable examples although there are so many more, are:
The Lighthouse Church (Kuwait, UAE)
http://www.tlckuwait.com/new/pastors.html
Dubai Evangelical Church Centre (Dubai, UAE)
http://www.deccc.com/main.asp
Bandung International Church (Bandung, Indonesia)
http://www.expat.or.id/orgs/bandungchurches.html
Hanoi International Fellowship (Hanoi, Vietnam)
http://hifvn.org/
South Asian International Fellowship Church (Singapore)
http://www.saifchurch.com
Jubilee Church (Seoul, South Korea)
http://www.jubileeseoul.com/#/home
Lausanne Diasporas would like to see these international "homes" also become platforms for heralds of the Good News motivating, training, and mobilising the Church on the Move to take the Whole Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Whole World.
*Sadiri Joy Tira (D.Min., D.Miss.) is the LCWE Senior Associate for Diasporas.
Keywords: international church, expatriates, diaspora
Views: 8619
Comments: 6
Recommendations: 0
Conversation Post Comment
Vietnam
Greetings!
Thank you kabayan for mentioning Hanoi international Fellowship as one of the notable example. I agree on your definition "family,home and place of refuge".HIF is an "Oasis" for believer here in hanoi.Not only that it is also a place where we can mobilize the people for the gospel.
To those who are interested about international church network you can go to http://micn dot org for more info and there’s an upcoming consultation/conference also on April 4-8 in dubai.
07.12.2010
Germany
Thank you Dr.Tira for this article. international church can play a more constructive role in reaching to diverse community in our cities. There is no doubt it is not an easy work. What we need is intentionality in planting international churches.
16.10.2010
Canada
@ Jesus_for_Refugees:
Yes, definitely. "Intentionality" is a key word. Thank you for your comment.
16.10.2010
Germany
Greetings!
I was expecting more than a list of links to international churches. Is there more somewhere? Will there be some interaction on the topic in Cape Town?
This is a significant and strategic way to spread God’s fame throughout the peoples of the world, yet it’s still an area of mission strategy that has been neglected.
15.10.2010
Canada
@ SteveHenderson:
Thank you for your comment. My simple objectives in writing the post are twofold: (1) to increase awareness of the growing network of International Churches; and, (2) accelerate discussions affecting the ministries among the diaspora congregations. I do not know what you were specifically expecting. Certainly, I was not writing to give readers a "theology and ministry strategy" of the "international churches."
While I see many websites and church signs that read “International Church”, I am often not sure of what they mean a local international church to be. Just because a congregation puts an “international” sign in front of their building or their pastor hands out his “international” business card, does not mean to me that they are truly an international church. Some “International Churches” do not reflect multi-national membership, and their staff is composed of a mono-culture and single nationality. Is that an “international church”? [Some so-called “international church” leaders do not even know, when asked, what they mean as “international”.]
We also have advocates of the so called "multicultural churches," "international churches" and "multi-national churches." So, what are the differences of these churches other that the most obvious ( "door signs" and doctrines"); are these churches DIASPORIC in nature to be qualified with their labels? Can a mono-culture (e.g., Chinese) congregation in Cuba for example, be classified as an “international church”. BTW, there are more than 130,000 Han Chinese in Cuba). Is it truly an “international church” simply because it is outside of China or Singapore? I have also visited many so-called “International Churches” in Los Angeles who are, in reality, composed almost exclusively of Filipinos! Furthermore, is a congregation acting as a church away from home for missionaries who would rather worship with people from “home” and do not want to be assimilated into the local congregations (on Sundays) considered an international church? My point is often “international church”, as a label, is ambiguous.
So what am I referring to when I use the term “International Church”? My understanding of this "International Church" is a congregation that is inter-denominational, multi-cultural, missional, and DIASPORIC!
It is my hope that the feature of Diaspora – The Church on the Move reaching People on the Move at Cape Town 2010 (Wednesday, October 20 in Plenary and Multiplex) will result in further discussion, and strategic action in mobilizing more “International Churches” that are inter-denominational, multi-cultural, missional and diasporic.
16.10.2010
United States
@SteveHenderson, I agree the international church is an underused form of missions, especially in the US. We can provide a home for expat Christians as well as help them reach out to nonchristians from their homeland. The experience also makes us grow in our knowledge and practice of Christian fellowship and church life. My city has a reknowned research university and hospital that attract many internationals, but most of our churches are unwilling to do the hard work of reaching out to these people. my church is well on it’s way to becoming an international church.
15.10.2010
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