Loving and Being Loved By My Neighbor

Loving and Being Loved By My Neighbor

This past Sunday, our congregation had the opportunity to hear from one of our partners, Brian Bollinger, the Director of Friends of Refugees (FOR). Over the past several years, our community has found small ways to connect with FOR. We have given our talents in small, consistent ways, and in return our community has also been blessed. From the stage, Drew shared countless ways we have partnered with Friends of Refugees the last few years.  I also heard overwhelming accounts of how our community has been cared for and served in return. Brian said it well, “God doesn’t want something from us, He wants something for us.” This has proven to be true in my family.

Two years ago, our family joined the Kairos mom’s outing to the zoo with Friends of Refugees. While there, I connected with one of the mom’s and her children who were close in age to Hannah and Wesley. At the time, I did not realize the long-term friendship that would come from this one meeting. We planned to meet again for another playdate, which turned into: another zoo outing, a trip to the aquarium, and inviting them to join us for music class.  Our families began to connect more frequently in normal ways. I was able to answer questions about online banking, how to help with homework, what to expect when getting car insurance, or how to make a doctor’s appointment. Simple conversations that made life easier for our refugee friends and had a huge impact on their day to day life in America.

In addition to our outings, we began to invite one another to bigger life events like birthday parties, trick or treating and Christmas Eve service. They had never experienced these very “American” traditions. Inviting our new refuge friends to share and experience parts of my family life exposed them to a different side of life they may not have otherwise experienced. It started with little moments that have blossomed into an easy friendship between two families.  God has done something wonderful for our two families. He has opened the door for our families to learn about another culture and appreciate that people have more in common than what they might originally understand to be true. Taking the time to visit and live life alongside others shows how human we all are. We are connected to one another as God’s children when we simply choose to open that door and love one another.

– Megan Brown

Equipping Fund Gift to Friends of Refugees

We had $81,421 in an “Equipping Fund “Reserve.” These are funds that were earmarked for the Equipping Fund in 2016 but were not given out due to the transition to a new funding format, which resulted in fewer requests that year. Nonetheless, Kairos has held these dollars in reserve for the purpose of the Equipping Fund. As an Equipping Fund Committee and Leadership Team, we did not feel that carrying forward this “reserve” was the most faithful way to steward these funds. These were funds that were given in the spirit of going out into the world and we felt it was important to find the best way to follow-through on that intent. In June, The Equipping Fund Committee recommended that we make a significant gift to Friends of Refugees in the amount of $70,000 this year to help Friends of Refugees address their immediate and pressing need for space relocation and capital improvements to their new space.

We believe that this investment in Friends of Refugees is the fruit of a missional relationship that has been built over time, through relationships, and contributions of many individuals in our congregation (as Megan and others have testified too).  We see this financial gift as the embodiment of the way our church is uniquely equipped to build the kingdom. Individually, we tithe, we volunteer, we learn about the plight of refugees in our community. As a church, we can make a collective impact through a generous gift that few of us would be able to make alone. We make this gift from our community as an investment in FOR’s continued work: Refugees Experiencing Abundant Life in Flourishing Communities. As individuals, our capacity for giving, for volunteering or engaging may ebb and flow, but as a church, we are choosing to journey with Friends of Refugees to help them further their mission, which we believe furthers our own mission: To join God’s work in the world.

– Mary Flynn Niemitz