03/10/2026
TODAY! VJN Equip: Online Training Wed March 11, 5pm EDT.
Compassion and mercy are key Vineyard values. These gifts teach us about God and direct us toward people he loves: the marginalized, the weak, the stranger, and the vulnerable. God's compassion directs us to care for the most vulnerable people involved in the complicated issue of immigration: kids. Many children from immigrant and refugee families have loved ones at risk of deportation. For these children, immigration enforcement operations in a community can pose a risk to mental health and development. Simply put, these kids are scared and need God's love to be secure. Fortunately, supportive adults in a child’s life can play a large role in protecting children’s mental health, promoting positive development, and having kids know their sacred worth in God. The Church is full of these adults, and we want to provide training for the Vineyard in order to love kids well whether they are in our churches, our schools, or our wider communities.
This training offers concrete strategies that adults can use to support children during periods of uncertainty and fear. Drawn from the field of developmental resilience science and informed by clinical practice, these strategies leverage ordinary resources around a child — most importantly, the presence of caring adults — and can be applied by anyone in service to children, including parents, kids' ministry leaders, teachers, and community leaders. Attendees will learn skills for communicating with children about immigration enforcement, restoring predictability and safety, promoting agency, and, most importantly, listening well and letting kids know that God is near with lots of love and care.
This training will be led by Hopewell Hodges, a Ph.D candidate at University of Minnesota. She serves as a leader at the River Heights Vineyard in the Twin Cities, and she has been in the Vineyard since she started college in New Haven, CT. This training is co-sponsored by Vineyard USA Evangelism and Justice, the Hispanic Association, and Vineyard Justice Network.
To register, link in bio.
