The network that has been connecting and mobilizing churches, leaders and organisations in Europe to serve with the gospel to those who have been forcibly displaced is holding its biennial conference in Málaga, Spain.

The Refugee Highway Partnership (RHP) Europe brings together NGOs, church leaders and experts in the field between with the theme: “Together Matters: The power of united work of the kingdom in light of the movement of people in and across Europe”.

“Our world feels more and more divided with each new global crisis or election”, the organisers said. “We are invited to stand against that tide and follow Jesus in the powerful way of humility”-

The gathering seeks to be a place of listening to each other’s experience and expertise, and seek a “unity that is never simple or easy but it is critical and the hallmark of being a disciple of Jesus”.

This is why “this year during our 2025 Roundtable we will be focusing on why coming together matters as well as the issues and key features of fighting for unity and being of one spirit for the glory of God”, the platform uniting dozens of evangelical Christians initiatives says on its website. 

In 2023 the RHP’s gathering brought together 380 people in Naples, Italy.

A change of mood in Europe

Whitney Gerdes, an Austria-based expert in children’s trauma who serves on the RHP Europe board, told Evangelical Focus she perceived in Europe “an increasing hesitancy towards accepting any new refugees or asylum seekers”.

“More frighting is how already resettled refugees, those who have lived in Europe for many years, are now being seen again as threats or someone to be feared”, she added, mentioning the rise of political parties such as the FPÖ (far-right in Austria and winner of the last parliamentary election), “with a campaign based on fear of migrants and building a fortress against outsiders”.

The change of mood in Europe in the “reports of an increase in discrimination”, a situation that “leaves those who are foreigners or have found refuge in the country wondering how long it will be hospitable for them”.

The key role of churches

Nevertheless, Whitney Gerdes believes churches are making a difference. “I am encouraged by the many churches who are working to be a place of safety for refugees in many countries across Europe”, she said.

“There are many great examples of not only outreach, but also new church plants that provide a place for those that came to Europe as a refugee to serve alongside of those from other nations or locals”.

“There is still so much room to grow” and church communities in European countries may sometimes “fail to see their own place and role in what God is doing through the movement of people”.

According to Gerdes, there is often “a lack of proper vision of the impact they could have in integration for new arrivals and fighting against radicalism by bridging gaps through intentional movement towards immigrant communities, that may seem undesirable. This is the way of Jesus”.

The treatment of foreigners in the Bible

The 2025 roundtable gathering will revolve around the verses 1 to 4 of Philippians chapter 2, in the Bible.

But the RHP board member also pointed to how the Israelites in the Old Testament (“For we were once all strangers in the land” Leviticus 19:33-34) and Jesus later, identified with the foreigners.

“The welcoming of the foreigner or refugee or migrant is the way of the gospel and the Kingdom of God”, Gerdes underlined. “A people who do not hoard what they have but recognizes that all that we have is from the Lord. We can be open handed with others because of the radical generosity of our God”.

More information about 2025 roundtable conference in Málaga can be found on RHP Europe’s website.