In this episode Al Roxburgh and Jenny Sinclair talk with Samuel Luak about what it means to be human. Born in Sudan, as a teenager he was confronted with the horror of civil war and experienced the loss of family and the longing for revenge. It was in the midst of hate and death that he came to know the reconciling love of Jesus. Forced to leave his own country, as a refugee he made a new life in Finland and then in the UK. An African Christian living in the West, Samuel is infused with the wisdom of the “we”, bringing a grace-filled countercultural challenge to the individualism that captures the Western imagination. We see its impact: from “having coffee” and the loss of the shared meal to the complete abandonment of our fellow citizens. This is a man whose life exudes the grace of God, whose own journey into love for human beings shapes the ministry he is now leading: the rehumanizing, life-giving exchange between refugees and UK congregations.
Samuel is the Leader for Refugee Integration and Discipleship programmes at Welcome Churches in the UK. Raised in the Presbyterian Church in Sudan, Samuel is now a Finnish citizen. A trained lawyer and theologian having studied in Sudan, Egypt, Lebanon, Finland and the UK, he is an ordained minister, and has served as a lecturer and a schoolteacher, as well as fulfilling roles at the Finnish Bible Society, and for the Church Commission for Migrants in Europe. Since moving to the UK in 2017, he has worked with refugees and attends Woodside Church in Bedford, where he is actively involved in intercultural ministry, promoting engagement between diverse communities.
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Links
For Samuel Luak:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-luak-413476133?originalSubdomain=uk
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=869351222066791&id=100069757641603&set=a.284573637211222
For Alan J Roxburgh:
https://www.themissionalnetwork.com/author/alan-roxburgh/
https://journalofmissionalpractice.com/alan-roxburgh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alanjroxburgh?lang=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alan.roxburgh.127/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecommonsnetwork
Books
Joining God in the Great Unraveling
Leadership, God’s Agency and Disruptions
Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World: The New Shape of the Church in Our Time
For Jenny Sinclair:
Website: https://togetherforthecommongood.co.uk/from-jenny-sinclair
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-sinclair-0589783b/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/T4CG
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TogetherForTheCommonGoodUK
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/t4cg_insta/
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