global welcome ministry
Upcoming Events
Serve + Learn
Resources
Welcome!
This group was started in 2018 and our purpose is to serve international communities in Central Wisconsin by being a welcoming and hospitable body of Christ-followers to those from different language and cultural backgrounds.
The best way to stay in the know is to subscribe to our newsletter below!
Learn More
Although we do not have the ethnic diversity of a major city, we have a number of important international communities in our area that have motivated us to be better welcomers and community partners. For example, there are 200 Hmong families in the Stevens Point Area and approximately 100 international students at UWSP. Some of our larger businesses bring international professional workers for months or years and there are seasonal migrant workers as well. In a world of increased migration, the trend is towards more diversity in our area. The latest example is, of course, the arrival of refugees to Central Wisconsin from Afghanistan and from several other countries including Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Woodlands has an official resettlement team helping a large Congolese family. And the Congolese community is growing with most of them interested in attending Woodlands Church!
At this time, our Global Welcome Ministry focuses on finding and sharing needs through a newsletter. We have engaged with such things as the Annual Hmong Week or helping Hmong children with their homework, being a friendship family for an international student or supporting InterVarsity’s biweekly Tea & Talk, volunteering at the Annual Portage County Cultural Festival or tutoring English learners at the Portage County Literacy Council.
One fun way to reach out to our local international communities is to find a favorite ethnic restaurant and make friends with the staff there. Check the resources section on this page for a list of local ethnic restaurants to explore and make new international friends.
Global Welcome Overview Video
Upcoming Events
Come + Meet Our Afghan Neighbors
February 20th | 6-8PM
The Global Welcome Ministry will host this annual event to welcome and meet some of our new Afghan neighbors. Stevens Point Area now has many new Afghan families as a result of the evacuation that occurred in 2021. The event will be catered by “Afghan Kabul Cuisine”, a new business in Stevens Point. We will hear some stories from some special Afghan friends about their experiences in Afghanistan and their journey to America. This event will be in the Chapel.
Portage County Cultural Festival
May 10th
Volunteer at this major event that attracts thousands of visitors, or just come, learn about, and enjoy the cultural diversity in our area.
Service + Educational Opportunities
Helping Resettle Refugees
Woodlands Church has a Refugee Resettlement Team which is supporting a newly arrived refugee family for their first nine months in Central Wisconsin. We met our family in Jan 2022 when they arrived from their refugee camp, took them to their furnished home, helped them learn about life in their new country, transported them to appointments, helped them find jobs, enrolled them in schools, helped them learn English, and more. Most of these things are ongoing. We have welcomed them, loved them, and been their neighbor in Jesus’ name.
Immigrant Hope - A Key Partner
RESOURCES
Foreign Language Bibles
If you are aware of attenders or guests at Woodlands who would benefit from a Bible in their own language, you can help them access online Bibles & Scripture resources in well over 2,200 languages HERE. We also have physical Bibles we can make available in White Hmong, Swahili, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, and Japanese. Please contact Gordon Williams (gwilliams984@gmail.com). Another source of Bibles and Christian literature in many languages can be found at www.multilanguagemedia.org.
Educational Resources
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God’s Heart for the Foreigner – video
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What is a UPG? (unreached people group) Learn about the UPG mission strategy and about the 350 such groups in the USA!
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Forcibly Displaced People in the Bible – see how common this is in Scripture!
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All about Afghans – 2 pages of the essentials
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Congolese Backgrounder – cultural overview of refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and their integration into US culture.
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Strangers In Town – A 30 minute documentary looking at what happened in a small town in Kansas (Garden City) as it started to absorb a huge number of immigrants and refugees when large meat packing plants opened nearby. It shows the positive side of neighbors reaching out and the hard-working, entrepreneurial spirit of the “new americans” who came.
Ethnic Restaurants in Portage County
Make friends and enjoy world cuisines at these international restaurants in our neighborhood! Yummy!
See list
Bamboo House – Asian bistro, Sushi & Grill
3012 Village Park Dr., Plover
Chef Chu’s – Chinese
5720 Windy Dr. ste a, Stevens Point
China Wok – Chinese
135 Division St. N #6, Stevens Point
BroKogi – Korean
108 Division St. Stevens Point
El Mezcal – Mexican
5741 Suite E, Windy Dr., Stevens Point
El Molcajete Mexican Grill – Mexican
1160 Meridian Dr., Plover
Green Tea – Chinese & Thai
1035 Main St., Stevens Point
Mama Mai’s Noodles – Southeast Asian
2824 Stanley St. Stevens Point
Matsu Ya Sushi Bar & Grill – Japanese
5725 Windy Dr a, Stevens Point
Mi Pueblo Restaurant & Bar – Mexican
5110 Main St. Stevens Point
New Hibachi Buffet – Chinese
5509 US-10, Stevens Point
Polonia Café – Polish American
7419 County Road Z, Custer
Ranchitos Perez – Mexican
3462 Church St., Stevens Point
Rock-N-Roll Café – Mexican
2801 Stanley St., Stevens Point
Samoeun’s Happy Wok – Cambodian
1540 Plover Rd., Plover
Tokyo Steak House – Japanese
1617 Academy Ave., Stevens Point
Tulum Restaurant & Grill – Mexican
3066 Village Park Dr. Plover
Vietnamese Restaurant (& Point Market)
3511 Church St., Stevens Point
Annotated Bibliography
Start your journey into the world of immigration, refugees, international students, and other cultures and languages by reading one or more of the books linked below. Whether you’re new to this migrating world or an old-hand at working cross-culturally, these books will equip you in this ministry of hospitality.