How to Be a Receiving Church for Internationals

This resource is a practical guide to help churches become not only sending churches, but also “receiving churches”—welcoming and engaging the internationals God is bringing to their communities. It offers five key postures for cultivating a heart of cross-cultural hospitality and six tangible ways to build meaningful relationships with newcomers. Churches can use this guide to equip their leaders and members to take simple, strategic steps that lead to gospel opportunities, discipleship, and possibly even local expressions of church planting among the nations next door.

At Upstream, we talk a lot about the sending church—how every local church has a role to play in participating in the Great Commission by equipping and sending its own members both locally and globally.

But missions doesn’t just happen across oceans. It happens across the street.

Jesus told his followers in Acts 1:8:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The gospel radiates outward—from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. But today, something remarkable is happening: people from the ends of the earth are migrating more than ever before. Our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and churches are increasingly filled with refugees, immigrants, international students, migrant workers, and global professionals.

This is no accident. In God’s sovereignty, he is placing the nations within reach of every local church—not just for the sake of proximity, but for his mission.

And yet, it’s easy to overlook these new neighbors. We may pray for their countries. We may even visit those countries on short-term trips. But too often, we drive past them on the way to the airport.

This isn’t a critique of global missions. It’s a call to see a fuller picture. What if your church became not only a sending church, but also a “receiving church”—a community that welcomes and disciples internationals as part of God’s global plan?

Start by asking:

• Who lives in our city?

• Where are they coming from?

• What barriers do they face?

• Who or what are they worshiping instead of Christ?

In this guide, we’ll explore two things:

1. A posture of love and humility toward internationals in your midst

2. Tangible steps your church can take to welcome and walk alongside them

Let’s begin with the heart behind the work.

Cultivating the Right Heart: Five Postures of a Receiving Church

Before you make a single plan or start a new ministry, start with your heart. Welcoming internationals into your church and city isn’t just about strategy—it’s about posture. How you see people, how you approach differences, and how you walk in relationships matters deeply. Here are five postures that shape a healthy, humble, and hospitable church culture

1. Walk in Humility

When welcoming internationals into your city, humility is key. Remember—they are the ones making a significant life adjustment. Approach them with a heart that seeks to serve, not assume superiority. Be willing to listen, admit what you don’t know, and meet them where they are. A humble posture builds trust and fosters meaningful relationships.

2. Become a Student of Their Culture

Rather than expecting newcomers to immediately adapt to your culture, take time to learn about theirs. Try their traditional foods, learn about their holidays, and ask questions about their background. Curiosity shows respect. It helps break down barriers and creates common ground.

3. Be a Servant Who is Eager to Help

Moving to a new country comes with many challenges—language barriers, complex systems, and unfamiliar customs. You can serve by offering practical help: assisting with paperwork, driving them to appointments, or helping them move. Even small gestures can communicate love and support.

4. Be a Guide to Help Them Navigate Their New City

Your city may feel like home to you, but to internationals, it can be intimidating. Help them find their way—literally and relationally. Show them around, explain cultural norms, and introduce them to places and people that can help them feel connected and supported.

5. Receive Their Hospitality

Many internationals come from cultures that deeply value hospitality. Sometimes they feel like they can only receive help, not give it. But receiving their hospitality—a home-cooked meal, a gift, or a shared tradition—creates a balanced relationship. It communicates that you see them as equals and friends, not just people to be helped.

By practicing these five postures, you help create an environment where internationals are welcomed, valued, and encouraged to thrive.

Six Tangible Ways to Welcome Internationals

Posture matters—but so does practice. Here are six tangible ways you and your church can extend hospitality and support to the internationals living in your city.

1. Invite Them to Your Home or a Local Coffee Shop

Many internationals would love nothing more than to be invited into someone’s home and develop friendships with people in their new country. A simple invitation can go a long way in making someone feel seen and valued.

• Cook a meal together—trade recipes or teach one another how to make a favorite dish.

• Share family traditions like holidays or board games.

• If a home invitation feels too soon, start with a casual meetup at a park or café.

2. Introduce Them to Other People Inside and Outside Your Church

It’s hard to build community in a new country. Help them expand their network:

• Connect them with others who share similar life stages, professions, or interests.

• Invite them to church groups, neighborhood dinners, or informal hangouts.

• Broaden their exposure beyond just their cultural or language group so they can experience more of life in your city.

3. Help Their Children Adjust to a New School and Language

For families, the school transition can be one of the most stressful parts of resettling.

• Offer help with school enrollment and explain how the system works.

• Tutor their kids or connect them with academic support.

• Recommend local sports, music, or after-school programs where their children can build friendships and confidence.

4. Help Them Navigate Finding a Job

Employment is often a top need—and challenge—for internationals. You can:

• Help them craft a resume that fits U.S. norms.

• Practice interviews with them.

• Connect them with job boards, career fairs, or professional mentors.

• Guide them toward local training, certification programs, or ESL job readiness courses.

5. Help Them Find Language Partners

Language is key to feeling confident and connected. You can:

• Point them to ESL classes or local language exchange meetups.

• Offer to practice conversational English over coffee or errands.

• Encourage media in the new language—TV, podcasts, books, news.

• Invite them into spaces where they can practice naturally (volunteering, small groups, clubs).

6. Offer to Go Shopping with Them

Even everyday tasks like shopping can feel overwhelming in a new country.

• Walk them through how local grocery stores are organized.

• Help them find familiar ingredients or introduce new ones if certain foods aren’t available.

• Explain things like sales, coupons, store apps, or discount cards to make shopping more affordable.

• Recommend international grocery stores in your area where they might find familiar products.

• Introduce them to specialty stores that are also needed on occasion: hardware stores, autoshops, pharmacies, banks, laundromats, etc. 

These simple actions don’t require a program—just presence, intentionality, and a willingness to build relationships. As your church takes small steps to welcome internationals, you’ll not only help them adjust, but also reflect the welcoming heart of Christ.

Becoming a Receiving Church on Mission

Every healthy church wants to be part of God’s global mission. But mission doesn’t only happen “out there.” It happens wherever God has placed you—and that includes right in your own neighborhood.

The biblical vision is clear: the gospel is for all peoples, and God is moving the nations from everywhere to everywhere. A receiving church embraces this opportunity by cultivating postures of humility, curiosity, and service, and by taking tangible steps to welcome and walk alongside internationals.

Of course, these postures and practices aren’t the end goal—they’re the beginning. They create space for gospel conversations, new believers, intentional discipleship, and even cross-cultural church planting—the very things we long to see on the foreign mission field can happen right here on the local mission field.

When your church becomes both a sending and a receiving church, you reflect the fullness of God’s heart for all nations. And as you welcome the stranger, you may find your own church renewed by the very people you thought you came to serve.

Next Steps

1. Develop a list of 4-5 individuals in your church context who would thrive in the ministry of receiving internationals into your church. Gather them and give them a vision. Maybe even read through this resource together!

2. If it would be helpful to create an entire ministry in your church for reaching internationals, check out the Upstream resource, “How to Develop a Local Cross-Cultural Ministry.”

3. Get to know other churches or parachurch ministries in your city that reach out to internationals well. Learn their strategies and determine which would be reproducible and valuable for your own congregation.