I heard yesterday from our contact at New American Pathways that although they have no new families of refugees scheduled for arrival in the immediate future, there are families who are already here and could use a sponsor. Only about 10 percent of the families who are resettled through this agency also have church sponsors. Those families tend to assimilate more quickly and successfully. Alla, from the agency, sent a list of families to me. I selected two, and she will assign one to us. These families already have apartments, are hooked up to social services, etc. What they need is friendship, someone to help tutor them in English (they are taking classes, so this is extra help), and provide occasional transportation to appointments.
One family of eight is from Syria. There are parents, a grandmother, and five children, one of whom has autism. The second family of five(parents and three children, one of whom has sickle cell anemia) is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
If you are interested in working with whichever of these families is assigned to us, please let me know. The next step is to schedule an orientation/training with New American Pathways. I’ll let you know more when that is scheduled.
And thanks to all who contributed to our requests for funds to use for refugee ministry. We have surpassed our $5,000 matching grant, for a total of about $12,200! We hope that money will enable us to help refugee families for several years to come.