Saturday, September 27
10:30AM - 9:30PM MDT
River West Christian Church
19815 45th Avenue NW
Edmonton AB T6M 0M4
Canada
Get directions
Welcome to In Tune 2025!
Engaging plenary and workshop sessions will explore migration and resettlement from different perspectives. The event will culminate in an evening of drama and storytelling focused on welcoming the stranger and the transformative potential for the newcomer and the welcoming community.
1 Plenary | 3 Workshops | An Evening of Story
When the Stranger Calls Us Home
Inspired by her faith, family, and work with refugees through MCC, Kaylee Perez' plenary session will share reflections on the joys and challenges of walking with people across difference and the way God’s love transforms how we show up and build community in a broken and messy world.
Meet our Speakers
Kaylee Perez is a passionate refugee advocate who holds an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies and has worked in the refugee (re)settlement sector since 2013. Add being raised in a Cuban-Colombian-Palestinian family in Canada, and you learn what has fueled her love for peace work both locally and abroad.
Based in Kitchener, Ontario Kaylee has worked with MCC in the Migration and Resettlement (M&R) program since 2015, currently serving as the National M&R Coordinator with a focus on Operations.
She serves on the board of the Canadian Refugee Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAH) Association where she works to represent the needs of SAHs in Canada and engages in advocacy to strengthen the private sponsorship of refugee’s program overall.
In her free time, Kaylee enjoys salsa dancing, trying new food, and thrift shopping!
Mulanda Jimmy Juma (PhD), is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is married to Dina and have 5 children, whom they call the SUPREME (Suzanne, Prince, Eto, Munga and Eca). He is currently the MCC Representative for Rwanda and Burundi. Prior to this, he served as MCC Representative for Congo (DRC) and Angola and also as Southern Africa Peace Coordinator for MCC. Mulanda has actively participated in mediation in many armed conflicts in Africa and beyond. Recently, he published a book in French titled “The Water of the Lake Was Red: A Congolese Peacebuilder in the Heart of Wars”.
Omar Yaqub DSL ICD.D MBA BSc (@somaryaqub X, LinkedIn), serves the team at Islamic Family, a social change organization that is disrupting systemic inequity through service, research & beauty. During his time with Islamic Family, the organization has become a multi-award winning Imagine Canada & Great Places to Work accredited charity. He is a former Historian Co-Laureate for the City of Edmonton & past instructor in the MBA program at the University of Alberta. He has two decades of experience in the for-benefit sector. Omar has been awarded a Doctor of Sacred Letters from St Stephen’s College, EMCN’s RISE award for Community Leadership, and the University of Alberta’s Co-op Mentorship Award. He is a settler on Treaty 6.
Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, SK
Order of Merit Recipient – 2022
Harry Lafond is an indigenous leader who has used diplomacy, consensus building and friendship to work towards reconciliation. Harry has spent his life creating pathways for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to build trust, see strength in each other, and transform relationships.
Harry served as Chief of the Muskeg Lake First Nation for 10 years. During that time, he was instrumental in negotiating and establishing an urban reserve in Saskatoon – the first ever in Canada. He also developed a custom election code, strengthening his community’s Indigenous laws and practices. Harry also served as councillor on the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation Council for 15 years.
Harry held the position of Executive Director in the Office of The Treaty Commissioner serving with Treaty Commissioners Bill McKnight and George Lafond and used the opportunity to advance reconciliation through teachings.
Academics has been important to Harry, having taught primary school, high school and post-secondary courses. He successfully lobbied for a new school for the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. He has held the position of Indigenous Education Scholar at St. Thomas More College (University of Saskatchewan). As both a Cree leader and a Catholic deacon, Harry is serving on the Saskatoon Roman Catholic Diocese’s Council on Truth and Reconciliation and is an advisor to the Bishop of the Prince Albert Roman Catholic Diocese.
Workshops
Today, the world is faced with a major challenge of forced migration due to wars and climate change. Ukraine, Gaza and DRC, to name but a few nations, are on top of the list of countries facing serious challenges of displacement. In this regard, one of the key focuses of MCC strategic direction is on supporting and equipping vulnerable people, especially uprooted people, including refugees and internationally displaced persons (IDPs). During his presentation, Mulanda will share personal experience as a refugee beneficiary of MCC support but also as a service worker of MCC working with churches (including Anabaptist churches) and other partners as they support uprooted people. The experience will focus on Africa.
Presented by Mulanda Juma
Join this session to learn about the dynamics of social inclusion and exclusion in the relationships that develop in private refugee sponsorship. How do we join with refugee newcomers to understand and work toward meaningful integration or inclusion amidst broken relationships, systems and structures?
Presented by Kaylee Perez
This presentation will plunge you into an interactive experience, where you’ll be confronted with a series of difficult decisions; realities facing more than 110 million displaced people around the world. Develop awareness and understanding about the global refugee crisis.
Then consider how you can support people in vulnerable situations as they flee conflict, migrate and resettle in new communities.
Presented by Rebecca Schnell, MCC Alberta
Passage to Freedom is a moving documentary that features oral histories of Southeast Asian refugees that made the dangerous journeys from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam to Canada. The Canadian response to the refugee crisis was recognized internationally with the UNHCR Nansen Medal in 1986. The film delves into the journey of the refugees’ integration into the fabric of Canadian life and highlights the contributions of this first generation and their descendants.
Something beautiful has grown from the still-smouldering ashes of the 2016 Syrian crisis. When displaced Syrians had nowhere to go, a partnership sprouted between two relief organizations, the Mennonite Central Committee and the Islamic Family and Social Services Association. MCC’s background in refugee sponsorship and IFSSA’s connections to refugees were complementary, allowing both to accomplish more together than they could do separately. In this live interview, Omar Yaqub, the servant of servants (aka executive director) of IFSSA, will answer questions about partnership with MCC, the joys and challenges of working with a partner organization of a different faith, and a vision for the future of diverse partnerships and a peaceful community.
details to come
An Evening of Storytelling
Beginning at 7:00pm, In Tune's Evening of Storytelling examines the personal experience of migration through storytelling.
Aleppo Cookies tells the story of an unexpected dinner shared by fourth-generation Canadians and a newly arrived family from Syria. The original stage play has been redeveloped and filmed to recreate the heartfelt, authentically human story.
Scott's day is turned upside down when his pastor asks him and his family to host a couple of Syrian refugees for the afternoon and an evening meal.
You will hear personal stories from Ruth Janz and Aliss Zarour, two women who migrated to Canada at different times and under different circumstances. In hearing both stories, you will find part of the common humanity that ties us all together.