CBM to be a hosting partner for this year’s Surrender20 conference
Stories | October 4, 2021
A perfect alignment of visions between CBM Australia and Surrender means it is a natural fit for CBM to be a hosting partner for this year’s Surrender20 conference, to be held in Melbourne in March.
Surrender is an annual conference that encourages, motivates and inspires generations across the wider church to take action and to become personally involved in expressions of Christ’s call to the poor and marginalized.
Its values of inclusivity, hospitality and diversity go hand-in-hand with CBM’s work on the ground improving the lives of people with disabilities in some of the most poverty-stricken areas on earth.
Our Community Education Officer, Stevie Wills puts it, “CBM and Surrender both have a passion for justice and inclusion. They recognize and esteem the image of God in each person.”
Joe Pinkard, our Church and Community Engagement Manager, describes Surrender as “both a conference and a movement of people who are motivated by their faith in Jesus to live with and love people who are poor and marginalized.
“CBM is able to highlight the needs of people with disabilities around the world who are experiencing poverty and marginalization. We can then invite people at Surrender to partner with us in a response of justice and inclusion,” he says.
Held between March 19th and 22nd at the Belgrave Heights Convention Centre, Surrender will feature an inspiring list of guest speakers and performers including Jose Humphreys, who helped establish the multi-ethnic Metro Hope Covenant Church in Harlem, New York, as well as Shari Russell, Uncle Ray Minniecon and Graham Joseph Hill.
Participants and attendees will unite under the theme Shalom: The flourishing of all creation.
“Shalom means a person and community is deeply flourishing in all aspects – physically, mentally and socially. The flourishing of the whole depends on the flourishing of each individual and relationship,” explains Stevie.
Joe adds that reflecting on the theme reminds him of the disruption and destruction occurring to the environment around us, “and how through God’s peace we can seek reconciliation with God and restoration of creation to what God intended it to be.”
Stevie and Joe will both represent CBM throughout the event. Stevie, who is passionate about people with disabilities having access to opportunities to help them reach their potential, will perform a poem exploring the interconnectedness of humanity with the environment.
The pair will also share CBM’s work by facilitating an interactive workshop that explores how it partners with local organisations to help people with disabilities and their communities prepare and respond to extreme weather and environmental disasters.
“I am also looking forward to connecting and chatting with people who come along to the conference and hearing how they are living out there faith with the poor and marginalized,” says Joe.
Stevie adds that Surrender “is an opportunity to join the conversation and to learn from others. It’s an opportunity to alert people to the fact that people with disabilities are among the marginalised and to connect and network with like-minded people.”
For more information and to register, visit surrender.org.au
https://www.cbm.org.au/stories/cbm-to-be-a-hosting-partner-at-surrender20-conference
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