VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 2/6/15)—American Baptist Women’s Ministries announces “Crisis at the Border: What Could I Do?” March 2-6, 2015. “Crisis at the Border” is a virtual mission encounter for women offering the opportunity for participants to delve into issues around immigration and unaccompanied minors.

In 2014, over 60,000 children arrived unaccompanied at the borders of the United States, seeking refuge from rampant violence and poverty in their home countries. Although the numbers of new arrivals have decreased in recent months, those who arrived earlier are still in limbo. AB Women’s Ministries has focused on this issue in 2014-2015 and provides information and resources on its website at www.abwministries.org/crisisattheborder.

This virtual mission encounter “Crisis at the Border: What Could I Do?” will help participants explore the stories of refugees and immigrants in the Bible; understand the difference between refugees and immigrants and see why that forms the crux of the dialogue around unaccompanied children at the border; learn about life in the countries the children are fleeing; understand better the children’s needs once they arrive here in the United States; and learn about possibilities for advocacy and involvement.

Special guests for “Crisis at the Border” include Rev. Dr. Sharon Stanley-Rae, director of Refugee and Immigration Ministries with Disciples of Christ Home Missions; Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Congdon-Martin, retired director of Supervised Ministries at Palmer Theological Seminary, who recently traveled to Guatemala with a group from her church to live and serve among families there; Mary Clark, Esq., executive director of Esperanza Immigration Legal Services; and Jen Smyers, associate director for Immigration and Refugee Policy with Church World Service.

Virtual mission encounters are a way for women to explore mission topics more deeply while still being able to attend to their responsibilities at work, home, church, or in their communities. Suggested activities to explore each day’s focus are emailed to participants: each participant determines how many activities she may have time to do within her daily schedule. Activities may include such things as reading the newspaper, exploring websites, reading and responding to blog posts, taking prayer walks, researching a topic of interest further, listening to audio files or watching videos, and so forth. Every evening includes a conference call featuring a special guest with particular expertise or stories to share on the daily theme; participants may attend as many or as few conference calls as their schedule and interest allow.

For more information, speaker bios, and online registration, visit www.abwministries.org/vme.

American Baptist Women’s Ministries is a Christ-centered ministry with a commitment to encourage and empower women and girls to serve God.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.