Dear friends,
Several weeks ago when it became evident that cuts to refugee services could be among the beneficial things that could be cut by this presidential administration I said that if that happens we would have to respond. I said I didn’t know how much money it would take be make good on the promises our president is reneging on, or where we would get the money, but that we would figure it out.
Well, the need is here. We don’t know exactly how much money will be needed to help the Kombete family over the next six months. But the vestry has voted to make our Lenten project this year a campaign to raise money to help. Our goal is to raise $20,000 by Easter. We hope that this amount, along with donations we have already received, will be enough to provide the Kombetes with the help they need to make a successful like in this strange new world in which they have landed.
Here is what I said about this in my sermon yesterday.
In recent weeks I have watched in awe as this congregation has given so much to the Kombete family, refugees from Cameroon who are six weeks into their new lives in this country.
I’ve watched as our core refugee team — Suzanne Johnson, Steven and Susan Hauser, Jessica Peoples, Mimi Gold, Peg Maloney, Katy Pierre, and Deborah Silver — have spent countless hours setting up the apartments, teaching English, looking for jobs, working to get the children enrolled in school, explaining to them about banks and helping them set up accounts, and many other tasks.
And I’ve seen others working in the background — finding an obstetricians who would care for the pregnant Leila — who gave birth to a daughter, Sarah, this week. Making sure that all the needs of the baby are covered. Moving furniture. Giving money.
What I’ve seen this congregation do is live out Moses’ instructions to the Israelites — to welcome the stranger, to share God’s love, to share our abundance with those who have less, to use the blessings we have received to help bless the lives of others.
Refugees have a different status from immigrants in this country. Usually refugees are part of a mass exodus from their homes because of war or other dangers. They usually spend years in a refugee camp — 17 years for the Kombetes. They don’t know where they will end up. Those who end up coming here have been thoroughly vetted by our government.
For years throughout Republican and Democratic administrations the government has provided assistance to refugee families to help them begin new lives in a country very different from the ones they have fled.
They are to receive a grant of $1025 a person, and assistance with rent, food stamps, and Medicaid for six months. The government also gives grants to refugee resettlement agencies so that there are knowledgeable and experienced people who help with the transition.
All of those benefits are now things of the past. Among the many evils of the past six weeks is the curtailment of aid to refugees.
We now have leaders who scoff at the idea that a nation is blessed in order to share that blessing with others. Who scoff at the idea that those who have abundance should share with those who don’t. Who scoff at the idea that the “least of these,” as Jesus described them, are first in the eyes of God.
But in this church we believe all of those things. We have already given so much to these families, but it is time for us to give more. We have the moral and biblical imperative to step in where our government has failed.
We have already received financial donations to support this work. But we’re going to need more. So the vestry has voted that our Lenten project this year will be to raise an additional $20,000 to support our ministry and commitments to the Kombete family.
If we end up with more than we actually need, any surplus will go to help others in need. I invite all of us to give as we can from our abundance, to share the blessings we have received, to continue to offer hospitality to the stranger.
Catholic nun and author Megan McKenna offers this prayer for the first Sunday of Lent, that it may be a season of generosity and gratitude.
“Gracious God, you gave us your best gift, Jesus Christ your Son, to be our savior, brother, and strength in food and drink and word. Let us trust in you and imitate Jesus’ wholehearted giving of himself. Accept our gifts this Lent, accept us, all of us, and transform us into your body, the church in the world. Amen.”
You may donate by writing a check to St. Dunstan’s marked for refugees or by going to our website (www.stdunstan.net) and clicking on the Donate button. Again, specify that the donation is for the refugees.
With love,
Tricia