On September 25, the Center for Research on Faith and Human Flourishing at LCC International University hosted a special coffee conversation with two researchers from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, USA – Dr. Jean Roberson and Dr. Rachel Hagues.

Dr. Roberson, Associate Professor of Social Work, focuses on faith, the church, and the integration of faith into social work practice. Dr. Hagues, Professor of Social Work, researches refugee response and how communities support people who have been displaced. Together, they serve on the board of the Future Leadership Foundation, developing faith leaders around the world.

The visit grew out of LCC President Dr. Ken Stoltzfus’s connection with both researchers from his time at Samford University.

Through relationships with Ukrainian Baptist leaders, Dr. Roberson was invited to develop training for pastors and seminary students on walking with people through long-term trauma. That invitation grew into an ongoing research collaboration exploring how faith leaders can help people not just survive trauma, but grow through it.

During their visit, Dr. Hagues and Dr. Roberson shared insights from their research with refugee communities in Poland, sparking rich conversation with LCC faculty and staff about how faith can be thoughtfully integrated into academic research and how that integration can genuinely help people heal and grow.

The conversation flowed both ways. LCC faculty and staff shared reflections on what it means to be a Christian university educating students from diverse faith traditions and backgrounds – and how that identity shapes both community life and scholarship on campus. Faculty also discussed arts-based research and language teaching as ways of contributing to peacebuilding, and how these approaches can help us understand resilience and recovery in contexts of conflict and crisis.

The exchange opened space for new perspectives and further exploration of the role of faith in healing, resilience, and human flourishing.