By Michelle Ubben
Like many, I watched news coverage of Afghans desperately trying to board planes to escape the Taliban, and Ukrainians driven from their homes by war and found myself increasingly moved to do something.
But beyond just writing a check to a relief organization, I felt the Holy Spirit calling me to relationship–to encounter the refugees in our midst.
That calling led my husband, Matt, and me to get involved with a small group of volunteers who were helping a local refugee resettlement agency meet families’ critical needs.
It led us to an extended stay hotel room, where we delivered a grocery order and toys to a Syrian couple with seven children, who were in Tallahassee temporarily until they could get transportation to a city where they had a support group of friends and family. The children’s faces lit up as they played with the baby dolls and stuffed animals and bubble wands. Speaking through a translation app on his phone, the dad told me his children had never seen common toys, since they grew up in a refugee camp in Jordan.
It led us to meet another large Syrian family and help them find the bikes they needed for transportation, desks for the children to work at, and a pantry shelf to hold their dry goods.
And it led us to meet an El Salvadoran family at a “pop up shop” staged to help local refugees find needed household items, when their precious little girl pointed to bread we were bagging up and asked if her family could have it. When we later learned that they were sitting on outdoor folding chairs in their living room, we brought them a couch and a recliner that a neighbor was giving away.
Without a doubt, this has been the most rewarding volunteer work we’ve ever done, because it involves not just philanthropy but fellowship.
Deuteronomy 10:18 tells us to “defend the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and love the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing,” and Matthew 25 reminds us that when we care for the foreigners among us, we actually do it for Jesus Himself.
We have a tremendous opportunity to fulfill this scriptural directive by engaging with the more than 90 refugee families who live in our midst here in Tallahassee.
St. Peter’s is launching a new outreach ministry to come beside a local refugee family and help them experience the love of Christ through our fellowship and assistance. Our church will be making a financial contribution to help this family build stability as they move toward independence. And a group of cathedral volunteers with a heart for this ministry will form a personal relationship and help however we’re needed, which may include teaching English, locating needed household items, navigating bureaucratic processes and medical appointments, getting ready for the new school year, and more.
If you feel you may be called to support this ministry, please join us for an informational meeting on June 28 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall and be in prayer for this effort.